I saw a table and chair set my wife wants. The table is no problem to build. Its the chairs that worry me. They retail for $250/chair. I told my wife 6 chairs could buy a heck of a lot of tools so I could do it myself. Now that I’m researching this I find I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I’ll need to buy a jointer, bandsaw, and drill press with mortiser.
Can anyone give the do’s and don’t, words of caution, things to consider on chair building. They look extremely complicated with angled mortises. Where can I get decent plans. I’ve downloaded a plan from Plans-Now and some great articles from this site.
I’ve attached a photo of the chair I hope to bulid.
Replies
Those appear to be relatively straight-forward chairs to build.
For chair-building techniques, you might try this book: Ron Clarkson's "Making Classic Chairs." Even though it is oriented toward making Chippendale chairs, you'll find that much of the information and many of the techniques are directly transferable to making any style chair. There are also several other good books on chair-making.
You may be better off doing a large part of the joinery work by hand. Angled mortises are almost certainly going to be easier by hand than with a mortising machine or drill press (you'll spend a VERY large amount of time setting up the machine.....).
Dos & don'ts: make templates/story sticks so that your work is uniform; take your time to do the work carefully -- better to do only one thing today but to have done it well, than to rush and make a mess of several things.....; practice on scrap wood until you're satisfied with the results, before you try any new techniques on your project; etc.
Hope that this of some use to you.
James
Edited 3/20/2006 1:22 am by pzgren
Those chairs look pretty easy to do. As for tools:
Thickness planer (unless you get your stock milled to size at purchase) -- $400
Table saw w/ a good blade and a dado blade -- $1,200 or more for a contractor saw
Mortising machine (NOT a bandsaw with an attachment.) -- $250
Router with pattern bits (top and bottom bearing) -- $300
Saber saw -- $100
Assorted hand tools -- $? - depends on what you already have
You can cut angled tennons on the table saw using angled blocks to support the piece while crosscutting with the dado blade. You can skip the jointer if you have a decent table saw with a glue-line quality blade (if you start with flat stock). Curved pieces are usually rough cut on the bandsaw and then finished to size with a pattern and a router and pattern bit. A saber saw will work fine for roughing in, as will a bow saw if you want to go the non-powered route. Drill presses are for drilling round holes. Mortising machines (that will cost less than a drill press and attachment) are for making square holes. So, assuming you don't have any of the above tools, you are looking at a bit over $2K for entry-level machines, not including the wood and materials for the chairs -- probably several hundred dollars. The chairs would cost about $1,500 from the factory. This is a no-brainer. Get the tools even tho' it would cost way more than just buying the chairs. They won't pay off on this project, but the next project will be all gravy! (Oh, except I forgot -- you'll have to buy even more tools on that project! LOL!)
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
LOL! That's exactly what my wife says.
I'll try to find a few books as suggested.
About 20 years ago I made my first chair which is much like your picture.
If you can keep the inside corners perfcectly plumb that wil save you a lot of headaches.
I would encourage you to take some 2x6s first and cut them so that they fit and then screw them in place with drywall screws.
When I make chairs I use wood which has some rift sawn areas so I can get the legs and flat sawn so I can get some other pieces where it is nice to show some grain patterns. If you use rift sawn for the legs the grain will follow the curvature and lines of the legs. You will need to experiment with some pieces to get the right curve for the top rail so it is pleasing and doesn't look like sticks glued together. I use mortise and tenon joinery. Two smaller ones going one way and one larger one going through the middle. That way I can get the length and glue surface area. I make the mortise and tenons such thta they come near the ouitside. Usually about 1/8" to 3/16"
If you keep the reveals small betwen the legs and side rails it will look more elegant.
You will need to make some wedge shaped pieces for jigs to get good cuts on your legs and top pieces. It is better to do this than to run the blade at an angle.
Edited 3/20/2006 11:50 pm by gb93433
This is the chair I referred to.
Edited 3/21/2006 12:05 am by gb93433
Very nice.
I would encourage you to take some 2x6s first and cut them so that they fit and then screw them in place with drywall screws
I'm not sure what you mean by this. Are you suggesting to use scrap wood to bulid a proto type.
If you have not built a chair before it always good to build a prototype first. Rather than doing all the joinery, after you have cut them correctly to length just screw the pieces together and then see how it looks and feels before you invest a lot of money in nice wood.
Sound advise. I've yet to pick up some reading material but I wonder if there are certain principles with chair making. IE curved back, if so how many degrees, or how high should the legs be.
Generally I use about 3 degrees for the back. I would suggest that you find a chair which is already made and copy it. Chairs for different uses will have different degrees for the back.
Just finished my first 6 dining room chairs after one prototype. They are quite satisfactory to my worst critic - myself. Prototyping is strongly recommended. I copied the seating dimensions & angles of our existing chairs to ensure comfort. The design you show is no more difficult than mine except for the angled mortises & tenons which ought not to be too dificult. As suggested, if you can't avoid them altogether, minimize the number of them that you must make. For strength, every corner of my chairs has an internal brace. Each brace has 3 fingers fitted into 3 grooves & glued.For tooling I had 1)10-inch table saw $450 (got a bargain!); 2)Delta contractor jointer, 6-inch, $200; 3)drill press $150; 4)Delta mortising kit, ~$70; 5)Delta tenoning jig,~$100; 6)Delta 14-inch bandsaw, $380; 7)Craftsman router plus various bits; 8)Ridgid spindle/belt edge sander (neat, cheap, handy!), $240; 9)~$100; various hand tools, ~$100.Even my inexpensive tooling exceeds chair cost, however, there are other costs such as materials not accounted for. Of course, the tools can produce more furniture which should eventually reduce the unit cost to a more respectable figure while keeping you from hanging out at of bars.Good luck whatever you do. If you make them yourself, be certain to make the rear legs in matched pairs.CadiddlehopperP.S,: Forgot a most important power tool used on this project: 10)Delta 22-560 planer, $300. It was quite essential. Rather than buying every tool that has been suggested, you may do a lot of hand work like cutting mortises & tenons. Of course, you have to expect your marriage to last quite a while until the job is finished.Cadid.
Edited 3/25/2006 5:09 pm ET by cadiddlehopper
I was just looking at a Delta mortising kit! How did it work for you? A true table top mortiser would be nice. The manual on the kit said it would fit certain models of delta drill presses from 10 inch and up. So it apeals to me that I can use a drill press more often than a mortiser. I don't know. Maybe that's not true either. I'm defineatly torn on this one. Can't seem to be able to decide. I can buy any demensional lumber I need so I won't bother with a thickness planner.
Interesting idea with your jointery. A few plans I've looked at called for simple mortice and tennon. Your 3 fingers into 3 mortices must have been a challenge. Now, would they be stronger than a regular mortice and tennon.
I was out shopping for prices today. I really only have two choices in town to shop. Homedepot and Midland tools. I'm looking to buy a band saw (300), morticer or kit (250 vs 100), and a jointer (600). Everything else I have. I always get a sick feeling when I'm about to drop that kind of coin. I wonder it your prices are U.S. dallars.
All said and done I'm still ahead of the game since each chair to buy thier asking $250.
Delta mortising kit works fine. If you are clever, compound angled mortises are possible, but, as someone else suggested, perpendicular M&Ts are advisable. Plan work carefully. Once set up, it is a good idea to get all mortising done before removing mortising kit. It is tedious to install. I had to make an adapter ring to fit my drill press. It comes with a set of rings. My kit is older. There may be more rings with the current model.Screws thru corner braces hold down the seat also. Look at the underside of a dining chair. They will probably be there whether attached as I did or fastened with screws. They aren't necessary, but they strengthen a corner substantially. The three finger actually fitted to slots, not mortises.The prices I paid are US $. You must be elsewhere. Home Depot sells their jointer (Ridgid) for about $375 US. It is OK. Their bandsaw (14-inch Ridgid) is about the same. My Delta from Lowe's for $379 US is a bit better machine, in my estimation, but not by much. If you can get an equivalent bandsaw for $300, you have found a bargain.BTW, foregoing a thickness planer may be a mistake. Dimensioned lumber surfaces are not pretty & thicknesses are not consistent. You may have a workaround which could be tedious. LOL.Cadiddlehopper
Cicco,
Here are a couple suggestions. First, draw the chair full sized, front and side views, top plan. Use the drawings to generate your patterns. 2d, it is easier for me to make angled tenons, and cut mortises square to the faces of the legs.
Good luck with your project,
Ray Pine
hi man,
just get the tools needed for the job and get down to work on that chair and make sure it comes out a replica of the one you (your wife) saw! otherwise revert to first option!
good luck.
minduki
Cicco,
This chair looks fairly similar to a chair that was presented in a FWW magazine recently. I believe the author was Garrett Hack, but I'm not positive. Unfortunately I don't remember the issue number or the magazine date. Hopefully someone will provide specifics.
If you can find that article I believe it will provide you with the construction details and information you're probably looking for.
Good luck,
Bill
ps. Here's an image of the chair I had in mind
Edited 3/29/2006 1:37 pm ET by billburke
Thanks Bill. I was able to find and print the article. It will be a great help.
Big sale at the local tool store this weekend. I hope to come home with a Delta jointer model JT360 and a bandsaw which I'm still researching. I'm not sure about bench top bandsaw so I'll post a question in the tool section.
Cheers,
A couple of post's have a rundown of the cost of tools for your project/shop. One thing that is missing...
The satisfaction of having all these tools, knowing you can make anything out of wood anytime you want....priceless!!
Jeff
Soooo true!
Pick up Jeff Miller's book Chairmaking and Design. It's award winning. It is a great resource for building your first chair. Also, always cut your mortises perpendicular! Angle the tenon, its easy. Just make a wedge for your rails. Draw the seat out full size, then use your bevel guage to get the wedge angle. You will save yourself a lot of math and headaches. Good Luck and have fun.
I guess either angled tennons or angled mortices. Sound like angled tennons are the way to go.
Would a tennoning jig do angles.
I have made 2 dining room sets, one of which used the cafe style chairs in Jeff Miller's book. The other set was ones I designed myself, and I think they're very similiar to what you're planning to make. I would be willing to send you the plans I made for the ones I designed, however as I'm visiting with our daugher and her hubby here in Toronto, I can't forward them along to you. If you wish to receive these plans from me (free!), then merely send me an e-mail to: [email protected]
As regards the advice that others have offered, I'd agree with much of it. I made all of the mortises using the original Delta benchtop mortiser, which I use in my small business on a nearly daily basis; it works quite well for both 1/4" and 3/8" mortises, usually about 1" to 1 1/2" deep. I use my table saw (Delta Unisaw) with a dado blade set to cut all of the tenons. In all cases, I cut the mortises and tenons while the wood pieces are all square and straight - then I cut the pieces (back legs, etc.) out of those straight pieces of wood. That way it vastly simplifies cutting the angled mortises that are required.
If you would also like, I will send you some photos of the chairs I've made. Keep in mind that I've only got dial-up internet service and therefore the photos are in low resolution...
Good luck with making your first set of chairs. I'm sure you'll learn a tremendous amount while doing so, as chair making isn't rocket science, but it's challenging and very time-comsuming.
Cheers,
Marty Schlosser
Nepean, ON, Canada
Marty's Custom Woodworking
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