The Great Morris Chair project

[Michael Peet]

Jointing and planing by hand is pretty nuts Mike. I was squaring and dimensioning some lumber for a few hours yesterday with stationary power tools and I was tired. Have you considered taking your lumber to a local woodworking school and using their machines to dress and square the rough stock? Good luck with your build.

I am almost done with my chairs. I have the wedges cut and glued to form the drop in the arms. I just need to cut the dado and through mortises in them. I have finished the design of my ottoman which has a bottom shelf.

Yep, but a good way to stay warm this winter. Not a pretty job for sure. So far I have blood and sweat into this project, and I'm sure the tears are yet to come. I snapped a pic tonight:

P1020772.20.jpg

I ground the blade on an old #3 with a heavy radius for scrubbing. The oak sure is tough on that crummy old iron; I need to sharpen every few boards.

Your chairs look great. There is some nice figure in your arms, you and Ben both. Sorry to see you are finishing up just as I'm getting going.

Mike

[Joe Cowan]

Welcome to the Morris thread Joe. I am using the book The Furniture of Gustav Stickley: History, Techniques, and Projects by Joseph J. Bavaro.


I have looked at all of the plans available and the plan from this book is the most authentic to the original. One place where all the other publications mess up is the where the arm and front through tenon meet. Some have the tenon biased towards the front while others have it towards the rear of the arm. I modeled the chair in sketchup and worked out all of the details before cutting wood.

After seeing the flat back versions and the original version with the curved rails, the curve softens the linear lines of the chair in an elegant way. I don't think comfort will be sacrificed too much going with the flat back but it just looks a little primitive in comparison. I am a product designer by trade so the little detail make a huge difference in the character of a design to me. It did take some time slicing and laminating the curves but is all worth it in my opinion. I also used a lock miter joints on the legs and that took much longer than just gluing 2 halves and adding veneers.

Glad you are going to join us.

It is a small thing, but the foam back of the chair will have a gap behind the foam cushion and in front of the curved slats? I am still considering doing the curved slats but with foam cushion in front of it, will you even see it enough to make it worth the time?

[Mike Leung]

Are you going to rip that 12" QSWO board into itty bitty pieces? I am trying to save my wide boards for my dresser and table projects. IMO the flatenning is looking really good. I recently cut most of my ottoman lumber mainly from leftover scrap boards and veneers when my boards were too thick. I was spent after milling that pile for two ottomans. Keep up the good work and update us often.

Yep, but a good way to stay warm this winter. Not a pretty job for sure. So far I have blood and sweat into this project, and I'm sure the tears are yet to come. I snapped a pic tonight:

P1020772.20.jpg

I ground the blade on an old #3 with a heavy radius for scrubbing. The oak sure is tough on that crummy old iron; I need to sharpen every few boards.

Your chairs look great. There is some nice figure in your arms, you and Ben both. Sorry to see you are finishing up just as I'm getting going.

Mike

[Mike Leung]

The chairs I have seen with curved backs have cushions that contour to the curve after some usage. If it doesn't matter to you maybe going with flat slats is the way to go. It did make the build more difficult both in lamination and cutting the tenons. From the front you will not even notice it. Which project plan will you end up using?

It is a small thing, but the foam back of the chair will have a gap behind the foam cushion and in front of the curved slats? I am still considering doing the curved slats but with foam cushion in front of it, will you even see it enough to make it worth the time?

[Joe Cowan]

The chairs I have seen with curved backs have cushions that contour to the curve after some usage. If it doesn't matter to you maybe going with flat slats is the way to go. It did make the build more difficult both in lamination and cutting the tenons. From the front you will not even notice it. Which project plan will you end up using?

I have the Fine Woodworking plan and bought the Wood Mag book. I am now torn about which one to build as I like the curved back. Getting cushions that can conform may turn me towards the Fine Woodworking plan now.

[Ben Martin]

I have the Fine Woodworking plan and bought the Wood Mag book. I am now torn about which one to build as I like the curved back. Getting cushions that can conform may turn me towards the Fine Woodworking plan now.

Joe,

The cushions don't have a curve to them, they just conform with the weight of the user. If you see my pic above, that was just a flat cushion when it was made...

Ben

[Michael Peet]

Are you going to rip that 12" QSWO board into itty bitty pieces? I am trying to save my wide boards for my dresser and table projects. IMO the flatenning is looking really good. I recently cut most of my ottoman lumber mainly from leftover scrap boards and veneers when my boards were too thick. I was spent after milling that pile for two ottomans. Keep up the good work and update us often.

Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to. I ordered mostly 5/4 to make thick parts and to resaw into slats, plus a little 4/4 to make the 3/4" parts. I specified minimum widths but not maximum, so all my 4/4 came in wide boards like that. I agree it's kind of a shame to cut it up into little pieces, but there you go.

The pile of boards in your pic will take me weeks to make, lol.

Mike

[Joe Cowan]

Joe,

The cushions don't have a curve to them, they just conform with the weight of the user. If you see my pic above, that was just a flat cushion when it was made...

Ben

Thanks for the help.

[Walt Caza]

La-Jaconde-1506_brt_800h_104K.jpgMr_Eiffels_tower_800h_105K.jpgNat_tower_brt_800h_106K.jpghighspeed_hobo_brt_800wd_106K.jpg

Good Day to the Creek, Jan 10, 2014.
No one wants to be the bearer of bad news.
No one wants to be a downer for others.
Time for me to speak on my silence, if you’ll let me…
(Where’s Walt? Why so quiet? Who’s driving this bus?!?)

I am writing to share that I have not abandoned my passion for wood nor this thread.
Good health has unfortunately abandoned me.
Since we last chatted I have tumbled into a deeper swirling blackhole.
After a lifetime of chronic and harsh illness, I have taken bigtime sick.

There have been times when I have invested great energy into this woodworking story.
I have not cut hardwood in my beloved workshop in a few dismal years.
I shy from posting, mostly because my dark mind oughtta contain my negatives.
But mostly because I fear I’ll feel like some kinda fraud, posting on wood whilst I am far from there and not in the shop.
My workshop is a mile away from home, on the other side of our small town.
When I was a kid, it’d have been just a one-traffic-light ride.
These days that mile takes 4 red lights, busy train tracks and a couple 4-way stops.
So far away from me, while at home, in my sick cage.-the longest mile

There have been times when I have harvested great energy from this woodworking story.
For me, gathering my tools and lessons, and building my first Morris chair was a big deal.
Gathering kindness with, for and from strangers has given tears and tears of joy.

Currently I am looking down both barrels of my worst nightmare…..
Fire one: total colectomy with ileostomy
And Fire two: proctectomy. (particularly grievous for men)
Waiting for needed surgery whilst hoping it never happens.

My shop sits as messy as I left it on an ordinary day.
My big dustcollector needs to be emptied. A garbage can worth of white oak shavings spills out of my jointer onto the floor.
My black beauty tablesaw looks lonely piled deep with offcuts.
The fluorescent working lights have not been turned on in dodgy years.

After a difficult lifetime of pain, illness and disability my darling wife & I bought my childhood workshop,
my father’s white barn on his father’s old farm. The chicken coop is long gone. No more seas of soy nor tall corn surround the old family farm,
but it’s ours. We rent out the farmhouse and I keep my dream in owning my Dad’s shop.
I banged nails and my little fingers under that roof my whole life.
All curious and driven and self-taught and bandaids.
7 days after closing the farmhouse deal, I was in the next city in a serious cutting edge teaching hospital after being painted into a medical corner.
And after a lifetime of secret toilet bleeding and wicked pain,
I was formally diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in a single trying overdue day. I hid as looong as I could, but ran out of road.
That was 3-4 years ago, and healthwise things have only declined.

Auto-immune disease rears it’s ugly head. Such a monster varies in range.
Mine is unfortunately active from the tip of my silver tongue,
gnawing ulcers all the way through and to my bum.
My individual case is not typical and is particularly pernicious.
Your mileage may vary. Mine has been a full plate overwhelming.

A slew of doctors and drugs and ugly invasive tests have not stopped
nor even slowed my disease from ravaging my body.
The attending inflammation has ruined my joints and my hands hardly work
any more. Arthur is my constant companion and troubles me greatly.
A big risky topshelf drug left me with Lupus which put me on a cane for several dim months and echoes in me still.
Etc etc blah blah blah

Anyhow, I am not woodworking, and it is hard to say “I am unwell”.
As I find my way through the black night, I take joy in this chair story.
On my birthday a few months ago, my sweet wife asked me what I wanted?
Having given it no forethought, I turned and instantly said:
“I wanna speak to my chair buddies, Nathan and Gary.”

Couldn’t get Gary on the phone just yet, left a message.
Did a wonderful hour to the west coast with Mr Nathan Conner.
Warm and fun and funny and a real human connection with a great guy.
I put the phone down and it rings right away and then Gary gave me a good hour of conversation too.
Whatever I invested here, I always got more back.
Way back when… I shared my thoughts on giving in this thread.
I believe it is impossible to give more than you receive. –cosmic law

I have received so much from this adventure and those connections.
*Thanks to my lovely wife Natty for my dream tools and workshop.
(my Morris chair sits in my shop to this day. Otto parts need joint tuning for tenons to just slip in. Test vinyl cushions a lil underwhelming.
Tilting seatback NOT yet drilled,
Wanted to play with back angles and comfort before committing.

*Thanks Nathan. (his Morris chair sits in his shop, still needs cushions, wishes he had built two, he even has the space for a pair -shucks)

*Thanks Gary. (his pair of chairs sits in his workshop still. Needs cushions.
Has space for the chairs in the house. Gonna go cowhides some fine day)

All three of us loved the journey but have yet to complete it. -very telling

*And Thanks to our beloved Creek for hosting this little joyride.
All of us involved gush-on still about how we enjoyed this Morris chair project.
My sweet wife still does not know I built my first chair for her.
I hope she knits in my Morris chair for decades after I am gone and sometimes remembers me.
–a permanent oak valentine crafted from my heart

I cannot see around the next corner, trying to find my way through my worst nightmares. Never a dull moment to be sure.

I have learned that
getting knocked down is nothing.
Bouncing back is everything.

The hope to get well and get busy back in my shop helps keep me going.
Some day I will cobble together my Morris chair ottoman.
Someday I will finish proper and present my wife her oak throne.
And I will share a peek with the creek when I do.
Heck, I’d like to build a chair for myself, but taller sitting position.

I told GZ years ago, it’s like I packed a ball of snow in my hands
And rolled it down a hill with kind but deliberate intention.
It warms my heart to see that snowball is still rolling warmly here.

My darling wife and I remain peaceful and joyful.
She is beyond a doubt my greatest blessing and always at my side.
Sick-as-hell we shared our anniversary walking around some pretty but ancient town,
just holding hands and taking in amazing experiences.

It was just me trying to lock-in more good things which can never be taken away from me.
Whatever happens from here, no one and nothing can take that from us.
We will always have Paris and our dozen magic years together.

I put her to stand in line one morning at that silly mechano-set icon tower.
Slipped beneath the foundations for a public toilet nightmare of
Soulshaking, gutwrenching crimson pain for a murderous half hour.
Emerged to find my sweetness had tix and was close to the front of the elevator line.
Holding hands we ascended into victory with triumphant smiles.
Awe-inspiring atop the grand old city of Light over the river Seine.
Bullet train to the Alps was our dream come true together.

Now we are home to deal and heal and somehow march on.
Holding hands in peace and joy and waiting-for-emergency-surgery.
(a high stakes oxymoron waiting to abcess deep inside)
Which promises nothing, but to-be-in-the-least life-altering.
A whirling dervish of feverish flux has me in the pivot.
I hope to emerge somehow from this darkness…
to measure 3 times and saw once and express my wood passion onward.

Long flow the warm spirit I have found & shared on Sawmill Creek.
Heartwarming to see good folks still connecting and sharing in this-ole-thread.
Lifts me nyice, even though I shy away these days.
The Great Morris chair project rolls on! The sharing grows…

My friends whatever is important to you find it, do it, love it, hold it in your hands and always let them know.
I have said it all along… for… tomorrow is promised to no one.
Let’s live and learn, love and laugh today.
Ya, that’s me, long in the tooth and ever seeking truth.

I am unable to mention and thank every important contributor.
Quick special thanks to Keith and Jackie, Glen C and Glen B, Roy Wall and Sarge,
Steve Schlumpf, Cody, Belinda, Hugh and all who took time to respond.
Sorry I cannot name all who chatted me both public and private,
But it was everything and meant everything and it was great!
So many diverse people have built and shown wonderful chairs. -wow

Some sunny day I will be back in the sawdust again... or die trying.
Thanks for everything gang. It was life-affirming and sooo fun.
Any and all well-wishing is duly noted and cherished by my wife & myself.
I try my best to remain cheerful and positive any time I can manage it.
In peace and joy always
Walter Charles Caza

Ps “just trying to carve our name in ice on a hot summer day”
Arthur Miller

Pss My dear pal the exquisite craftsman Mr.GZ likes to tell me,
when I am able to hear it… Life is good.

I did not stop to proof read this, just a lil minddump therapy.
For iff’in I did I may never have found courage to post it.

Gary our baby snowball rolls on warmly still my treasured friend.......
It’s big and bloated and unwieldy as heck, but did us proud.
Fight the good fight. Wood is good too.
Take care my far-flung but valued friends

My Creek inbox tends to be full. I find it hard to delete friend messages.
I like inspiring quotations, and accept sunshine and support in my personal email address.

Pics are: the icons, the girl, and what's left of me on the bullet train to the Alps
(with my shiny new pencil neck) :P

[Mike Leung]

Walt, This thread that you have started has brought and is still bringing so many woodworkers together. I have read it from the beginning more than twice already. I would like to Thank you for the spirit, encouragement and laughter you have brought to this community. I feel that I have been building my chairs amongst friends and not alone in my shop. I am delighted everytime I am alerted of a new post.

Your trip to Paris brings back so many fond memories. My wife and I went to Eiffel tower right on her 40th birthday. It was a dream come true for the birthday girl. Words cannot describe how wonderful that little city is.


I wish you the best Walt and pray that your health will return soon. You are not done with your chair and ottoman yet so you have to get better. That is some courage you have to share about your illness and your deep thoughts with us.
May every measurement, cut or move we make we make building our morris chairs and ottomans be a wish for Walt's recovery. Be strong Walt. Fight. I will still look forward to whenever you post here.

[Michael Peet]

Walt, I too have read through this thread more than once, enjoying every minute. I always hoped to be posting my own build experiences here, and finally decided there is no time like the present.

I have drawn much inspiration from your baby snowball, and I know others have as well. May you draw some comfort from the many of us who are pulling for you.

I look forward to seeing pics of your completed chair and ottoman set.

Be well, friend.

Mike

[Rob Parsons]

Walt,
I consider this the single best woodworking thread that I have ever encountered. Even though we have never met, I think of you every time I see this thread grow.

Instead of the snowball, I see you as a woodworking shepherd with a loving flock.

All the best,
Rob

[Mike Leung]

Arm mortises are now cut and fitted to leg assemblies. I ended up using my hollow chisel mortiser for the task. It took a little bit of patience to get things to fit. I was worried because I didn't want to mess up on the arms. I don't have any extra 6/4 or 5/4 left. The dados will be cut next. I ordered a couple of router bits for the job. I first ordered a spiral compression and then decided a pattern bit might be easiest to cut by using the bearing as a guide. How did you guys cut your dado under the arms?

image.jpg

[Michael Peet]

Mike, are those real through tenons on the arm tops? I was considering that (waaay down the line from now). Looking good!

Mike

[Mike Leung]

Yes those are through tenons. Since I have the XY vise on my mortiser, it made it easier to cut the mortises cleanly. Are you guys getting some shop time this weekend? I am chatting offline with Walt about cutting the dados under the arms. This dado is the last challenging cut on this chair. After that it will be smooth sailing.

Mike, are those real through tenons on the arm tops? I was considering that (waaay down the line from now). Looking good!

Mike