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Thread: The Great Morris Chair project

  1. #106
    "and 2 more from the planer (Byrd turds)."
    Ya kill me man...I have to clean coffee off my moniter now.
    Glenn Clabo
    Michigan

  2. #107
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Stanwood, WA
    Posts
    3,059

    Chair building envy

    Well folks,
    I really am not stalling but this weekend I have the landscape project down to the shed, one tree ring, and a walkway leading to the shed. The sod is not in but that is because I can't get a watering permit until 2 Sept. No problem though because once I get the other things done I am headed for the shop. The sod will only take 2 hours tops anyway. I am really getting close now thank goodness.
    On top of it all I can't take pics right now. The LOML put a new SD card into the camera and now it won't read any of the cards. It says, memory card is full, and goes to internal memory It is a Kodak easy share if any of you have ideas on how to fix it I am all ears.
    Dewey

    "Everything is better with Inlay or Marquetry!"


  3. #108
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Stony Plain, Alberta
    Posts
    2,702

    Together They Go

    Good Day to the Creek!

    Well it looks like the first phase of my project is just about
    in the bag.

    The slats for the bottom were made and then hand fitted between
    the rails. Used my trusty # 9 again to clean up to the scribed
    line and made up some spacer blocks to speed up the layout.


    Morris chair and ottoman 047.jpg Morris chair and ottoman 051.jpg


    As so we have them. Two little chunky monkies! All together
    and ready to go to the finishing room. When they are stained
    I will be able to use one to get the hides in a color that will be
    to my our liking.


    Morris chair and ottoman 056.jpg

    Better day light pictures are on the way. However I couldn't
    resist putting this up. I figured it would take me one month
    to get the two to this stage. So being one day early is a real bonus.
    For some reason I think the chairs will take a lot longer.

    You got to love it when a plan comes together!

  4. #109
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Windsor, ON
    Posts
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    3

    slats get mounted...

    Good Day to the Creek,
    I will be away for the weekend, but found time to start my mortises.
    The original plans called for slats mounted into a full length groove,
    with fillers blocks in between slats. I preferred to use traditional mortise and tenon.

    Another change from plan, rather than 1.25" wide slats, I used 1.5" wide slats. (also 1/2"thick, not 3/8" as plans)
    The rails were clamped together, and starting with the wide center slat,
    I shifted the slim slats around until they felt right. (?)
    Yes, those are my toes...
    layout-the-slat-gallery.jpg

    I only mark the outside width of slats onto the top board. This leaves less
    lines on the other 3 rails, and less confusion.
    I have taken to putting x's between cutlines, also to minimize confusion.
    One bad poke, and I waste spendy oak. Which would send me back to
    dressing rough stock, and also screw up my handpicked grain pairings.
    I am a true wood hound, and get attached to the grain I am working.
    I really don't wanna scrap anything.
    poke-between-the-x's.jpg

    Having the actual tenons machined first, allows me to layout specific mortises.
    I aim to split my pencil lines, to determine mortise length.
    My slat thickness fit the mortises with just a few swipes of my sanding sticks.
    I can't wait until the slats are glued, and I no longer have to keep track of the order!
    28-blind-mortises.jpg

    I cut the tenons with a triple chip combo sawblade, leaving unclean corners.
    I would trade my entire kingdom for a crosscut blade with flat teeth like a rip blade. (I hear Forest just put one out!)
    I sat down at my bench hook with a 20degree paring chisel and chased around
    those tenon at shoulder crotches so they would seat all the way, nice to the rails.
    corner-closeup.jpg

    Now that the slats are into the rails, I will pin the unglued assembly with a
    pair of clamps. Then, next shop session, I can layout the leg mortises to let in the rail tenons.
    This makes slat length moot, rather than if leg mortises were cut by tape measure before tenons.
    My 1" paring chisel was just a 25degree primary bevel, reground to 20.
    Takes a while that first time, but edge tune-ups are quick for the rest of my days.
    Again, yellow dots show my modified wider tenons which will poke through
    the front legs of the chair.
    side-slats-into-rails.jpg

    As for the center slat cutout: wifey votes no, I vote no, group continuity votes yes. Undecided.....

    I fear the forecast is gonna keep me out of the loft shop next week.
    Another sticky, sweltering heatwave is on the way.
    Next session, I tackle leg mortises.

    I also need to build myself a shop 'thinking' stool.
    (no, I already have a porcelain one)
    I mean a wood one to use for scribbling notes at my outfeed table/workbench-uggh---and eating sandwiches!
    take it easy,
    Walt
    Last edited by Walt Caza; 08-15-2008 at 9:29 AM.
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

  5. #110
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    El Paso, TX
    Posts
    23
    Gary and Walt, your projects look great. I'm glad at least a couple of the group had time to get started! I'm personally swamped with either being out of town or other projects, mainly a bathroom project (have you noticed that spouses don't have much patience for the lackadaisical approach to remodeling the main bathroom?). Hope to join you, but it may be awhile.

    Walt, an aesthetic choice, but I vote for no cutout. An ebony or other wood inlay might look elegant, but the chair proportions are so "manly man" that leaving it plain might be most appropriate as the cutout does not do much to lighten things up. In my opinion.

    Thanks for posting the great pics.

  6. #111
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Stony Plain, Alberta
    Posts
    2,702

    A Few More Pics

    Good Morning to the Creek!

    Here are a couple of more pics of an ottoman
    all together and in a little better light. Maybe too
    much. Ray flecks don't show up at all. Will have
    get a few pointers from Glenn C.

    Morris chair and ottoman 031.jpg Morris chair and ottoman 032.jpg



    Morris chair and ottoman 033.jpg Morris chair and ottoman 036.jpg

    At least with these pictures, I got one with the old wagon in our front yard.
    And one of my loyal helper, Monty. He loves wood, as long as someone is throwing it.

    Hope everyone at the Creek has a good weekend and
    a little shop time...
    Last edited by gary Zimmel; 08-16-2008 at 10:36 AM.

  7. #112
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Stony Plain, Alberta
    Posts
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    Done Deal!

    Good Day to the Creek!

    Well the ottomans are done. Simple stain and a few
    coats of hand wiped poly.

    The veneers tuned out quite well. After staining they
    are not very noticable at all. The tenons are faux.
    Desided to do them this way at the last moment.
    In hind sight they may of taken a little more work but
    they also turned out as well as I could expect.

    Morris chair and ottoman 161.jpg Morris chair and ottoman 156.jpg


    Walt and I were talking back and forth and wanted to
    come up with something a little different for the end
    of each finished chair or ottoman.
    Here is what we came up with.....

    Morris chair and ottoman 159.jpg


    Cheers! And now it's on to the two chairs.

    Comments and critiques please...

    .
    Last edited by gary Zimmel; 08-19-2008 at 11:11 PM.

  8. #113
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Stanwood, WA
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    Man that came out great Gary. I love the finish!
    Dewey

    "Everything is better with Inlay or Marquetry!"


  9. #114
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Windsor, ON
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    Question stretcher decision

    Hi Creek,
    I am seeking your input, should you be so kind...

    The Morris chair side frames are connected by a front and a back stretcher.
    The front stretcher will be highly visible. Cushions will mostly
    conceal the seat and back. Besides the leg fronts and horizontal arm tops,
    the front stretcher will be centerstage of the front view.

    You may recall that I took my stretcher blanks from a gnarly board with
    more than a 4 inch crook.
    The rough 5/4" thick banana just barely dressed to 1 plus a 16th inch.
    It yielded a pair of sun-ish grain patterns, which I had hoped would be
    good for my stretchers. All this was posted earlier in this thread. yawn

    This is another pic of the grain correction. Note the knots I tried to
    remove. The front stretcher, but not the back stretcher will require
    a 1/2" chamfer at the top, just in front of the seat.
    If we choose this board as 'FRONT', cutting into those knots may complicate things?!?
    This guy is bottom in all four other pics...
    banana-corrected.jpg

    Here are the anemic and disappointing looking stretcher blanks on loft floor.
    The patterns were better before the 6" wide blanks were ripped down to size. groan
    The pattern centers are marked, that was how I determined the end cuts from rough stock.
    front-and-back-stretchers.jpg

    Not easy to see, but I have layed out the 1/2" chamfer with pencil.
    Even more of the desired grain lost, sigh...
    Originally, there was a nice center and emanating waves. ack
    chamfer-lines.jpg

    As I had thought-out-loud in an earlier post, I wiped the faces with
    mineral spirits for a sneak preview of the remnants of my sunrays. uggh
    sneak-preview.jpg

    The spirits were flying drying, but I also took a snapshot under the sun.
    I still have not decided if I will mute the ray fleck, or pop it when
    finishing my chair and ottoman. (I'm just surfing this adventure!)
    rays-in-sunshine.jpg

    So, the question is:
    Which stretcher to become the FRONT of my chair?
    The top one has a big thumb print ray on the lower left.
    The bottom one has a more defined center and flanks.
    I regret that these patterns were much more like I wanted when wider. shucks
    They are all cut up to ribbons now, a shadow of their former glory.
    Lesson learned---keep in mind the finished part size, before you grow attached to grain.

    I meant this to be a poll question, but I guess I don't know how to make it so...
    *****OK, I now know a poll must be in a new thread only*****
    So, look for this poll as a seperate thread, sorry! (in the project forum)
    If you need to search for it, the thread is titled 'help me pick a chair front'. whew

    *****added link to stretcher poll: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=90630

    Walt
    Last edited by Walt Caza; 08-20-2008 at 9:21 PM. Reason: added link to poll at bottom
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

  10. #115
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Stanwood, WA
    Posts
    3,059

    Out of town this weekend!

    Sorry folks but I have been training for this race since March. I hope to finish the landscape by Labor Day.

    http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=90638

    Some good news... I got my camera working again! Stand by for more of the usual Dewey "pics" flavor!
    Dewey

    "Everything is better with Inlay or Marquetry!"


  11. #116
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Windsor, ON
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    a few details...

    Hello All,
    Last we saw my chair legs, they were capped with 3/32" thin veneers.
    I decided to flush trim them at the router table, along a guide bearing.
    The notched fence is more guard than guide.
    raw-Morris-legs.jpg flush-trim-up-close.jpg

    The little barebones router table I posted a while back, is hard at work again.
    (link to router table thread) http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87977
    From my loft shop ..... a trim with a view. I was taller than this maple a while back!
    little-table-at-work.jpg a-trim-with-a-view.jpg

    I licked 1/32" off the leg caps at the jointer, leaving true 1/16" veneers.
    Gary's 4pc leg method is looking real nice. Thanks GZ!
    thin-leg-veneers.jpg
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

  12. #117
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    A few more details...

    To take my chair slats down to 1/2" thickness, I made a basic planer sled.
    Just 3/4" MDF, plus a 3/8" fence glued on --- no metal screws.
    The trick is remembering to feed the fence into planer first!
    My Byrd head dressed down each set of 7 slats together.
    simple-planer-sled.jpg set-of-7-slats-on-sled.jpg

    As I machined tenons at the tablesaw, on my homemade but spot-on accurate
    cross-cut sled, splits opened up--before my eyes!
    End splits, as well as edge splits in the quarter sawn oak.
    tenon-end-splits.jpg mid-tenon-edge-splits.jpg

    It is not often we see nor hear of woodworking problems and difficulties.
    To me, that is probably the biggest part of it!
    I spend most of my shop time overcoming challenges, and trying to stay safe.
    I made a good effort at closing up the splits, with mixed success.
    split-repair.jpg

    Forget glossy magazines and slick tv productions---
    to me this is real woodworking. It's where the wheel meets the road...

    Next I get some shop time, I start poking mortises in those legs.
    Wow, over 10000 views of this thread, Thanks for your support!
    and Thanks for looking,
    Walt

    ps I gotta try and quit these 5am postings!
    Last edited by Walt Caza; 08-21-2008 at 5:14 AM. Reason: noticed we broke 10K
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

  13. #118

    Another Morris Chair Story

    Good Morning,

    My name is David Fortin this is my Morris Chair story and I’m sticking to it.
    We needed a new chair for the family room so my wife and I ordered a contemporary leather recliner with ottoman (didn’t want the ottoman but had no choice) at our local department store. Upon reflection after seeing a wood recliner with leather cushions, she suggested that I could build a nicer chair than what we had ordered. A quick trip to the internet showed that the new object of our affection was a version of the Morris Chair. We cancelled the department store order and ordered several Morris Chair Plans on the internet (including the Wood Magazine Plans used in the Great Morris Chair Build). We chose the original Stickley Drawings from www.craftsmanplans.com which are not plans at all but good quality drawings (that’s all they claim to be). We thought the 100 year old design had a more contemporary look and there was an undeniable appeal of using “real “ Stickley drawings. I joined Sawmill Creek because I thought I might get some help or ideas on my project and lo and behold found the Group Build. I did not join the G B because I was using a substantially different plan and my wife tells me I don’t play well with others. None-the-less the chair is just about done (I had some free time and need a place to sit for the football season) and I thought I should share it since I have been lurking around the The Creek since early July.




    A few notes:

    I followed the drawings except the seat is 1” higher in front, 2” higher in rear and 1” wider. I did not notice that the arms had a ˝” taper until it was too late. I’m thinking no pegs in the legs at this point.

    The legs are 6/4 QSWO planed and glued together. No veneers. Side grain exposed.

    I built a form that had the arms rest on the tops of duplicate legs so the angles would be correct. This was a little unwieldy but worked ok. It went faster when I drilled out the center of the mortise and let the mortiser deal with the edges.




    Through tenons in arms are buttons with 1/8” “tenons” to fit in the mortises and glued to the top of the “real” tenons. I tried to make true through tenons but only one was marginally acceptable. If I make another, I’ll use buttons again without hesitation. They relieve more stress than Happy Hour.

    The arms and back slats are bent laminations not steam bent. 3 pieces of 3/8” white oak will bend around a 72” radius form, but not happily. Eat your Wheaties on “Arm Bending Day”. I used powdered veneer glue and not carpenters glue. There was some slight spring back but no creep to this point.


    The side rails each required 6 separate table saw settings to cut the angled tenons. Because of the size 1 1/8 “x 5 ˝ I was most comfortable keeping the rails flat on the table saw. I would almost certainly use loose tenons next time.

    For reasons I still don’t understand I used regular white oak for the back slats. It seemed like a good idea on the way to the white oak store. The chair will have its back to a wall and a cushion will cover the front, so any purists that come over won’t be offended. I don’t actually know any purists so I’m not worried.

    Overall, it came out pretty well. It was far more difficult to build than I thought just looking at the drawings (you really need to study them carefully), but was worthwhile. It really made me appreciate the work the Stickely artisans did one hundred years ago without the benefit of modern tools. We decided it is “leather worthy” and will publish a pic when it comes back from the upholsterer. Good luck to the Group Build. We visited a newly opened Stickley Store locally and a similar chair was on sale for $2300.


    David Fortin
    Attached Images Attached Images

  14. #119
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Windsor, ON
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    Exclamation Newcomer rings the bell bigtime...

    Whoa David!
    For starters welcome to the Creek!
    Maybe I just have Olympic fever, but you seem to have hit the new-member Trifecta.
    -great story
    -humour (in Canada we like to add u's everywhere)
    -shop pics

    It doesn't get any better than that...
    Yes, us A&C hounds were also drawn in by the appeal of the Stickley boys.
    Gus was king of making and marketing Willy Morris' chair.
    One day I am gonna make time to blog Morris properly.
    Just sooo much info on him...tricky to get it done.

    In case you missed it, you would have been welcome to build a different plan
    than the group chair. Craftsman plans books were written by a guy whose work
    in this area I am crazy about... fellow Creeker Bob Lang
    As I stated earlier, the group build rules are.....there are No Rules!

    You may have built your chair solo, but modifying the plans, figuring out ww'ing is tricky
    and using fancy glue proves you are one of us.
    Don't worry about scrutiny from purists, they showed up in my driveway.....
    but I sent them to Gary's place in Edmonton!

    Besides, your chair looks great, and is leather-worthy indeed!
    Gonna be sweet for your football season.

    ***Bonus marks awarded for reaching enlightenment.***
    The great woodworking hobbiest paradox is thus:

    Our partners often entangle us in more wood projects.
    Pleasing partners with handmade stuff built with love always justifies
    more and better tools and machines, so you can build them more and
    better stuff. We never say this out loud.....and they never seem to raise objection.
    Bravo grasshopper, you have grown very wise!
    ***Shhhh...mums the word on our Big Secret***

    Oh, something you can mention to your wife...
    'us' others really like the way you chose to play with us!
    Welcome aboard,
    good to have you on the team,
    Walt

    ps Anyone who posts pics of a Morris-type chair built by their own hands
    to this thread, will be recognized with Honourary Group Build member status.
    Last edited by Andy Hoyt; 08-21-2008 at 12:35 PM. Reason: Link to commercial sites for gain are prohibited by the TOS
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

  15. #120
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Windsor, ON
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    657
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    3

    mortise and tenon (part 1 of 4)

    Good Day to you,
    The original Wood Mag. plans call for the side frames to be dry assembled
    without glue. This is a test fit, and also facilitates taking it apart to cut the top arch to accept bow arms.
    I would have preferred to glue the side slats into the upper and lower rails at this point.
    But fear of the rail ends not lining up perfectly when subsequently assembled to leg, I dry clamped
    the slats between the rails to treat them as a single piece. This will help accurate layout of the
    tenons I have, into the mortises I need to poke.

    I used the top of the legs as my reference point to align the top of the upper rail.
    Back in my machine shop days as a kid, we called that datum on blueprints.
    Any oak sanded away, to flush the leg top to rail top, would be lost from the overall height of the chair.
    legs-behind-tenons.jpg 9pc-as-one.jpg

    Working with tops down against the tablesaw as reference surface, I laid out
    the mortises with my big single piece. I'm pretty new at traditional mortise and tenon.
    But I know that is how all parts must fit at final assembly.
    outer-side-marked.jpg laying-out-tenons.jpg

    Important to remember to poke the through mortises from the most visible side.
    The untidy exit mortise will be concealed when butting up the rails.
    through-mortises.jpg
    I bring the actual cleaned-up tenon right to the mortiser, to determine length.
    I make it almost fit, leaving forgiveness for later hand-tuning.
    Paraffin drips from mortiser chisel will be sanded away at mortise cleanup.

    continued
    Last edited by Walt Caza; 08-22-2008 at 7:51 AM.
    There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going! WCC

    Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind - Dr. Seuss

    Crohn's takes guts. WCC

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