My Windsor chairs attempt

[larry merlau]

ken is it normal to have the piece to almost size before bending? the are that gave way looks like it was cut down prior.. and if it had been solid then it would have bent together and then cut to shape afterwards,, dont know never done this but the idea sounds logical..

[ken werner]

I did it the way I was taught. The bend there is pretty big. As I consider why it happened, the best I can come up with is that maybe I didn't have it steaming vigorously enough for long enough.

[larry merlau]

wasnt being critical ken ,,like i said i never done it but form the farm days and fixing stuff the break will occur at a weld or a cut not in the weld but right along it if things arent right..

[ken werner]

I didn't take it as critical Larry. I think where I went wrong was I had it oriented incorrectly on the mold and tried to put one twist too many in. Hard to explain, but I think user error is to blame. Dumb mistake. The thinner portions actually should bend more easily than the thick.

[Rennie Heuer]

The picture says it all.

Attachment 65093

Back to the shaving horse.....

Ouch! Bummer.

[Vaughn McMillan]

The picture says it all.

Attachment 65093

Back to the shaving horse.....

Bummer. I guess that's one way to learn how much steaming is needed, just perhaps not the most enjoyable way, huh?

[Don Orr]

Well isn't that just a bummer Ken. Good learning opportunity hopefully. Better luck next time.

[ken werner]

Yesterday I rived another piece from my white oak log. It is the one on the left. By this morning, black stains show where steel wedges were used.



and a closer look at the surface:



get to work with my monster draw knife:



I flatten a face in the ray plane, and then square an edge to it. I can then use a marking gauge to set the thickness of the piece, 13/16".

Once I have two parallel faces, and one square edge, I mark out the shape of the arm, and bandsaw roughly to size. Then clean up with drawknife, spokeshaves and block plane. Elia doesn't use a plane, but I fine it invaluable for getting more consistent lines. Next image is using a smaller drawknife to begin the rounding over of the arm. You can see how subtly it can shape. Then I use spokeshaves, and my beading tool. The arm is ready for steaming, you can see how many shavings are left. These make great kindling, and are saved, dried and used in the woodstove.

It took about 2 hours to go from the rived blank to ready for steaming.

I meant to take a series of photos of the bending, but after getting everything set, I forgot to hit the start button on the camera. Oh well, maybe next arm.

[larry merlau]

YES we have lift off good deal ken.. get it going your way and stay right after it!!

[Vaughn McMillan]

Woot!

It's great to see some progress in the intended direction, Ken. (Although I'll bet nobody is happier about it than you.)

Nice pile of shavings, too. I'm used to see that kind of collection around a lathe, but I guess there are some Neander tasks that can give turning a run for the money when it comes to curlie generation.