Making 2 Mission style chairs for the commision - Final Picture

Don Baer

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As most of you know I have a commision to make furtniture for a New Church. If you missed it you can read about it here. Although the church wont be ready intil mid March I figured I'd better get started. I have a problem with storage so I'll be making the smaller pieces first. I decided to start off with the chairs. The main chair will 50 inches tall and the side chair will be 40 inches tall. All the furnisture will be Maple. The chair legs are going to be 8/4.
Today I cut a template for the back legs and got them layed out. There is anough scrap left over to make the table legs but that will be another thread. Tomarrow I should get the legs shaped and the rest of the pieces for the seats cut.
Chairs Layout.jpg
The rear legs are kicked out 3 degress for stability. The back the same for comfort. I got the three degree number from Sam Maloof when He was showing us how he made chairs.
 
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How to make chair legs with a Table saw

While shaping the legs for my chairs today I was getting frustrated by the lack of power my poor little 12" band saw had and the time it was taking me to cut 8/4 maple.(I know I need a bigger band saw) I sat down to noodle it a little and came up with this as a solution.
Chair legs being cut.jpg
I firgure there had to be a wayu to do it on table saw. I took my auxirary router fence and positioned it so that the crook in the legs would basically stop at the proper place oon the legs. Now It was easy to get them shaped.
Chair legs cut.jpg
A little clean up and these will be ready to go.
 
Great solution. I always get an extra boost in the shop when I am faced with a challenge and I can look around at what I've got and say "yeah, I can do that". Thanks for taking us along on the build. I'm enjoying the ride.
 
I was working on the chairs today cutting various pieces and I looked at the drawing. The spindles on the back rest looked funney. On the original design they stopped at the seat. I took a few minutes to see what they looked like if I extended em to the rear spreader on the side chair for comparison and I think it looks better. Here are the two chairs side by side.chair 2A.jpg Opinions please.
 
don, i think it makes the chairs look to boxey.. kinda like someone took a box and added a top and back to it.. my vote is to leave them the way you had them.. just doesnt feel write to me:)
 
Don,
I can see how the jig cuts the outside but I cant figure how it cuts the inside.:dunno:
My next project is a high chair that has rear legs that look just about the same as the ones you are doing.
any help will be appreciated.
 
Don,
I can see how the jig cuts the outside but I cant figure how it cuts the inside.:dunno:
My next project is a high chair that has rear legs that look just about the same as the ones you are doing.
any help will be appreciated.

On the inside you can't complete the cut due to the round blade, I just go as far as I can then there very little to do either with a band saw of a hand saw. There is very little left to cut.
 
Well I fianaly got back on this project. I got all of the legs cleaned up and ready for assembly, I had to redo one of the back legs, the angle was wrong. The back legs are the hard part to to the compound angles involved. Chairlegs.jpgThe rest should go fairly quickly. The plan is to finish the seat components stretchers and head rest dry assemble and then mesage and cut the spindles. The goal is to have them assembled by next weekend ready for finishing. so I can start on the tables.
 
Got all of the mortise and tenions cut for the lower part of both chairs. Here is one of the sides assembled. Chair side.jpg Even with bthe moriser it took longer then expected. It's just my learning curve on using the machine. At one point I was about ready to go back to the old way of doing it. Tomarrow I'll dry fit both chairs so I can measure and cut the spindles and head rests. Then it's more mortise and tenions. The arm rests come last.
 
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