The Great Morris Chair project

[Dewey Torres]

Yes! I am still alive!

My wife and I finally finished the dreaded landscape project so this chair will certainly carry into the winter. My shop is an absolute disaster area right now. I will post pics of the landscape project in another forum as not to taint this one but whew I am soooo glad I am finally done.

I figure the shop will take a good day, maybe two/three to get ready and started... then I am off to the races.

Also, the curved arms have grown on me a bit and I may just go with them after all.

More to follow....

[gary Zimmel]

Good to see you are still alive Dewey...

Nice to have you back in the game. Can't wait to see some pics of some sawdust...

[Walt Caza]

Good Day Everyone,
The Morris chair requires a pair of dowels which allow the back to pivot and recline.
It also requires another pair of dowels, the same length and diameter, as back stops.
The backstops can be placed in a series of holes to allow a few different back tilt positions.
The number of adjustments varies between chairs. The original WoodMag plans call for 3 tilts.
I have been thinking about these dowels since the first post to this thread.
(... and it is about to pay off)

Nathan turned his dowels on a lathe. He used walnut for contrast and they look great.
As he said, it is another little touch you can say you did... and he found it well worth it.

Having no lathe... Gary said we spend all this time milling everything, and then we have to buy dowels.
He said he would prefer to say he made everything.

My concern was that I preferred my dowels to match my QSW oak chair.
As much as I would love to tell my wife that I 'need' a lathe to finish my chair...
I came up with a no-lathe work-around. I suspect others have known this
for years, but it is new to me. (there is nothing new under the sun!)

The plans call for 4 dowels, 3 inches long, and 5/8" in diameter.
I milled some stock to 5/8" square. You want it straight and true.
I figured out that you need a round-over router bit with a radius exactly half of the desired diameter.
(sure, it sounds obvious now, but took me a while to get there...)
(why am I telling you that? uggh)

Is that my no-plate, barebones router table hard at work again?
rt-working-hard-again.jpg

Flush out a round-over bit, in this case 5/16" radius. (need fair transitions with no lines)
flush-out-a-roundover-bit.jpg

Leave the ends square. I marked and left 3 inches for stability. (put the pencil down...kick it towards me slowly)
A single pass to all four sides, keeping the stick pinned with a pair of pushpads.
leave-ends-square.jpg

Snip them off carefully. I backed them up at the miter saw.
snip-them-carefully.jpg

I stained the perfectly round 3" dowel for visibility.
Keen eyes may spot the perpendicular grain of the true quarter sawn oak running up and down.
Note how the medullary rays run perpendicular to the grain.
The little boxes in the pattern are surprisingly square.
QSW-oak-dowels.jpg

My dowels were quick to make, once I got past the head work.
They are perfectly sized to fit a 5/8" dia forstner bit hole.
I was surprised to see how clean they turned out, fair, no chatter or burns, and barely any sanding required!
*Obviously this technique is versatile for many dowel sizes, and a keeper*

I just saw another option for the recline adjustment holes.
American WW magazine has just redesigned their layout.
In the Oct/Nov issue is a plan for a modernized Morris chair!

The article says to buy or turn your dowels... which is not much help.
But with an intriguing twist:

Instead of the dowels mounting into arm holes of the same diameter.....
a length of 1/4" solid aluminum rod is epoxied into a shorter length of dowel.
This allows the receiving holes to be smaller, which allows more of them.
That chair offers seven, count'em, seven different recline positions.
Just something cool I saw, and wanted to pass it along in our ongoing adventure.

So, another build obstacle overcome... I have my dowels! (they even have ray fleck)
be well,
Walt

ps I do not know if it was a factor in my lucky first try, but I machined my
stock to 0.650" square---just .025 thou oversized (?)

[gary Zimmel]

Good Day to the Creek

The first chair is done! Well except for....

I went to make my pegs tonight and found I
didn't have a 5/16" round over bit for my router.

Had to try Walts way of making dowels so I made
some temp. 1/2" ones. Worked like a charm.

At the last minute I opted not to put the chamfers on the arms.
Seems to make them look a little more stout.

All in all I am happy the way this one turned out.
The bowed arms were new to me and caused a little stress.
Next one we will know a few more tricks to make it go smoother.
Like Nathan I have all the parts made for the second chair.
It's off to the finishing room to get the rest of the staining done.
And now I have to make some decisions on the cushions.

Thanks for looking....

[Andy Stott]

I am a woodneter who was directed to this posting when I had questions regarding my upcoming Morris chair build.

I was able to get through 75% of the postings; good info. I'm anxiously waiting to see how most of you tackle the cushions. I was also interested in how you all tackled the bent lamination, very interesting info on glues. Regarding the cushions, how does the faux leather compare in all ways to real leather i.e. touch, look, and durability. I'm willing to skimp on the upholstery if it feels and will hold up as well as leather.

Thanks
Andy in Pecatonica, IL

[David Fortin]

Hi Andy.
I got a really good deal on a leather hide for chair #1 (discontinued dye lot) and it worked great. I bought 3 yards of faux leather for Chair #2 (needed a specific color) and while I have not had the cushions made yet it looks and feels like leather. No leather smell of course. I am told by upholsters that it will wear well. Unless you are experienced, I would have the cushions made by a professional. I initially thought my wife could do it with her machine but when we saw the professional result, there was no way she could come close on 1 try.

[Walt Caza]

Good Day to the Creek,
Besides my routered oak dowels, I have not touched my chair since August.
I have been having increasing trouble with my hands, which is scary and a drag.
The air has changed, and I am unsure if I can complete my chair before winter.
I am certainly gonna give it my best effort.
Early in this thread, I referred to mounting the bow arms as the Big Hurdle.
I am gearing up to tackle the BH next.

My bent lamination bow arm did have a little springback.
As has been discussed here, instead of using the bending form arch for mounting...
I also am using the actual arm to determine the shape.
What could be more meaningful than that?
I traced the arm onto a pair of 1/2" MDF patterns, dowelled together.
arch-template-from-arm.jpg

The leg to rail offset means tracing across a gap. (at the dots)
I wanted to minimize fitting the bow arm onto the side frames by getting
a good fit from the start. Sanding it in sounded like it would suck.
tracing-across-the-gap.jpg

The pair of dowels were drilled perpendicular at the drill press.
They allow the pair of templates to swap position, accomodating both
left and right sides.
2pc-arch-template.jpg

I enjoy creative problem solving in the shop.
My silly templates fill the gap for accurate and easy tracing.
I hope more effort in layout, means less effort in sanding and fitting.
gap-filled-for-tracing.jpg

Now I am ready to trace the right side frame.
Swapping the dowelled arch templates will let me do the left.
ready-to-trace.jpg

I am only in this for the lessons and the laughs, anyway!
Walt

* continued next post *

[Walt Caza]

On we roll...
The leg top layout is interesting. The front leg remains truly square.
The back leg gets chopped around 10degrees, but with a straight line.
leg-top-layout.jpg

This enables the back to be cut at the miter saw, which surprised me.
Thanks to Gary Z for mentioning that to me. (group build bestows benefits!)
I adjusted my saw to meet the angle of the pencil line from the layout template. (between 10 and 11degree)
back-leg-top-chop.jpg

The oscillating edge sander makes shaping the top rail a joy.
Go easy, the two-way sanding action cuts aggressively!
at-the-edge-sander.jpg

So, here is the marking template and right top rail.
At least some of my lovingly chosen grain remains... sigh
template-and-top-rail.jpg

Viewing the front and back legs together, clearly shows the amount
the bow arms drop. Over the 3foot arm, it really does bend.
Keen eyes may notice the 'real' through mortises.
final-chair-legs.jpg

As I am gearing up to glue-up the side frames, I am thinking the longer open time
of white glue might relieve some hustle pressure. (tick tock)
Each side frame has 16 blind, and 2 through mortise and tenons.

And then when I glue the bow arms on top...
I am wondering if a dowel or two might be helpful to locate the arm and
prevent creep when clamping that critical assembly?
I guess I'll find out...


I want to welcome Andy Stott to the Creek. (a referral? cool!)
A Morris chair is a terrific project, and we are glad you found our thread of value.
We would love to see pics of your progress when you get building.
Wow, I bet it's alot to read our unfolding story all at once!
One of these days I am gonna read it over to see how it flows.(or not?)
be well,
Walt

[gary Zimmel]

Good Day to the Creek.

I am finally moving into the final steps of the first chair.

As the weather has turned a bit colder my staining
has not gone as quick as I want. A little too early to fire
up the heating system in the shop. Still asking the man
upstairs for a little more of an Indian Summer.

Here are a few pics of how my staining turned out.

I am very happy how the ray flecks have shown up.
The top of the arms really worked out well.

A bunch of coats of hand wipe poly and # 1 is in the bag.

For the next chair I am going to do a couple of things differently.

First one is for the pegs that adjust the back rest.
Drilling a 5/8" hole with a forstner bit was not only a pain
but was hard to keep the drill level.
Next time I am going to use my Dowelmax and put 3/8" holes.
Maybe even a couple of more so I will have even more adjustment for the back.
Use a metal rod enbeded into a piece of dowel as Walt explained in an earlier post.
This way will be simpler and a little more accurate.

The second thing is using a router to trim up the arc on the top rails.
Got this idea from Walts post. With the way he has made the template to mark the arc it would be a snap to made the arc perfect with a trim bit.
I have a problem trying to cut too close to the line with my bandsaw to save on sanding....

Thanks for looking.....


.

[Andy Stott]

Thanks for the info on the cushions. Everyone's chair is coming along very well

[Walt Caza]

Good Day to the Creek,

Dewey, it is nice to hear that you are alive.
Gary your first chair is looking good.
Nathan, any progress on your second chair?

I found a little shop time, and worked on my chair sides.
They look much the same, as when I posted them before...
except a lot of time and effort was needed to sand, fit and glue.

I showed the offcut from the top rail arch in an earlier post.
Rather than dicing it up at the bandsaw, I left it as a single piece.
The offcut was used as a clamping caul, so I could use parallel clamps across the rails, trapping the slat tenons.
Otherwise, the arch on the top rail, would have made clamping unwieldy.
The masking tape was to minimize clamp bar marks on my sanded parts.
(kinda hard to see, thus more dots)
cutoff-as-clamping-caul.jpg

The top of the back leg was trimmed, along with the tenon.
The extra mortise depth is due to the scallops of the hollow chisel.
If the hollow chisel points were used to determine depth, the mortise would be left too shallow.
Perhaps I got a bit carried away and went too deep?
BONUS: keen eyes can spot the 1/16" leg veneers!
top-of-back-leg-trimmed.jpg

So now I have my chair sides arched and glued.
More hours in, yet they look the same.
(that's how it is sometimes...shrug)
sides-arched-and-glued.jpg

A couple tips for would-be Morris chair builders.....
Be sure to mark the arm ends before removing from the bending form.
When the form layers were made, there is a 3" flat at the front of the arm.
(where your hands would be, if you were sitting in the chair)
Since that line was marked on the form, to make the form...
I transferred it to the bent bow arms as a point of reference. (more dots? I must've got them on sale!)
mark-before-removing.jpg

Without such marks, how would you know where to take the 36" arms from the 38" glue-up?
And if not taken from the right spot, your arm may not sit properly on your top rail, with the desired overhangs.
mark-arm-length.jpg

I danced with all of this the 'hard' way, and hoped to spare others...
(yeppers, it's the ole DAMHIKT)

continued next post

[Walt Caza]

Moving right along...

The UF glue dries hard, unlike PVA's (yellow and white), which is why UF does not creep, and PVA's do.
The bow arms are built of plys, which wanna shift as you clamp them to the form.
To get a good clean edge from that glue-up, I was reluctant to use my jointer. (UF drips aplenty)
My poor knives have taken enough abuse from all this white oak!
(anybody wanna tell my sweet wife I 'need' another Byrd head?!?)

I cleaned up one good side of each arm at the edge sander. (as seen in my last posting)
I was prepared to joint that freshly glue-less edge, but they layed nice on my tablesaw.
So, I went ahead and ripped those 3foot bananas.
I cannot recall ever having ripped an arched part at the tablesaw.
It felt odd, but I proceeded with caution and it worked fine.
rip-arms-parallel.jpg

The rail arch offcut came in handy yet again.
I used it as a ramp to trim the arm fronts on my sled.
(ohh, how I love blue and green tape!)
cutoff-as-ramp.jpg

The 3" reference from the bending form, helped me locate where to trim the arm front ends.(hands)
You may notice that my pet crosscut sled is adjustable.
I will never make another sled without tunable fences. (mine is out 1 thousandth over a foot)
arm-on-cc-sled.jpg

**Can someone suggest how they would trim the back end of the arms?
(where they meet the chair back---at the Big dot)
I have the lines drawn, and the angle is 72.5 degrees...
but it is on that arch.
I could tilt the tablesaw blade, but that would cut my pet sled.
Maybe I will run the needed bevel right thru my old sled's fences?
How did you make this cut?
arm's-length.jpg

Before they are attached on top of the chair sides, the arms must be cut to shape.
**Did you just cut these bananas at the bandsaw? Keen eyes will spot more dots...
Anytime the workpiece is not flat on the table, there is a risk to kink the blade.
Did you use the same shape as the bending form?
Or did you use the plan dimensions to make the arm topview shape? (which differs)
top-of-arm-shape.jpg

Thanks for looking,
Walt

[Nathan Conner]

Hey, Walt, looks GREAT! Yes, I had the same issues in the top of the legs with the mortise depth. But it's strong and holds fine. Plenty of room for the glue to wander around. Gary, your finished pictures make me jealous of all the oak in the house. My Alder seems a pittance next to these guys. Also, I followed your example on the second chair and ran a couple of relief lines on the back of the corbels, only gluing down the center. What a difference! No squeeze out! I shook my head and noted another new trick.

What I did with the arm shape was to trace the pattern from the book onto the underside of each arm and then cut oversized on the bandsaw, flipping the arms upside down so that I always had a flat surface on the table. It was quick and painless to tilt as I cut to keep some semblance of flat. Then I took a plane and a scraper and a machinists square and cleaned up the edges until I had good clean lines everywhere.

I've had a little shop time - enough to get the base assembled and sanded, ready for finish and machined all the parts for the seat and back. Unfortunately, though, I goofed in my planning. As I was sifting through stock, I picked the really nice pieces for the A chair, and not so much for the B chair. I did the A chair, first. I learned enough the first time through that the B chair is turning out structurally more sound and cleaner, but the wood quality isn't so nice. Oh, well.

I have had an interruption, though - I was outside a week or so on a really chilly morning (our first frost) and happened to catch sight of my electric meter spinning wildly out of control. The little black mark was a blur. "Self", I said, "tis' time for some insulation". The 7.5kw heater in the shop really, really draws the power, and raises our bill by an easy $70 a month, and the panels of closed cell foam have been sitting in the shop for about 9 months. (There's no insulation on the shop ceiling, just sheeting.) So, off to Craigslist and I found some used scaffolding (12' ceilings in the shop) for about $75. Cleaned it up with the sandblaster and assembled it, then spent the next several days insulating the heck out of everything in the shop. That, of course, led to another trip to Big Blue for some more panels, a cheap luan door, and lots of studs to enclose the compressor & cyclone/filter box in their own 6'x6' room in the corner and some planning about where to put the big old Delta lathe after completion. That ate up the rest of the week, building the walls and installing the door. Now, though, the room is complete, and it's time to insulate and sheetrock it this evening after work. A little mud and paint tomorrow and THEN, the shop can start to go back together and let me get back to work on finishing up chair #2. If I'm lucky, it'll be ready for a finish on Monday or Tuesday in that nice new comfy warm (and quieter, I hope) shop. Oh, and I have to put some new lighting in while I'm at it. (*sigh*) It never ends.

But I'll post some side by side pictures in a few weeks, and hopefully, by then, I'll have made up my mind and made some progress on the cushions.

Or maybe not.

[gary Zimmel]

Walt

I cut the end of my arms at my miter saw station.
Put them on edge and used a block behind it to give me some stability.
If I remember the angle was then between 10 and 11 degrees.
I have a 12 inch saw so I was able to get threw it.

I to used the band saw to cut the second arcs on the arms.
I made another template out of cardboard from the plan to give me the shape.

Your chair is starting to take shape. Great job!

As a side note I did a little shopping for hides today.
Can't believe I got prices from $3.60 to $9.50 a square foot.....
We need 100 square feet. Errr.
Flippen cushions will be a pretty penny.
Two more coats of poly and the first chair done.

Will post a pic of the chair and an otto in the next couple of days.

.

[Walt Caza]

Hello Everyone,
I have been busy chasing my tail with all the colours of life. (thus another 3am post)
I know that if I do not start some Christmas projects that I have in mind...
I am unlikely to finish them (bad pun) in time for the holidays. (goose egg last yr)
I found 2 hours of shop time after work, and pushed my bow arms forward.

The arm top shape required a bendy pattern to lay down in the arch.
Thanks for the cardboard suggestion by Gary.

The arm shape was traced onto the arm bottom. I had been wrestling with how to safely cut them crown up. (duh)
Thanks for the suggestion by Nathan.
The arms were cut at the bandsaw, crown down... saved this clown.
I had no trouble, and a little confidence boost in this method by Nathan.
cardboard-pattern.jpg

The arm 'tails' were rough cropped with a handsaw, and then sanded to my lines which were marked on all 4 sides.
Tricky not to burn so much end grain.

The arm offcuts fresh off the bandsaw. The 4 plys were taken from a single 8/4" rough board.
Hopefully the arm side joints and gluelines will not be too conspicuous. (looks good so far)
4-ply-arm-offcuts.jpg

I was concerned that bringing the curved sides and arms together with glue might cause shifting.
A single dowel in each front leg top should tame this crucial glue-up.
Now there will be just a single adjustment necessary of the overhang at the back leg.
leg-top-dowels.jpg

Just one underarm dowel into each bow arm.
Once again, my love of blue tape cannot be concealed!
Here it makes a quick and dirty depth stop. (kinda hate to spoil these arms now)
The real depth stop on the drill bit is set perfectly for my Dowelmax.
I did not use that jig on this chair, but the bit fits 3/8" dowels beautifully.
underarm-dowels.jpg

Like many busy hobby ww'ers... I have not been able to find enough shop time.
My dry fitted arms will need to be sanded-in to a pleasing fit underneath.
The dowel means that the two parts are now fully located to one another.
This will be a boon to that fitting.
Imagine trying to tune the fit of two curves, without a positive register. eek
the-Big-Hurdle.jpg

Since my front and back stretchers are already fitted, I am nearly done my chair sides.
After that..... just a pair of frames will make the back and seat.
Since Christmas is already marked on the calender, and my Morris chair imposes no such deadline...
I may push it to the back burner to start a couple of gifts.
I'll have to see which way the elusive muse moves me. (triple 'm' score)

I would trade my entire kingdom, for more shop time!
It is one of the few things I do in life, where I forget about the clock.
Sometimes I even catch myself whistling amidst the sawdust!
take it easy,
Walt