So, not sure that this qualifies as Neanderthal, as there were a few power tools involved, but this project was primarily done using hand tools. What was (is?) cool about it is that it introduced me to a bunch of tools and techniques I had not used before as well as allowing me to practice some that I am more proficient in. Ok, so here's the final, well, assembled, project: Velda's chair, designed by Curtis Buchanan. The crest rail, arms, posts, arm stumps, legs, and stretchers are walnut, the seat is butternut, and the spindles are hickory. The venue was a 3 week Windsor chairmaking workshop at Anderson Ranch, an arts center located in Snowmass Village (Aspen), Colorado:
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The first order of business was to build shave horses based on the design of Tim Manning (you can find plans in a recent edition of Fine Woodworking). This task was definitely not a Neanderthal one, as we, as a team, knocked these out using the Ranch's amply equipped machine room. The material was the finest framing lumber found at the local lumber yard, most probably Douglas Fir with a couple of bits of maple thrown in. I think we had a pretty able group as these were roughed, machined, and assembled in a day and a half -- 8 shave horses in pretty short time. Here's a pic of Elia final shaping spindles on one of the horses:
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Now it was time to put these horses to work! Elia had shipped out riven blanks of green hickory for the spindles of the chair. We learned to use a drawknife to rough the shape of the spindle. What an amazing tool a drawknife is! I had procured a couple of vintage knives off Ebay and spent hours flattening the backs prior to arriving. Elia admired the job I had done and mentioned I probably wasted 99% of my time doing so. Oh well, the knife in question sure looks pretty now. And it cuts well!
Next, we roughed out the blanks for the crest rail, another non-neander task. But that was quickly accomplished, and it was on to bending the spindles and crest rails. We loaded the steam box, fired up the wallpaper steamer, and quickly knocked out bending the spindles. The crest rails, on the other hand, were a bit more problematic with the Ranch being located at 8,200 feet and the ambient temperature in the 60's. Elia, being from North Carolina, wasn't acquainted with the lower boiling point of water at this extreme elevation. Eventually we located a moving blanket that assisted in bringing the temperature of the steam box up to snuff. We also found a compression strap designed by Michael Fortune to replace the simple strap we had quickly fabricated from sheet metal -- the sheet metal being too thin so it tore after the first bend. Bending walnut is a task that was tons of fun and involved everyone in the adventure! Here some of the folk are bending the crest rail:
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after which it is placed on a drying form:
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We then glued up blanks for the seats from 8/4 butternut. Evidently, it is now hard to find butternut in widths sufficient for a seat blank, so we were back in the machine room gluing up from wide boards (over 11").
Next, we turned the various components. Does using a motor-powered lathe render a task non-Neanderthal? There isn't much (any?) black walnut logs in Colorado, so we were using 8/4 air-dried stock from Pennsylvania. It's best to have straight grain on these parts but more critical for the legs. So we split the leg blanks using an axe and mallet to identify grain direction, sawed the opposing side, and started turning. I used to turn a lot of bowls and had played with spindle turning, but have never had any instruction being introduced to turning in junior high school. It was great to work on technique and creating my parts at the same time! BTW, Anderson Ranch has a extremely well equipped turning studio with a (ho-hum?) lathe, a Vicmarc, an Robust American Beauty, and 4-5 Oneway lathes. No wonder as David Ellsworth teaches here quite often. Here's a pic of Elia sizing tenons on the stretchers using a turner's gate:
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Next, it was onto seat layout. We laid out sight lines and centers for the various holes then bored the requisite holes. Most of us used a bit and brace, but a few went for the quicker power drill. A bit and brace is a pretty good tool for this task as it takes longer for something to go wrong. The necessary tools include a square and T-bevel. BTW, a bevel boss is a great tool for setting the required angle on the T-bevel. Next, we tapered the ends of the legs using a taper cutter and turned the shoulders off. Onto reaming the leg holes and checking the resulting rake and splay. I'd never done this before. Here's Elia checking the fit, rake, and splay of the posts:
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Onto carving the seat. It's good to have wood that is both strong and easily carved. Hence why the seat is butternut. We used an inshave to hog the wood out:
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And a travisher to refine the shape:
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I'd never used either tool before and came to appreciate these fine tools. I don't know why they are not more used in woodworking...
Continued in next post...
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both of the thought of three weeks in a class and also of the setting (as a CO native son). 