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Thread: How do you shape a chair seat?

  1. #1
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    How do you shape a chair seat?

    I've made two sets of chairs and both had upholstered seats, now LOML wants chairs with solid wood seats. I've been looking in the Highland Hardware catalog (I would love to set foot in that store )and there are lots of tools for shaping seats. The verbage for the travisher says its for smoothing the shape "after the adz, scorp and compass plane have done their job". Does it really take 4 or 5 tools (and $500) to shape the seats? Never having done it before I want to make it as easy as possible, but what is the really the minimum number of tools required?

    I could really use a tutorial on this process.

    Thanks.
    Dennis

  2. #2
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    Dennis,
    I am one of the lucky few on this forum who live in the vacinity of Highland Hardware . It IS a wonderful store for a number of reasons - most of which is the knowledgeable sales staff (they are all professional woodworkers). If I were you, I'd give a call to them, and ask to speak to Chris Black, or Mike Couch. Heck, anyone who answers the Customer Service line would be able to offer you the info you're looking for.

    One of my main "likes" about the staff at HH is that they won't oversell you. In other words, you're not going to end up with more product than you need. A lot of times, they've talked me out of purchasing things for a particular project.

    Good folks.

    Maurice

  3. #3
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    I have will sometimes drill a template with a matrix of holes and mark to the depth of each next to the hole. Place it on the seat blank and drill to the required depth. This is just a guide so you don't scorp or sand to deep. Then using a scorp or a broad #3 to #6 gouge remove the waste to the hole pattern. An angle grinder or Festool will remove the rest. Sitting in it is the true test. Maloof uses an auto body type of sander to shape and then finer grit to finish.
    "All great work starts with love .... then it is no longer work"

  4. #4
    I actually saw Norm make a seat on his Windsor Chair project. I can't exactly remember the tools that he used, but it didn't look to complicated.

  5. #5
    I haven't actually built any chairs that require the seat be hollowed out - but my dad has built more than a few. On the most recent ones he did he did something new... He was making reproductions of 100 year old chairs that were to be paired with the originals at the same table. He's getting on in age (84) and isn't quite up to the physical challenge given using planes and adzes, so he drilled a few holes (something like what Mark mentions) to gauge his depth, then used a 7" angle grinder with coarse disk in it to remove most of the waste. Lotsa dust, but you wouldn't know how he did it from the finished product, as I can't tell the antiques from his reproductions without some very careful scrutiny...

  6. #6
    I've done Windsor chair seats with the traditional gutter adze, scorp, compass plane, and travisher combination and it works well. Having said that, Mike Dunbar, whom I learned from, now starts out setting a circular saw blade to a particular depth (same idea as Mark singer's drilling), and removes the waste with the adze and traditional methods. A friend down the street who is a bit more efficient and isn't teaching traditional methods, but rather is selling chairs for a living, uses the angle grinder for the rough work and then finishes with a compass plane and travisher. The important thing is the result unless you want to work in the traditional manner for funs sake. I would be suspicious of the quality of the scorps and travishers from HH. The ones I've seen require a lot of work to get them to perform properly. Quarton Barr makes a scorp, but it's very expensive, and for a chairmakers compass plane and travisher, you can't beat Crown Plane.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Saurer
    I actually saw Norm make a seat on his Windsor Chair project. I can't exactly remember the tools that he used, but it didn't look to complicated.
    If I remember, Nahm used a scorp and then a travisher, and maybe a curved spokeshave to smooth the bottom when he was done.

    I had heard a rumor that he made the Windsor entirely with hand tools, and was excited when I caught the show on a repeat. Imagine my disappointment when the only hand tools he used on the entire show (at least the portion that I watched) were the one's mentioned above to hollow out the seat.
    Rob in Peoria

  8. #8
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    Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not wedded to doing it the old fashioned way, but I would like to shape some of it by hand. The grinder isn't my first choice because of the mess, but it does sound fast. So it sounds like adz, scorp, compass plane and then travisher is the traditional way to do it. Can a scorp take an aggressive cut? I'm wondering if I can use a combination of drilling holes to set the depth, then a scorp to rough the shape and finish with a compass plane or travisher and only get by with two new tools. Does that sound doable?
    Dennis

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH
    ...The ones I've seen require a lot of work to get them to perform properly. Quarton Barr makes a scorp, but it's very expensive, and for a chairmakers compass plane and travisher, you can't beat Crown Plane.
    Dave, I thought I saw a Barr scorp in the latest Highland Hardware Catalog. Don't remember the price, but it seemed reasonable. Could it be the same one you are talking about?
    Dennis

  10. #10
    You've seen these, maybe?

    http://www.windsorchairresources.com/cp8.html

    http://www.no-wood-unturned.com/chairmaking.html


    I think most traditional windsor chairs used a fairly soft wood for the seat blank. It's a bit more difficult (from what little I know about) to use a scorp in harder woods...

  11. #11
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    Leif, I guess that is a concern since I'll be using cherry. Hmmm that grinder is looking better all the time!
    Dennis

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave Anderson NH
    ............I would be suspicious of the quality of the scorps and travishers from HH. The ones I've seen require a lot of work to get them to perform properly. .......
    Dave, not trying to cause a fuss or anything, but I believe the compass plane and travisher are made by "New England toolmaker Leon Robbins [who] worked closely with Mike Dunbar". Hopefully, Leon has done a decent job of taking the historic tool and making something for use in our shops.

    Maurice
    Last edited by Maurice Ungaro; 03-23-2005 at 9:20 PM.

  13. #13
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    Chair seat shaping

    I know Sam Maloof uses a bandsaw for rough work and an angle grinder starting at 36 grit. David Marks used a small angler grinder with the chain saw teeth grinder wheel. I can't remember who makes them - but Marks was hogging wood real fast and alot less dust than sanding. Of course you'll have to sand anyway, but the majority of hogging would be just chips. I think hogging the wood out with hand tools is alot of work, but if you insist, then the tools of the trade are the way to go.

  14. #14
    That's a good idea - a "SuperCut Wheel"...

    Those are available at carver's supply stores:



    http://www.woodcarverssupply.com/sto...em=24&mitem=25

    There's a 4" and a 5", about $35 each.

  15. #15
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    For a tutorial you might want to check out Jeff Miller's dvd/video.

    Pam

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