The Great Morris Chair project

[Dewey Torres]

This morning I got all my legs freed from the clamps and got them all cleaned up and ready for the veneers.

I tried using my planer with a 1/2 mdf as a backer to get the veneers down to 1/16. Well it was working fine until I took too much off on one of the passes and blew out 2 of the veneers.

All this with an un-put-together Jet 16/32 drum sander that I could have used sitting in the corner of the shop laughing at me. Crap!

Well tomorrow I am going to Woodcraft to get some sandpaper for it and it is going to get some use. I could carry on with the same technique since I know full well why they blew out but the time I spent wit the double stick tape just isn't worth it.

Once I get the veneers all done, its off to the vacuum press for all four legs, then I can start the mortises. All this after I make some new veneer of course.

[Dewey Torres]

Well this morning I went to Woodcraft as I said I would. Happy to get on with the chair and here I was met with one of the most clueless WC employees in the universe. Very nice but woodworking knowledge on a scale of 1-10 was... uhm lets say a 2 (being nice).

Got there and as "par for the course", I bought more than I came for. bla bla bla, out and gone.

When I got back home I assembled my drum sander. You can read from the previous post to see why. What did I find when I opened the box but the very same box of sandpaper I went shopping for. I really wish someone had told me it comes with sandpaper rolls. I was told by .... get this ... my local Woodcraft salesman that it did not! I am really beginning to hate that place!

Anyway, I got it all put together (see pic) and re-sawed some new veneer. After that it was off to the vacuum press (see pic). This glue up was a real challenge as everything wanted to dry on me. In the end I will have four legs ready to clean up and start mortising soon.

[Dewey Torres]

Today I sharpened my 1/2 mortising bit (pic#1) and cleaned up the leg veneer overhang at the router table.

I ran into a problem here as I took too much off on one of the passes and chipped out the veneer on the corner. I am hoping it will go away or be less noticeable once a ease the edges. (see pic#3 close up)

I have a question before I go plowing into these legs. As you can see in the last pic I have labeled the "f" for the fronts as I like the grain best on those. 2 are on the veneer side and 2 are on the solid wood side. Will it matter stability wise which way I go in with the mortises? I didn't think it would just trying to be safe.

[gary Zimmel]

Great progress Dewey. The way your going you will be done in no time...

On the leg that had a little oops, is it possible to put that leg
at he back to hide the little tear out?

I didn't run into that problem as I cleanded up my veneers with a hand plane.

As for the mortises. I don't think it is going to matter one way or another
which way the legs are. But I'm sure someone else with more knowledge
will chime in if we are wrong...

[Walt Caza]

Good Day Dewey,
It's great to see you got started.
Congrats on getting your drum sander going...
amusing to read that you went and bought sandpaper, then found the same was already in the box the whole time!
Isn't that just the way it goes for a hobby woodworker?

My pet peeve with glossy magazines and slick tv shows is that you would never expect to hear about such foibles...
yet they are precisely the way it seems to go most of the time.
Forget so-called 'reality' tv, I want reality shop coverage!
Perhaps that is a benefit of our sharing this group build...
a refreshing telling-it-like-it-is tale.

It could be hilarious to watch what a regular guy or gal goes through trying to set up shop and
build a little furniture in their sparetime. Big fun!

I also had a little tear-out riding a bearing to flush trim my leg veneers.
Likewise, when I eased the sharp edges, most went away.

My 2 cents are, that it would only be a matter of appearance locating mortises, since the cores are solid.
I have yet to put wood finish on my chair legs to reveal how visible the caps will be?
Structurally, I would suggest, should not make a difference...
if you are going to mortise right through the legs, and from adjacent sides.(crisscross)
My legs ended up with mortises poking through on all 4 sides.
I put my best caps forward on all 4 legs, but your mileage may vary.
I can't see a problem with your preferring to rotate a pair 90 degrees,
as long as your veneers end up discreet.
Being so thin gives them their best chance.

Great postings so far,
Walt

[Marcus Ward]

Hi Walt, I see you are enjoying your Morris Chair project. I built one last year for my wife. It's all quartersawn white oak built according to one of the myriad versions of the Morris chair. I steam bent the arms and back. All joints are drawbored m&t. The whole chair was fumed in ammonia for 4 days and finished with shellac and wax. It took me 7 weeks every night after work and weekends. I'd like to build another one but I'm not sure I'm crazy enough yet.

[Dewey Torres]

Well today was a bit challenging. I had grand aspirations to get a lot done on the chair and things started out great until…

I got my mortise layout done and set the four legs on my bench (pic 1) as not to lose site of where the mortises go.

Got all ready for the mortises and the attachment didn’t fit my drill press. I originally bought it for my Delta and now I have a Craftsman. I had 3 freaking sets of ring adapters that came with the set and they were all to small (pic 2)

Off to the woodworkers solution school of hard knocks!

I took measurements of the inside diameter of the attachment and the outside diameter of my drill press quill to basically make a wooden gasket.
(cont on next post)

[Dewey Torres]

Off to the scroll saw to cut the makeshift gasket and with a bit of sanding got a decent fit.

The hardest thing to cut on a scroll saw is a perfect circle!

Well in the end it all worked out as you can see in the pics but it ate my shop time for today. I did try it out on one of the legs and it didn’t take long to realize all this oak was going to be too much for my mortising attachment so I broke out a 3/8 drill bit a started hogging out most of the waste.

I will use the mortising bit for clean up only. All for today!

[Walt Caza]

Fantastic posting Marcus,
Yes, I am enjoying our unfolding chair story.(dreadful pun)
My favourite aspect of this thread had been the wondrous variety,
and yet they are all Morris chairs.
You have really rung the bell, in bringing many elements not yet seen in our little chair adventure.

Any chance you are willing to tell us more about your fine chair?
I bet many would like to know if you worked from plans?
If so, where did you get them? Is that a Stickley model design?

You have brought some classic stylings to our party.
How did you steam your parts for bending?
Do you still cut the arm into plys first?
Do you think the backrest might be more comfy being bent?

Wow again, you fumed that beauty?
Tough to argue anything against your traditional colouring. How did you tent? Where did you get strong amonia?
Inquiring minds wanna know...
Strong touch going with the classic wax over shellac. whew-kickin' it old school

Nifty bottom arches on your stretchers and top backrest splat, which is also bent - tricky double curves!
Care to share your bending forms and technique?
Wow, gorgeous drawboring of your tenons...take that seasonal movement!

I see your seat will sit on four cleats...may I ask how you did your seat frame?
Another difference is your horizontal backsplats, vs vertical.
With so many differences between yours and the Wood mag. plans some of us are building...
it's hard to believe they are all bow arm Moris chairs. That's nuts.

Fascinating that one version uses vertical slats into upper and lower rails,
and the bow arm lays upon the rail with full glue surface and support.
While the other has just a single horizontal slat and single stretcher and
the bow arm floats across the legs, as attachment points, upon through tenons.
(we can coin it the floating bow arm Morris)hm..

I know a gentleman would not ask...
but do your leg top tenons really poke through your arms?
Are those terrific pyramids real or added caps?

Have you completed your wife's chair with upholstery?
Be sure to give us a peek of your cushions...

Great looking shop, nice workbench... it's like a mini-tour in your pics.
My only concern, is that your shop floor looks too clean...
any chance you swept a biiiiig pile just out of camera view?

I spoke with someone who was hesitant to post his Morris to this thread, because he felt his design was too different.
Please, one and all, I encourage you to post them---
as it only enriches our look at this hallmark piece of the entire Arts & Crafts movement.

Marcus you have added value to our discussion. I hope you might show and tell us a little more.
I appreciate all the time and effort it took to build and post your accomplished chair.
Great work, great build for your wife, great post and great execution of sooo many classic details. Wow!

I will be glad to add you to our honourary Morris chair buider list.
What are you building next, Mr. Ward?
I hope to see you in the sawdust,
be well,
Walt

ps *MW, you really got me stirred up, with just 2 pics...
If you have any more up your sleeve, please share them!

pss I hear ya, when you say you'd have to be crazy to build another...
I have been wondering if I am 'that' crazy too!

[Marcus Ward]

Hello Walt, I will see if I can answer all of your questions properly.

Any chance you are willing to tell us more about your fine chair?
I bet many would like to know if you worked from plans?
If so, where did you get them? Is that a Stickley model design?

Yes I worked from plans. This is supposedly the actual Stickley bent arm design although there are so many permutations it's hard to say which is the actual design. The design was from "Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture" or the sequel, "More Shop Drawings for Craftsman Furniture". I can't remember which book has the actual bent arm chair in it.

You have brought some classic stylings to our party.
How did you steam your parts for bending?
Do you still cut the arm into plys first?
Do you think the backrest might be more comfy being bent?

Thank you. I got 2 peices of 6" chimney pipe from the hardware store, cut hardwood plugs for the end and that was my steaming chamber. I have a keg with the top cut off that I use to brew beer, I boiled the water in that, covered it with a hardwood plug also and ran a hose from one to the other to transfer the steam. The arms are 7/8" thick and I steamed them for about 90 minutes, maybe 2 hours, then bent them onto a form using all my weight and plenty of clamps!! The form is a little tighter curve than the actual arm as it springs back when released. I didn't cut them into plys first, just bent the whole chunk of wood. I think plys would have shown with my finishing method.

Yes, I think the back is probably more comfortable being bent, it tends to cradle the body more.

Wow again, you fumed that beauty?
Tough to argue anything against your traditional colouring. How did you tent? Where did you get strong amonia?
Inquiring minds wanna know...
Strong touch going with the classic wax over shellac. whew-kickin' it old school

For the tent I placed a sheet of plastic on the ground and set 2 sawhorses on it with the chair inside. I covered the sawhorses with more sheet plastic and taped all seams, leaving one part open. I put a large ceramic dish of regular strength household ammonia inside directly under the chair and then closed it up for 4 days while it darkened up. I have read that you should use heavy industrial strength ammonia but I have found that that's not necessary. Regular ammonia works fine. It comes out kind of a silvery-grey color and upon application of shellac, darkens up to the rich chocolate brown you see.

Nifty bottom arches on your stretchers and top backrest splat, which is also bent - tricky double curves!
Care to share your bending forms and technique?
Wow, gorgeous drawboring of your tenons...take that seasonal movement!

For bending I Just cut 2 shapes from plywood and screwed 2x4 peices between them to make a rough shape. Since I'm steam bending and not laminating, I can be sloppy in the form as the wood will tend to take a gentle curve. I have a stanley compass plane I used to clean up all the curves afterward, even the arms. I find it indespensible for this kind of furniture. I wanted to do through-tenons on the legs but the legs are hollow, using a lock miter bit. If I do it again I will make them solid and veneer the off-faces. Getting the lock miters perfect is a heart attack.

I see your seat will sit on four cleats...may I ask how you did your seat frame?
Another difference is your horizontal backsplats, vs vertical.
With so many differences between yours and the Wood mag. plans some of us are building...
it's hard to believe they are all bow arm Moris chairs. That's nuts.

For the seat I just made a square frame about 2" wide from oak with bridle joints. I used webbing stretched over the frame for the seat base with padding and then covered in fabric. It fits down on the cleats and the cushion sits on top of that. It's very comfortable. Stickley had several designs for morris chairs, including a flat armed one that was published in his Craftsman magazine for people to build at home. The number of various types is amazing, even just the ones Stickley produced boggle the mind.

I know a gentleman would not ask...
but do your leg top tenons really poke through your arms?
Are those terrific pyramids real or added caps?

They're caps! I couldn't cut the mortises cleanly enough to leave just the center poking through, plus the legs are hollow, so I made the cap with a tenon that fits down into the leg and is pinned on the inside face of the arm. I wish I could have done it properly but I didn't have the skill at the time.

Have you completed your wife's chair with upholstery?
Be sure to give us a peek of your cushions...

She has cushions on it but they're not finished. It's terrible, we have a friend who is an upholsterer, we just haven't gotten around to it. I will have to get the cushions finished so it can be presented properly.

Great looking shop, nice workbench... it's like a mini-tour in your pics.
My only concern, is that your shop floor looks too clean...
any chance you swept a biiiiig pile just out of camera view?

I do a lot of hand planing and it piles up deep and fast so I try to keep it swept. There is probably a huge pile just out of frame, however.

Here are some pics of the workshop and bench. http://www.f-64.org/bench/

I spoke with someone who was hesitant to post his Morris to this thread, because he felt his design was too different.
Please, one and all, I encourage you to post them---
as it only enriches our look at this hallmark piece of the entire Arts & Crafts movement.

I would encourage them, I have seen some VERY VERY different morris chair designs that are actual morris chairs produced during the arts and crafts era. I think almost any design is fine, a morris chair is just basically the earliest form of easy chair, with a back that leans back and a sloped seat, no?

Marcus you have added value to our discussion. I hope you might show and tell us a little more.
I appreciate all the time and effort it took to build and post your accomplished chair.
Great work, great build for your wife, great post and great execution of sooo many classic details. Wow!

There are several pictures here taken while I was finishing the chair. They show the tone of the wood after fuming and the pin on the cap, and some other details, if you're interested:

http://www.f-64.org/chair/

I will be glad to add you to our honourary Morris chair buider list.
What are you building next, Mr. Ward?
I hope to see you in the sawdust,
be well,
Walt

Thank you, Walt.

Next project is a sewing table for my wife inspired by the Greene&Greene Bolton Hall Table. I'm building it out of cherry with a lye wash / shellac / wax to get an aged cherry tonality out of it. It's got the requisite cloud lifts and pillowed pins at every joint. I hope it turns out well.

[Walt Caza]

Good Show MW,
Talk about asked and answered!
(what is this, Law & Order?)

Great work and great sharing.
I dug up a couple of old threads started by Marcus covering his sweet Morris chair.
Link to his build thread with lots of great pics:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=69126

and another link, this one to his fuming thread:
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=70322

I was surprised to read that this was his first furniture project!
This is how you contribute to our Creek in spades.
Top marks for woodworking, and top marks in posting.
It just doesn't get any better than that!
We can all be inspired by both, to raise our own game.

I hope you get some shop time,
Keep up the good work,
Walt

ps we can't wait to see your work with Greene & Greene

[Dewey Torres]

I made a little progress today.

I finished drilling the mortises and started cleaning them up with the mortiser. My fix isn't a strong as I would have liked but it is working. I will be able to tell more tomorrow if it is going to hold up.

If this fix doesn't work I will just go pick up a benchtop mortiser and be done with it. We will see!

[Marcus Ward]

Dewey, if you plan on making a lot of mortise and tenons, a benchtop mortiser is great. I have one and use it a LOT. If you don't typically build this kind of furniture though it might be too much expense. Also you could drill the mortises with a forstner bit and clean it up with a chisel. Just some ideas. Good luck!

[Dewey Torres]

Dewey, if you plan on making a lot of mortise and tenons, a benchtop mortiser is great. I have one and use it a LOT. If you don't typically build this kind of furniture though it might be too much expense. Also you could drill the mortises with a forstner bit and clean it up with a chisel. Just some ideas. Good luck!

MW,
You sound like most here who have one.
Believe it or not, on my old Delta drill press that attachment worked like a champ. It may not have been as sexy as a dedicated one but I cut many a mortise on it. This may be a sign from the woodworking Gods though. As it turns out I got my $70 out it and then some so if this turns out to be the end of the line, I may get this:

[Pat Germain]

Sorry to hear about the drill press mismatch, Dewey. Funny, your drill press quill appears to be the same size as mine. Yet, my mortising attachment goes on perfectly without any collar. I guess the Craftsman quill is just a little smaller.

I hope your engineered solution holds on. Otherwise, Gooooo Grizzly!