All,
I’m attempting to make a wooden chair with a contour seat, like a Windsor. I’ve glued up and flattened a 2″ thick pine panel measuring about 22″x20″. I cut a thin strip of oak, wet it and formed it around an existing chair base, used that to cut the shape of the seat. I then ran the router with an 1/8″ bit 1/8″ deep around the perimeter, an 1 1/2 in from the edge, this will mark the line of demarcation between the spindles and the shaped area.
My question is shaping the seating area, is it all just done by eye? Are there any suggestions, tricks, etc.? I’m just making one of these so I don’t want to buy a whole lot of tools, but how do they get it so smooth, is it mostly just sanding with bare hands? thanks
Now
Replies
I carve seats out with a 4" angle grinder. The initial shaping is done with an ArborTech carbide-tipped blade, and cleanup is done with sanding discs on the same angle grinder. I drill two holes at the sit-bones to show me how deep to cut, and the rest is done by eye.
jamie_Buxton,Those sit-bone holes..how deep are they from the surface....and would a 3/4" bit in the router be okay?
Those holes are just a depth gauge. You figure out how deep you want the scoop to be, and make the holes that deep. Then when you're carving away, you go until you get to the depth of the hole. I just use a quarter-inch bit in a drill. I wrap a flag of masking tape around the bit as a depth marker, and drill into the blank until the tape gets to the surface. The depth of the hole depends on the shape you want to make. I've made seats which were almost tractor seats -- scooped out a couple inches. And I've made seats which were scooped out something like 3/4" deep.
Jamie_Buxton,Thanks Jamie, that is helpful. When you point out the tractor seat as an example I realize how much variety there is and it really is up to me.
Well you could also chisel out the seat, as well as chopping or sanding or scoping or any combination of any two or more methods. I have tried them all and find the grinding the fastest followed by power sanding through the progressive grades, starting at 60 grit The secret to a smooth finish is to close your eyes and feel with your hand the contour of the seat to find the irregularities. But I suggest practice grinding on a spare board to get the hang of it, if you ever used an industrial floor buffer you’ll know what I mean. It’s not difficult but takes some practice to get use to it.
Yes, feeling for irregularities with the hand should be done frequently. Most people would be surprised how many humps and dips the hand can see that the eye cannot. The eye is good for checking symmetry say compared to a straightedge across the top, and bilateral symmetry compared to a centerline down the middle. Seats that are 'eyeballed' in this way and also checked with the hand are more than accurate enough for the average rear, which is not that smart and cannot 'feel' in the same way as the hand. Just the opinions of an amature . . . and maybe the spelling also.Brian
Hi BG:
I've carved quite a few chair seats now. My method is similar to one of the earlier posters.
1. mark area to be carved; drill holes at deepest spots to use as a depth guage. I go down one inch at the "butt cheeks". And come back up to the top level of the seat at the "pommel".
2. I cut the "gutter" freehand with a small arbortech blade on an angle grinder. This will give you a nice clean edge.
3. Carve the bulk of the seat with an aggressive arbortech blade.
4. finish up with flap discs and ROS.
5. To a large degree the seat is carved the way you like it. There is no formula. Some are deeply carved. Some less so. Exercise your creativity. If you like the way it looks and feels, it is done.
pmm
pmmatty,I'm getting the distinct impression my task would be significantly enhanced with an angle grinder and arbortech blade...and ROS. I'm going to check those tools out but I was hoping to avoid buying stuff and I might just struggle through this first project.I'm probably being a bit annal but I think I'm going to take the suggestion you and others have made and bump it up a bit. I'll grid out the surface with a pencil and, using the router with its depth gauge, drill a graduated depth surface. I'll then remove the material between the dots, so to speak, and come close to the finished depth.I've only read a bit on-line but it does appear the Bosch, DeWalt and Arbortech grinders have good evaluations, do you or others have an opinion?
Bg,I have made a few windsors, and the way I was taught was to layout and drill depth holes as pmmatty suggested. I think the attached pic was also hollowed down 1 inch and that seems about right.
I did mine by hand with a scorp across the grain. They can be had for 25 or so used.
I noticed one other chairmaker uses a big gouge scooping inward.After I was done with the scorp, I used a travisher and then a scraper and very little sanding. In any case, I was amazed how well my seats came out as they were my first and the work is very satisfying. I really like the advice from above:"To a large degree the seat is carved the way you like it. There is no formula. Some are deeply carved. Some less so. Exercise your creativity. If you like the way it looks and feels, it is done."Good luckStevo
pmm
stevo,That's a lovely chair, something to be truly proud of. You mentioned training, did you take a class?
Bg, thanks for the compliment. I did take a couple of classes from Curtis Buchanan (curtisbuchananchairmaker.com). Curtis is a wonderful instructor and a true artist.
I might have to check out the angle grinder as well.
Good luck,
Stevo
BG:
I don't like to think of myseld as cheap. Perhaps careful shopper sounds better. I own 4 angle grinders which I purchased from harbor freight. There is nothing wrong with them. Pd. under 20 per grinder. I keep a separate grinder head on each and just move from one to the other. Even if the grinder burns out, and none of mine have, that is almost a throw away price. pmm
BG, The arbortec is great for quick removal, and it can be mounted on any grinder I think someone mentioned using a disk for the second step, which is correct, but I would like to say that you should get the coarsest grit that you can find for the next step. 32 grit minimum, or even coarser if you can find it. Someone mentioned HF grinders are less than $20. This is true, and they are pretty good for that cheap price. When you use the disk. Treat it like a butter knife spreading butter or icing. Tilt or rotate it to the right, then wipe the right half of the disk against the wood as you move right to left across the work like you are spreading icing on a cake. Coarse disk will do the work pretty fast even without the arbortec wheel if you want to save $.
keith,I'm still reeling from the Maloof news, may he rest in peace. You mentioned a 'butter knife' approach with the cutter or coarse disks. I watched a short video yesterday on the Arbortec website and my first thought was butter knife...and that is how Maloof must shape his beautiful pieces. Meanwhile I've been working the seat with a small chisel and a convex bottom wooden smoother. The smoother is fun, it slabs off about 1/32" each pass..it doesn't do curves well...and maybe the coarse disk would be enough. I have a gift certificate to Woodcraft so I'm going to see if I can spend that wisely or maybe do the Harbor Freight alternative. I must admit however, thinking about the video and Maloof I'm getting a bit inspired to apply that sculpting aspect to some other pieces...so better may be worth it..
BG, There are lots of kinds of pine, and you don't say which, but I would just like to say, that if you chose Southern Yellow Pine. I would advise you to toss it out and start with something else.
The abrupt hard / soft ring layers will really make it hard to get an even finished product. I am not sure that your routing the 1/8" deep groove was a good idea, but maybe I am missing something. Why wouldn't you just scribe a line for that?
Keith,Let me assure you, I don't have the foggiest idea what I'm doing...except maybe having a little fun. I'm prepared to throw it all away and start over, I have some cherry all glued up. The pine is donnage(4x4x42")that I squared up several years ago and have been siting in my basement. I've got maybe 100 pieces like this of various woods, they cost me nothing except a little sweat. These 4x4's are strapped to the undersides of the good wood and serve as skids in the shipping/storing process. Every once in a while I get a good piece and make something nice. I have no idea what kind of pine this is but I think SYP is harder than this stuff. I put the 1/8" grove around the perimeter to provide a clean line of demarcation and a hard stop for the chisel.
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