Building Wegner's "The Chair" .

[Derek Cohen]

Well, I have finally begun. There is an introduction to the project ..


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...roduction.html


... as well as the start made, here ..


http://www.inthewoodshop.com/Furnitu...ngTheLegs.html


As always, any advice and discussion is welcomed.


Best wishes from Perth for the New Year


Derek

[Sean Hughto]

Looks like you've reproduced the legs perfectly, and the curly jarrah is going to be amazing. Did you consider cutting the mortises for the stretchers while the blanks were still square?

[Chris Griggs]

Nice play by play on the templating and turning. This writeup would really be useful for anyone wanted to reproduce any type of spindle leg. I don't turn yet, so this was of interest to me. It will be useful when I get myself a lathe and go about learning to use it.

Always love to see Lil' Vic getting some love.

[Steve Voigt]

Looks great so far Derek. Looking forward to the rest.
Kudos for being willing to say "this is a jig that didn't work."
Regarding that toolrest, I built one this summer for turning chair parts. I used an syp 2 x 4, then bolted a piece of 1 1/2" angle to it. The radiused edge of 1/4" thick angle makes a nice bearing surface. It is very sturdy. Something to consider if you decide to give it another try.

Steve

[Derek Cohen]

Looks like you've reproduced the legs perfectly, and the curly jarrah is going to be amazing. Did you consider cutting the mortises for the stretchers while the blanks were still square?

Hi Sean

I did consider cutting the mortices while the blank was square. However I was daunted by this as there are too many angles involved to determine up front. Not only are the stretchers offset on the horizontal, but also on the vertical. I think I can work (tenon) more accurately with the completed (round)leg that trying to guess their location on a square face. I will post pictures of the angles later.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Bill Frarey]

Hi Derek, I will be following this. I have always been a fan of the Danish MCM furniture. Most everything I build is from this era and I am lucky enough to have a vintage furniture store near me who always lets me come in with a note pad and tape measure. Take care and Happy New Year. Bill

[Derek Cohen]

...
Regarding that toolrest, I built one this summer for turning chair parts. I used an syp 2 x 4, then bolted a piece of 1 1/2" angle to it. The radiused edge of 1/4" thick angle makes a nice bearing surface. It is very sturdy. Something to consider if you decide to give it another try.

Steve

Steve, that sounds a better design than mine. Next time.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[george wilson]

We made some excellent tool rests at work by welding a 1/4" dia. drill rod across the top of an angle iron rest we made. The drill rod is hard enough that the chisel will not catch on it and get hung up while sliding it along.

We also made a 1" wide tool rest for short parts that was very useful. I need to make one for home. You can't get a normal 6"or 4" wide tool rest close enough to do very small work.

[Max Withers]

So glad you conquered the bandicoots and vegans, Derek! Can't wait to watch this unfold.

[Kees Heiden]

Brilliant Derek! Looking forward to more installments. I can't offer any advice though, never made a chair either.

[Jim Matthews]

I follow this project with the same interest as the other excellent submissions by Mr. Cohen.

I don't turn, so this is somewhat removed from my limited experience.
I have two questions, likely based in my ignorance of both the technique and the wood species chosen -

Does figure in turning blanks lead to more tear out and chipping?
Does the apparent twist shown in some of the blanks lead to a spindle that is eccentric?

I understood that the Danish use of Teak in the 1960's and 1970's was largely because the material turned so easily.

The Jarrah shown is spectacular, but I wonder about the longterm dimensional stability of something like this.

It's an ambitious project, to build any chair.
Tackling an icon with Jarrah is outright courageous.

Kudos

[Jessica Pierce-LaRose]

I feel I may have missed some earlier discussion of this topic, or at least forgotten it; so forgive me if this has been covered, but out of curiosity, what was the "ugly joinery" that he was covering with the Danish cord on the back rest of the earlier version, before moving to the finger joints on the later ones?

Regardless of the joinery, I actually really like the look of the Danish cord on the back rest.

I'll be enthusiastically watching this build; it's probably quite far from anything I would ever try and work towards, but I find this very interesting.

[Derek Cohen]

The Jarrah shown is spectacular, but I wonder about the longterm dimensional stability of something like this.

Hi Jim

This Jarrah is unlike any I have seen or worked before. It is quite rare. It is also very tricky to plane - quite interlocked as well as the curl. When turning it would chip if I tried to take a deeper cut than usual. I had a few big chip fly off when I was roughing out the legs. Fortunately these came out when I turned it to the final dimension.

It should be stable. It has been sitting for a few years, plus I cut it up about a month ago and it has been acclimatising in my shop. What was planed has not moved at all.



Hi Joshua

The "ugly joinery" was some kind of dovetail joint. I have not seen an example. The reason I am not going to cover the chair back is simply because I don't like covering wood. The seat is another matter. I think the Danish Cord is quite beautiful.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Sean Hughto]

FWIW I've never been disappointed by my 12 inch Robust rest for spindle turning. I highly recommend the Robust line.

[Derek Cohen]

Thanks Sean. I have search high-and-low for a few years for a longer rest for my Jet mini. The problem in finding one lies with the diameter of the mounting shaft, which is narrower than the average. It would be a 1 minute job if I had welding gear. (... must find a friend with welding gear ...)

Regards from Perth

Derek