How do you shape a chair seat?

[Dave Anderson NH]

To be fair, I haven't looked at a HH catalog for a while so my info might be out of date. AFAIK, Barr Quarton sells only direct, but I could be wrong. Crown Plane used to be owned by Leon Robbins, but he sold it to the Whites almost 6 years ago as he was getting too old to handle the full volume of supplying both Mike Dunbar's classes and the special panel raising planes and others he sent to Garrett Wade. I'll have to check out the HH website and see what they currently show.

[Jerry Olexa]

I've seen David Marks use a simple grinderand rough it ouT. Then he fine tunes s w usual rasp, smoother,scraper, sanding. Seems to me, he did install a special grinding wheel though. HTH

[Maurice Ungaro]

Dave, let me know what you think - I'd value your opinion. As I have the ability to go in the store, I'll try to get a visual and tactile inspection of these tools. If you've got some insight, it would help.


Maurice

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Maurice- I checked out the Highland website, and they have definately upgraded their offerings. The compas plane and travisher are indeed made by Crown Plane though they still refer to Leon who is no longer involved. Both are excellant tools and ready to go with only a minor bit of honing required. The scorp appears to be a good one and might well be from Barr Tools, but it's hard to tell without seeing the stamp on the steel. Warning though about Barr Quartons tools- they come from him DANGEROUSLY SHARP. He's one of the rare toolmakers whose tools need care when being removed from the packaging to prevent loss of blood. I checked out the tapered reamer and the spoon bit s too. They are the same poorly made cast and badly shaped ones that they, along with Woodcraft, have sold for years. Unfortunately there aren't really any choices any more since Fred Emhoff is no longer making and selling his creations. His were wonderrfully well made and ready to go right out of their shipping tubes and the same warning applied as with Barr Tools. If you can somehow find a set on the used market grab them but expect to pay equal to or more than if they were brand new. I really don't have any opinion on the gutter adze as the picture makes it almost impossible to tell about quality. You could probably find something of equal quality on the used market for less money though.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Thanks Dave. HH's print catalog actually says its a Barr scorp at $129. They also sell Barr mortise and bench chisels.

[Clay Craig]

I drilled depth marks, then used a 'chain saw' wheel on an angle grinder to hog out the seat on this walnut chair - the surface off the compass plane certainly doesn't reflect the hogging method. And, even though it threw more chips than dust, I'd still recommend a dust mask.

But, it can get away quick - this should have the seat 'scoop' end just before the spindles, but the angle grinder took a gouge that required a slight design rethink you can see here ... it's still comfy, even with the spindles set into the scoopage.

Clay

[Matthew Dworman]

I too took a windsor chair class with Mike Dunbar, and I must say that the traditional method is actualy much easier than it looks and quite fun. I've seen several David Marks episodes where he uses the grinder and I honestly think that with an adze, scorp, travisher and compas plane it will go much faster and with better results. The Compas plane is actualy used after the travisher, and it is a joy to use. The adze is also pretty easy to use after you get over the fear of cutting off a toe! If you decide to go that method, there are realy only 2 quality makers of adzes and scorps that Mike Dunbar recomends: Barr and Genuine forgery. I own the genuine forgery ones and they are fantastic. The barr ones are a bit more expensive, but they sure are purdy:

[Carl Eyman]

Suppose you had a plan of the seat with a lot of little x's showing the depth at various points. These would be like the depth marks on a marine chart, And suppose you set your plunge route to these depths. Then, one at a time made a plunge cut at every 1/4" depths, then one at every 3/8" depth, etc.ad nauseum, Would that work as a roughing out method?

[jeremy holloman]

I was looking over at thebestthings.com at the Clifton planes and discovered that Clifton also makes spoon bits. My mother-in-law loves the Windsor chairs and is trying to get me to make her a new table and chairs. I was thinking about taking a class, but the only spoon bits I have seen in person seem pretty much like poorly made junk. Has anybody used these?

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Carl,that'd probably work except I'd get impatient somewhere in the middle and cut too deep

I'm leaning toward the adz, scorp, compas plane route. I'm just wondering how it will work on kiln dried cherry. Don't they make Windsor chairs out of green wood? I worried that the cherry will splinter with the adz.