Take a seat

Rennie Heuer · Nov 3, 2022

Next project on the list is a pair of chairs to match the chess table. Shaped specifically to 'embrace' the table they have back splats and stretchers that are bent laminations and the seats set at 45 degrees fit nicely between the legs of the table. Solid QSWO throughout.

Still working on the joinery. Dominos, certainly, where the stretchers meet the legs at 90 degrees, but the curved stretchers will not be so easy.

The wide splat will have the upside down heart cut out to matched the table. That little feat of stock removal will be done by the east coast version of 'Industrial Art and Magic', more commonly known as Leo's Workshop.

Tom Niemi · Nov 3, 2022

Those will fit the table much better than his original seats :lurk:

Leo Voisine · Nov 3, 2022

You give me WAY too much credit

Ted Calver · Nov 3, 2022

I think you should lower that front leg just a tad bit more. :rofl:

Rennie Heuer · Nov 3, 2022

Ted Calver said:
I think you should lower that front leg just a tad bit more.

Yep. One of those things you adjust as you build.

Rennie Heuer · Nov 4, 2022

First order of business is to make the bending jig for the laminated stretcher and back. One and a half sheets of 3/4” MDF and a quarter sheet of ply with some maple runners make up the jig. I am convinced that no tool/material combination can make a bigger mess faster than a router and MDF.

Since the laminations will be 3/4” thick I cut the initial piece using a 3/4” straight bit using a circle cutting jig. This guarantees the correct radii for even pressure on the lamination. I used the initial piece to guide the 3/4” flush trim bit to cut the balance of the sheets. It was not without a few hiccups. In retrospect it might have been better to cut the waste out with the band saw and then just flush trim one part at a time.

Everything gets stacked, glued, and screwed. The base gets covered in packing tape as will every surface that is likely to get glue on it.

For the curious, the jig weighs in at 82 pounds.

Paul Douglass · Nov 4, 2022

Ted Calver said:
I think you should lower that front leg just a tad bit more.

Oh come on,,, now you are just bragging or having dreams of .grandeur!

Ryan Mooney · Nov 4, 2022

That's a super solid looking jig! I really like how you setup the base for aligning the two halves.

Jonathan Shively · Nov 5, 2022

For comfort for a long sit, wouldn't an oversized barstool round top work better? With the current back still added. Kills my back to sit without back support as I "mature".

Leo Voisine · Nov 5, 2022

Please send me the sketch of the radius of the back. I will need to build a jig for that.

Rennie Heuer · Nov 5, 2022

Jonathan Shively said:
For comfort for a long sit, wouldn't an oversized barstool round top work better? With the current back still added. Kills my back to sit without back support as I "mature".

I agree, but the customer had some very specific wants. First, it is inspired by an original A&C chair.

Second, it had to fit in between the legs of the chess table, nesting, and the backs needed to match the circular top of the table. Additionally, the chairs are a little tall (20" on a compressed cushion) and the lower stretchers are at a specific height from the floor to give his daughter (who is relatively short) somewhere to put her feet.

Rennie Heuer · Nov 5, 2022

Leo Voisine said:
Please send me the sketch of the radius of the back. I will need to build a jig for that.

The inside radius is 17", 17 3/4" outside. It is a 90 degree arc. I can send a drawing when we get a little closer to the construction date.

Leo Voisine · Nov 5, 2022

The radiuses work for me.

1) You want the cut to be normal (perpendicular) to the surface throughout the cutout? Rotary is required.

2) Is it ok for the cut to be NOT normal - as in I just cut straight thru? Not rotary axis

Rennie Heuer · Nov 5, 2022

Leo Voisine said:
The radiuses work for me.

1) You want the cut to be normal (perpendicular) to the surface throughout the cutout? Rotary is required.

2) Is it ok for the cut to be NOT normal - as in I just cut straight thru? Not rotary axis

Interesting. Call me?

Robert Horky · Nov 5, 2022

Leo Voisine said:
The radiuses work for me.

1) You want the cut to be normal (perpendicular) to the surface throughout the cutout? Rotary is required.

2) Is it ok for the cut to be NOT normal - as in I just cut straight thru? Not rotary axis

I too am looking forward to understanding this and how the 'rotary' figures in. Will be watching.

Leo Voisine · Nov 5, 2022

Sorry guys - no rotary

I just talked with Rennie and given the size and position of the cutout the rotary will not make enough of a difference to make it worth while.

The difference between the cut at normal to the cut at an angle will be less than 1/16 of an inch.
There would be significant effort to set up the rotary for such a small difference, so no rotary.

I do have a rotary video on my youtube channel.

Toni Ciuraneta · Nov 7, 2022

Jonathan Shively said:
For comfort for a long sit, wouldn't an oversized barstool round top work better? With the current back still added. Kills my back to sit without back support as I "mature".

Talking about back rests, I would make them not higher than the table, so that when tucked against it the whole thing would be more "closed" and you would get some sort of a cylindrical piece. But that is my personal opinion and it is your design Rennie.

Rennie Heuer · Dec 20, 2022

Finally getting back (no pun intended) to these chairs. Problem of the day - how to fasten the large splat between the two rails.

There were several options. I could just glue and clamp. They are, after all edge grain to edge grain making for a solid joint. I could also use a spline, though guiding a router around the curve seemed a bit daunting. I thought the best way might be dominos. The only problem I saw was keeping the domino from rocking white plunging.

I solved this by adding a couple of thin strips with double sided tape. This way I could ride the outside curve with no rocking.