Adze for carving a chair seat

[paul cottingham]

I am starting on a new project, building a few bar stools with sculpted seats. I am looking for feedback on the best tool for actually roughing the seats out. For a variety of reasons i am limited to the tools carried by my local Lee Valley. My choices begin with LV's "sculptors adze."
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...at=1,130,43332
it looks like a small, light tool, and I've actually held one, it doesn't seem like it would tire you too quickly. But i do worry that it is too light, and may require extra time to scoop a seat.

my second choice is a much more traditional one, an adze you would use standing over the work, with the work between your feet on the floor.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...00,41131,20113
this seems like an adze as i envision one, and i suspect i would make a short handle for it, for use on a lower bench. I am leaning towards this tool.

third and final option is a more robust, shorter handled tool called a gutter adze. It looks like a two handed beast, with much more curvature in the head.
http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...59&cat=1,41131
this tool looks like it could make a seat in no time. But it has the added disadvantage of being more expensive, and my budget is tight (gift card.)

so, any chair experts, or anyone with an opinion, can you offer any feedback on these tools?
thanks, as always.

(Mods, i can never figure out if I'm violating the TOS with pics, attachments and links. If i have, please accept my apologies, and let me know how to make it compliant.)

[Don Slaughter]

Hey Paul,
I've made many chair seats using this http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...=1,310&p=54888 for rough shaping and then follow up with a travisher and a scraper. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how effective the pull shave is. Short learning curve...mostly defining the blade depth.
good luck,
Don

[george wilson]

I can't remember what it is called this morning,but I have had a curved inshave for years. It is much easier to accurately control than an adze type tool. And,it can remove plenty of wood at each pull.

[Matt Knights]

I can't remember what it is called this morning,but I have had a curved inshave for years. It is much easier to accurately control than an adze type tool. And,it can remove plenty of wood at each pull.

Maybe a scorp George? http://home.comcast.net/~kvaughn65/scorp.jpg

[bill howes]

chair seat 2.jpgchair seat 1.jpg
I've had good luck with gouges and although not as fast as an adze, less likely to go too deep. I outline the depths I want with a Foerstner bit and cut with and across grain to get to depth and then smooth with a travisher. Having tried a straight and a curved gouge I now use the straight gouge exclusively.
Good luck with your project

[Mike Henderson]

I use a chairmaker's plane, which is one with a double curved bottom. Another approach is the one Bill H mentioned, drill holes to the depth you need and then clean up to that depth.

For any approach, the difficulty depends on the wood used. Softwood is pretty easy.

Mike

[lowell holmes]

I have a convex bottom Japanese plane as well as a travisher from Highland Hardware. My favorite tool is a travisher made by a classmate in a chair class I attended. It has a 10" radius iron.

It will smooth the seat with ease. There is no tear out and it does a great job on cross grain work.

[paul cottingham]

Hey Paul,
I've made many chair seats using this http://www.leevalley.com/en/wood/pag...=1,310&p=54888 for rough shaping and then follow up with a travisher and a scraper. You'll be pleasantly surprised at how effective the pull shave is. Short learning curve...mostly defining the blade depth.
good luck,
Don

Don, I own one of those, but thought of it as more of a finishing tool. do you use it to actually rough out the seat bottom? Does it take a long time, or is it pretty efficient? one more question, does it work OK cross grain? mine isn't even out of the box yet.
thanks!

[paul cottingham]

I can't remember what it is called this morning,but I have had a curved inshave for years. It is much easier to accurately control than an adze type tool. And,it can remove plenty of wood at each pull.

George, do you use the inshave for roughing out the seat as well?
thanks!

[paul cottingham]

I use a chairmaker's plane, which is one with a double curved bottom. Another approach is the one Bill H mentioned, drill holes to the depth you need and then clean up to that depth.

For any approach, the difficulty depends on the wood used. Softwood is pretty easy.

Mike

do you rough to that depth with that plane?
thanks!

[george wilson]

Yes,senior moment,it is a scorp. I bought mine in about 1965 from Woodcraft.

Yes,I did use it to scoop out chair seats from scratch.

[Mike Henderson]

do you rough to that depth with that plane?
thanks!

Yes, I do.

Mike

[paul cottingham]

Yes, I do.

Mike

How deep, if i may ask?

[Don Slaughter]

Yes Paul, it can hog out material using it cross grain. Once you get a feel for the depth setting then you can use it 'with grain' too but it is not nearly as aggressive as cross grain. The travisher is what I use to 'clean up' after the aggressive hogging out. Travisher can refine the shape so that a card scraper can finish it up. I also use a scorp (as Matt suggested) but find it to be much less effective in hard woods. That is another consideration...I've only used hard woods like oak or birch but many folks use softer woods for seats. I suppose other tools might be effective in that case.
Don

[Mike Henderson]

How deep, if i may ask?

I'll measure and let you know tomorrow. And will include a pix of a chair.

Mike