How do you get these chair slats the same size

[Alan Lightstone]

Running into a problem I'm having trouble solving. I'm building a Titanic Deck chair, and I've cut out "identical" chair slats from a pattern on a bandsaw, but of course they are far from identical. Subtle, and perhaps not subtle, differences in thickness mostly, and a little in curvature.

How do I get these pieces identical.

I thought of using a pattern bit and a router table, but I can't think of a good way of attaching the pieces together, or to a pattern I can use the bearing to ride against.

I have one side of the pieces sanded identical with my Rotex, but it's now getting the other sides identical that has me baffled.

Here's some pictures of the slats:

IMG_8548.jpgIMG_8549.jpg

I've been trying to find ways in which I can have the bottoms of the pieces sit securely, and identically so I can just use some rasps and sander to sand the tops, but I can't think of how to get them to sit identically, even though their top profiles are identical.

Any good suggestions?

Thanks.

[Andrew Hughes]

Hi Alan, If you need them to be identical to cut tenons on the ends build a jig to hold each end and make the joint one at a time.If you need them to look the same for aesthetic reasons.I would fit them in their place and shape them.If they vary a little it sometimes adds to a piece.
What is the wood kinda looks like cumaru?

[Mel Fulks]

I agree with Andrew....even though it sounds A LOT like "rearranging the Titanic deck chairs".

[Alan Lightstone]

It's Khaya. Seems significantly less dense than the sapele I'm used to working with, but it works quite well.

It's been a challenging build thus far, to say the least.

I had initially planned to make 2 of them (can't rearrange one chair), but now, I'm not sure.

[Eduard Nemirovsky]

Bandsaw cut little bit thicker, then on router with jig make same size and form.

Ed.

[paul cottingham]

Plane them to the same thickness. Steam them, put them on a form to bend them. A "ladder style" form will let you do a bunch at the same time.

[peter gagliardi]

A nice sharp spokeshave will make lightning quick work out of it .

[lowell holmes]

A nice sharp spokeshave will make lightning quick work out of it .

I agree with Peter.

Lee Valley, Lie Nielsen, Woodcraft, or Highland Hardware can fix you up with a nice one.

[Alan Lightstone]

I actually have the Lee Valley ones, though not sure about technique. I'm messing up the other pieces with my spokeshaves, but doing great with rasps, so I'm using them.

The problem is affixing the parts securely next to each other, so that I can work them to the same dimensions. I was able to get one side, but now doing the other side so that they are identical is what has me stumped as they are so thin.

[Bryan Cramer]

All the above advice is good; this is a common problem with shaping identical parts to match without the guidance of a jig. I think a spoke shave or a compass plane will allow you to make them all identical. For parts like this that are thin but wide I would be more inclined to do a bent lamination rather than saw them. The curve is gentle enough to use standard yellow glue, however my glue of choice is epoxy because of the rigid glue line. When building the one part form you only fair a convex curve once, which, as you found out, is much easier to work than a concave curve. The thicker the plies the more spring back, but you could get away with 1/8" thick plies cut on the band saw. It doesn't matter the exact thickness of the plys because of the one part form, but the thickness of the finished part will all be constant. Even if there is spring back all should spring back the same. Steam bending is a good way to go although it take a bit of practice to get the right results if bending wood is new to you. Hope this helps; it was just a brief explanation of bending.

[lowell holmes]

[QUOTE=Alan Lightstone;2453325]I actually have the Lee Valley ones

So do I. Take really thin translucent shavings. Remember, if it looks straight and square, it probably is. Measure it before you put it to bed.

Practice, practice, practice. See if you can find a class somewhere.

[paul cottingham]

Seriously, if it looks true, it is true. I doubt any of the great contemporary chairmakers use micrometers, or even measure much.
if they are still flat, plane them. If they are curved, spokeshave. The lv one is really easy to set up and use (not talking about the low angle model) is the blade sharp? If you cant spokeshave them, plane the outside curves with a sharp handplane.
i wouldn't beat myself up about the thickness. It wont be super noticeable.

[Dennis Aspö]

What about taping the components together with double sided tape, then cutting them on the bandsaw? Assuming you have the required depth on the bandsaw.

[Alan Lightstone]

What about taping the components together with double sided tape, then cutting them on the bandsaw? Assuming you have the required depth on the bandsaw.

Already cut out roughly the same on the bandsaw. It's the fine tuning to get close to identical pieces that's stumping me.

[Mike Henderson]

The way I've made things like that is to laminate bend them. Cut your wood about 1/8" thick (or less), and enough slats to get the thickness you want. Then make a form and glue them up clamping to the form. You'll get slats that are the same thickness and the same bend. If you're careful in marking your wood, you can have the grain flow across the slats.

I did that on a rocking chair I made. If you want pictures, see my web site.

Mike