The Great Morris Chair project

[Doug Roper Chairmaker]

Jerry,
Too large of a gap within the joint means relying on the glue for strength and, unless you're using epoxy or another of the gap filling adhesives, the joint could fail over time.

Of the two options Rick suggested, the most common "fix" for undersized tenons is gluing a piece of thin stock to the tenon and re-sizing to fit your mortise. It is your best choice for structural integrity.

[Jerry Wervey]

Well I took a close look of what I had as far as fit and finish on the tenons and this is what I came up with, I made them over and the end product is much better, worth the time and effort that I spent doing them over.. Let me say that the first set was not all that bad actually not bad by knocking them out by hand for the most part remember they were oversize in case I made a mistake on the mortise, on that front they came out too my satisfaction In doing them over I chose a different way to put the groove in the stretcher I used a router with a 3/4" straight bit set at 70 percent through the board and with a seven degree angle give or take a percent or two then I figured out the spacing and then cut spacers to fit sanded them down and you need to take a look to find out that they are spacers hope that made sense. The back for the most part is done just needs to be glued together the sides and stretcher are in the same stage so I will go step by step on the gluing process will post in a day or two when it looks more like a chair seems that, that is the progression of it wood, wood cut then the sides next seat and back and poof it's a done deal . Waterlux has anyone used it, if so did you like the results. Have thoughts of using a water based stain in a powder form, rumor has it that you can add powders to an oil based product Your thoughts are appreciated

[David Fortin]

Hi Jerry,

Just finished one and used Waterlox Original. I'm no expert on the many ways this stuff can be applied, but one brush coat followed by five wipe on coats worked for me. I'm happy with the result I got on cherry.

[Jerry Wervey]

First off, Dave very nice looking chair it a amazes me how many different designs / variations are out there for this chair they all have their own personality as do its craftsman. This staining business has got to be one of the most trying phases of building this chair here there is no turning back the samples that you try often don't come all that close to what you thought it should be and your stuck with it. This chair is not all that hard of a build takes allot of time, but I think in the back of my mind I guess it's up front now is the staining, we all know how to make the mortise and tenons and various aspects of the chair but staining to me is that gray cloud that looms out ahead of me don't take me wrong I have made some very nice things and the staining has turned out well but I have had a few that I wish that I could do over on the staining. As you know by now the chair that i am making is out of HRM the grain is very tight and has some swirls to it that I want to pop not get covered over with stain that doesn't take or has that cloudy look to it, my thought as of now are to put an oil on as a finish either tung or linseed it is clear with a slight honey shade ever so slight and after many coats has a hard and lasting finish as well as easy to repair if it gets a bad ding or scratch in it. The other part of me says make it darker this en voles some sort of stain and I really don't like canned goods as of late the pigments seem to settle to the bottom way to fast leaving a greater chance for a poor job not what I am interested in but yet I have never used powders before and on this front I could use a little guidance. It more than likely that I will have the chair done with in a month that would be if I putter along at it stain and all, if I said that it had to get done sooner that would not be a problem could do it within a week

[David Fortin]

I agree with you that the wood working is the more straight forward part of these projects. I am not a staining expert, and have reached a point where I stain as little as possible, relying on the natural color of woods as much as I can. I think you are on the right track with the oil finish. I like the grain enhancement, slight amber color and easy repair. As you know maple can be tricky to stain because of the blotching tendency. Dyes may be different but I have no experience. Good luck. Look forward to seeing the finished chair.

[Jerry Wervey]

To all GMC'ers This is what I am leaning to and for the following reasons But if their Is some one out there that has a tried and trued way to stain maple without it blotching I'm all ears I will be staining two side panels 5" by 13" that will have the scroll saw work and this to highlight it and from rest make it a focal point etc. also what I have seen the fabric and or leather selection lends to much of the look so as it sits it mow sub assembly for most of the chair with more to be cut for the arms.
Jerry from MN

[David Fortin]

Jerry,

I've had some success reducing blotching on maple by using a 10% lacquer wash and gel stain. The gel stain may cover more of the grain than you want. It worked for me on a dining room suite to even out the color.

[Jerry Wervey]

Well here are a few photos for your viewing they are a little late but better than non at all I am finding out that the maple that I'm working with is extremely brittle and have had to make several more tenons than the required amount to get what I need and then some of that is worked in such a way that it finds it's way to a spot that won't be seen i.e. the top side of the chairs arm out of sight so goes the saying only I will know the little character traits / flaws of the chair The back is also done but until I have it in place on the frame of the chair I won't post any photos as to what I looks like so more photos to come in a short time, wont be posting for a bout a week as I am visiting with relatives

[David Ezell]

First, thanks to Walt for starting this Topic and to the many contributors. There is a wealth of information here and I have enjoyed reading it late into several nights. I considered this project for several years and finally took the plunge, using the Woodsmith plans. I added a Delta band saw and Grizzly planer to the shop, but still depend on the trusty Shopsmith V. For sawing, disk sanding and drill press. I'm done, except for cushions and staining, with the first chair and am into the second. Finding 5/4 QSWO was a major challenge here in E. Tennessee, but by geographically extending the search into Atlanta and Winston Salem, finally found what I needed.

I plan to use wood dyes for the first time in finishing and after experimenting, have settled on Artii dyes from Highland Woodworking using a light oak and 10% yellow. The yellow seems to make the grain pattern pop a little more.

A couple of questions:

#1 What finish would anyone suggest over the dyed wood?

#2 I want to order material for the cushions - Seat is 23X26X5 and back is 28X22x4. Anyone know how much material (probably square yards) it would safely take to do these two pieces?

Thanks for all the help already.

[Mike Leung]

Hi everyone
I have been reading this thread for the last few weeks and learned so much. I've been planning on getting my Morris chair started over a year ago but never got around to it. I finally will get the show on the road. Thanks for everyone's contribution. It is such an encouragement. I will start by bending the back horizontal slats. By the way how thick are the slats on your chairs? I have 2 books and one says 3/8" thick while the other says 3/4".
After the back, I'll make the quadralinear legs and sides. I have a lock miter bit that I bought years ago.
This should be fun. If anyone else is about ready to start a chair, let us know. It would be great to be building with others.

I was in Phoenix a few weeks ago and had lunch at the Biltmore designed by Frank L Wright. In the lobby, there were to beautiful bow arms. I took some pictures for everyone. I'll post them when I figure out how.

[Mike Leung]

Here are the pictures I took at the Biltmore of the Bent Arm Morris.
bent_arm_morris_biltmore.jpg
bent_arm_morris_biltmore_back.jpg
bent_arm_morris_biltmore_back_close.jpg
bent_arm_morris_biltmore_arm_tenon.jpg

Here are some other Stickley pieces in the hotel

The back slats are supposed to be 3/8" One book printed the wrong measurement.

[James Brown]

I can't believe it's been a year and a half since I started this thing! I did change jobs, move house, and move shop in that time, and I also procrastinated about applying the finish.

I lurked through the discussion, on and off, but I never weighed in. Anyhow, here it is. I used red oak and adhered pretty closely to the Wood Mag plans, though some of my M & T joints are "real" (not all). Finish is water based poly over golden oak stain.

Now I just need cushions.

[David Fortin]

Great job. Red Oak looks very nice.

[Mike Leung]

I had some shop time this week and finished resawing the laminations for the back slats. Here are some pics the 1/8" thick slats being prepared for gluing. I really could have used a performax making these. My delta planer sniped the ends on some pieces so I had to make a sled with long rails to eliminate the problem. After using my tools this week, I realize how much better my Inca Jointer/Planer is compared to my Delta planer. The finish is so much better using the Tersa head and HSS blades. I just don't want to switch over to planer mode on the inca because it is tuned precisely for jointing now.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1272155905


I was planning on clamping but found this vacuum bag system and gave it a try.
Here is a test piece being bent in my vacuum bag.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1272155905

After 5 hours, I trimmed it and cleaned it up. I think it's going to work. I wish the glue line was thinner. I still can see the lines after jointing the edges. I thought Unibond 800 was supposed to give super thin glue lines. Maybe I am using too much glue. I'll try with less on the next slat.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1272155905

I am learning sketchup and now building this chair digitally as well. Here is the back with joints. It really helps me to build it in sketchup first and figure out the problems I might encounter in the shop.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...1&d=1272156503

I hope I didn't bore you guys with me rambling on like this.

[Ben Davis]

Mike,

I really like the curved back slats. How much curve are you putting in? I guess a better way to ask the question is, how far back is the center point of the curve from the ends? Looks to be in the 3/4" to 1" range.