Spalted Maple Chair

[Prashun Patel]

I just finished this Maloof style chair. I've been meaning to do something with this spalted maple slab for a while now. It's from Scott Morrison's plans for a bar stool. It's kind of a Franken-chair; just an experiment. Comments welcome!

[Prashun Patel]

It's finished in blonde shellac. The leg joints are squared off - not rounded over like Maloof's. I wanted to see if it made construction any easier.

[tyler mckenzie]

I wanted to see if it made construction any easier.

Did it?

Great work. Was there any punky parts in the maple?

[Paul Saffold]

Nice looking.

[Jim Becker]

Shawn, that's really great work! The use of the spalted maple is unique and different for this kind of piece, too. Nice!

[gary Zimmel]

That is one funky looking chair Shawn....
Great job.

[Prashun Patel]

Thanks all. I won't be offended if you say 'eeeewwwwww!' I did this for fun and to test some aesthetic limits!

I was able to avoid seriously punky areas of the original slab. Spalted maple can feel like pine, which makes it hard to finesse when shaping lines. I filled wormholes with epoxy and sawdust.

In test pieces, darker, oil finishes tended to blotch or darken in undesirable ways. Shellac was the easiest way to keep the color neutral and even.

The legs are normally cut out of wide, squared stock in order to make the joints easy to cut at the tablesaw. Because I had limited stock to work with, I had to bandsaw the legs to rough shape before cutting the joints. That was tricky. However, part of the fun is figuring out how to maximize the stock. I understand that means my grain matching leaves something to be desired. I also assembled the chair first and then shaped it. That was a mistake.

I'm hoping to make a similarly styled chairswing out of cherry next.

[Brian Kent]

Shawn. It's awesome. Keep going. I'll catch up someday and join you again. I really love the wood!

[John Keeton]

Shawn, that is a beautiful piece!! And, what makes it special is that it is your design. While it may be Maloof inspired, you apparently did this one without a set of plans designed by someone else, and that is a challenge!!

Great job, and an excellent choice of wood!

[Prashun Patel]

And, what makes it special is that it is your design. While it may be Maloof inspired, you apparently did this one without a set of plans designed by someone else, and that is a challenge!!

Thanks JK. Not true, though. I used Scott Morrison's Contemporary Baur Stool plans. All design credit goes to him. All I did was cut it off at the knees to make a chair instead of a stool. My NEXT project will be sans-plans, though... FWIW, his pieces are really magnificent if yr a Maloof-style fan.

www.finewoodworker.com

ps: I'm not in cahoots with or compensated by him; just a big fan.

[Mark Ball]

Fantastic!! The choice of spalted maple really makes this a cool piece. I recently made some blanket chests out of spalted maple, I know the integrity of that wood wouldn't have stood up well in chair form. Is this chair sturdy enough for daily use, or more for a decorative piece? Either way, great job.

[Prashun Patel]

It's a decorative piece. The squared joints are the 'cheap' way out. It's straight forward to chisel them. However, if one has a matched roundover/rabbet set, it's easier to do it that way. The rounded corners actually feel more elegant. Next time I'll do it that way.

Next time I'll also bite the bullet for a massive roundover bit. It'll make the edgework go a lot quicker.

[Milind Patil]

You are on roll dude ! I see a future "Fine Chairs Specialist" here. First the rocker and now this one.

Very elegant piece of work !

[Rod Upfold]

Shawn - I really like the chair (envious)

Although the back is a bit low for me - I am 6' 4"



Rod

[Jeff Wittrock]

Shawn,

That is one cool looking chair!

I think the spalted maple goes real well with the faired joints.

-Jeff