The Great Morris Chair project

[Ben Martin]

Well, the woodworking portion of my chair is done! Now on to finish sanding before I start the finishing process...

Ben, looks like I am not the only one still building.
After a 3 year hiatus, I am back in my shop last week and I finally cut the tenons on the curved back slats and mortised the back rails. I had to make a jig to cut the tenons on my table saw and bandsaw. I'm glad they turned out ok.

I have a question about pinning. When am I supposed to drill and pin? Do I dry clamp and drill first? Do I pin during clamping and gluing?

I glued the arm to the legs and than after the glue sat I screwed it together. Honestly, the screws probably aren't needed but I did it anyways...

I would suggest covering the arm during the clamping processs. The clamps at the front of the arm left an indentation (this picture is my second attempt, I got smart...)

by the way. what happened to pages 35 and 36 of this thread? it was here a few days ago i think.

Did you happen to change the display format? Mine is only on page 18...lol.

[Mike Leung]

Your chair and ottoman are looking good Ben. I tinkered with the forum settings and found that switching it back to linear display fixed the missing posts. I did not change any forum settings. strange.

I'll remember to put blocks between my clamps and parts when gluing. I am just so happy to be using my tools again and fitting tenons. I had to come up with some simple techniques to clean up the tenons on my curved slats. The other parts of my chair should be fairly simple to cut.

I'll work on making the leg posts next so time to try out my lock miter bits.

[Ben Martin]

I am just so happy to be using my tools again and fitting tenons.

Haha, were you so excited that you took a picture of your first piece of S4S lumber at the new shop?

[Mike Leung]

Lol. It was extremely satisfying when I started squaring up lumber again.

[Jeremy Linot]

Does anybody know if Dewey ever finished his chair. I just read through 35 pages going over 4-5 years time and there are many "lingering" projects out there that I'd love to see completed. I really want to see what he did with the inlays. And what about the other person who was doing the scrollwork on theirs.

I have to admit you guys are driving me a little crazy. It's like reading a long book with a really crappy/unsatisfying ending lol. Please post some more pictures!!

Btw, I intend to start my own pair of chairs and ottomans in the next month. I haven't decided what wood I'm going to use, other than its likely to be unconventional!! I'm thinking of using a Curly or Birdseye Maple and HRM/Cherry laminate combo. I will be using the plans from Woodsmith 115, except I'll likely use through M&T which they didn't.

I will also be going full on Neanderthal on this project. I've sold nearly all my power tools and so I don't have much choice. Unfortunately I can't let this stretch out over several years or my wife will never let mehear the end of it. It's going to be fun!!!

[Mike Leung]

If anyone is still following this thread...

Legs are finally cut. I didn't expect that eight legs would take so long to mill and cut. The bottom end cap, top tenon cap, lock mitered sides and center core all fit together like a puzzle.

The curved back and legs are done so the rest should be easy. I just wish I have shop more time available every week.

[Cody Colston]

I'm still following it. I intend to build a Morris chair for my eldest daughter one day. Until I do, I'm enjoying watching the builds here.

[Ben Martin]

Thought that I would bump this thread back up again, as my chair is DONE! Wow, felt like it would never be! It sat in limbo for a while waiting for my parents to visit to get the cushions finished. Even after they were down we kicked around the idea of what fabric to go with, in the end my wife decided to go with our original intent and go with Black vinyl. There were some really nice cloth patterns out there, but we wanted to match what we currently had.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pictures, I really need to get a better camera to due the work justice...









Hopefully one day I will pull the chair outside and take some pictures in the sun. The book matched grain on the arms looks great!

My Dad was the first to break it in with a nap right after Mom got the cushions done, but since than my Wife and I have both taken turns! It is really really comfortable and I am starting to get a good imprint worked into the lower cushion.

Ben