A prototype Morris-inspired Outdoor Chair and Stool

Frank Pellow

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Toronto, Ontario, CANADA
(post 1 of 5)

I built a prototype of a Morris-inspired outdoor chair this during the last week. The chair wasn't supposed to be a prototype but I made a major goof on the chair, so I am keeping it for us. :eek: I decided on a week ago to make two of these All-Weather Morris chairs for our daughter Kristel for Christmas:
Outdoor Morris Chair 02 -Cutting plan and Picture in book -small.JPG

The plan and the article about making the chair are by David Theil in the book 'Arts and Crafts Furniture Projects' as published by Popular Woodworking. Beside the picture, you see my parts cutting plan.

There is a striking similarity between this chair and a "real" Morris chair with photos and plans in the same book:
Real Morris Chair -small.jpg

Some day, I hope to tackle making the real chair.

The plan called for construction out of 3/4 inch thick pine. But, I decided to use 1 inch thick (5/4 dressed) western red cedar instead. When I picked up Margaret from physical therapy Monday at noon, she was very surprised to see a load of 16 foot long 5.5 inch wide, 1 inch thick cedar on the roof rack of the car. I drove very slowly and carefully. Here enough of the wood for two chairs and two stools is sitting just outside my woodworking shed:
Outdoor Morris Chair 01 -Five Quarter by 6 inch 16 foot long dressed Western Red Cedar -small.JPG


The plans call for 71 parts in a chair and stool after cutting all these parts (as well as 10 more that I found I needed (but more on that later)) most of the edges were rounded over on my router table using a with a 1/4 inch roundover bit then sanded with 80 and finally with 120 grit paper. Here one part is about to be sanded:
Outdoor Morris Chair 03 -All the 71 parts rounded over on router table then sanded with 80 and 1.JPG

The four legs were made as Ts using screws glue and simple butt joints. In fact, all the joints in the chair and stool are butt joints. David Theil only glued and screwed a few of the joints in his chair and used a brad nailer on the rest. I glued and screwed all the joints.

The top of the back legs were cut at a 5 degree angle, started on the table saw then the cuts were finished by hand:
Outdoor Morris Chair 04 -5 degree cut on top of back leg -small.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 05 -Finishing the cut with hand saw -small.JPG

The top edge of the stretchers had to be cut at an angle and my guided circular saw made this an easy task:
Outdoor Morris Chair 06 -Marking piece to cut off a top side stretcher -small.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 07 -Cutting piece off top side stretcher -small.JPG
 
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(post 2 of 5)

Now I realized that I had goofed! :( :eek: The bottom side stretchers were supposed to be installed with the top edge 8 inches off the floor. I installed them with the bottom edge 8 inches off the floor. I decided to add another set of side stretchers lower down, so that the bottom of the extra stretchers will be in the proper position:
Outdoor Morris Chair 08 -Extra lower side rails had to be installed because I had attached the o.JPG

Next, the side slats were installed:
Outdoor Morris Chair 09 -Spacing the side slats -small.JPG

It turned out that 15mm thick plywood was exactly correct to use as spacers.

Now I realized that in correcting the above goof the way I did, I had compounded the problem. The front and back rails were supposed to rest of the side stretchers 8 inches off the ground and there was no way to make this happen. What I should have done when I realized that I had installed the stretchers in the wrong place was to remove them in spite of the glue. At this point, I declared this chair to be a prototype that I would keep rather than give away. The only solution that I could think of was the install the two sides inside out, that is with the slats on the outside rather than the inside of the chair. I proceeded to do this. Cleats were installed to support the front and rear rails:
Outdoor Morris Chair 10 -I realize that the problem compensted for in 08 is even worse -small.JPG

Things went from bad to worse. I dropped the assembly and split the board used as the front of one of the front legs:
Outdoor Morris Chair 11 -Things get worse -I drop the  assembly and split a front leg board -sma.JPG

This I managed to fix with lots of glue:
Outdoor Morris Chair 04 -5 degree cut on top of back leg -small.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 13 -The repair has worked -small.JPG

From distances greater than a metre, I could not see the crack in the repaired leg at all. It is about time something went right. :)
 
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(post 3 of 5)

Now to the arms. Tapers needed to be cut on the back of each arm. I couldn't bother getting out a rail and plunge saw to do the job for such a short cut; rather I just cut the taper freehand with my table saw. It was surprisingly easy to do and the cuts were perfect.
Outdoor Morris Chair 14 -Cutting a taper on the back of an arm freehand on table saw -small.JPG

A piece was cut at an angle at the front of each arm then glued together in order to create a bent arm:
Outdoor Morris Chair 15 -A piece was cut at an angle at the front of each arm then glued togethe.JPG

The front part of each arm was strengthened with two Miller dowels:
Outdoor Morris Chair 16 -The front part of each bent arm was strengthened with 2 Miller dowels -.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 17 -The front part of each bent arm was strengthened with 2 Miller dowels -.JPG

Beveled cleats were attached to the inside of the front and rear rails:
Outdoor Morris Chair 18 -A bevelled seat cleat is attached to the front rail -small.JPG

Next, I stained most of the parts then installed the seat slats:
Outdoor Morris Chair 19 -Seat slats being installed making use of a spacer -small.JPG

I built the frame for the chair back and tested it for size and position:
Outdoor Morris Chair 20 -Testing the back for size and position -small.JPG

The back is to be attached to the chair with a continuous hinge (stainless steel, of course) . A bevel had to be cut on the bottom of the back stiles. I set up my Incra sled to do the job but thought better of it. That setup seemed awkward and, in the end, I simply sawed the bevels by hand:
Outdoor Morris Chair 21 -I thought about using this sled to cut a bevel on the bottom of back st.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 22 -But, I decided that it was easier to cut the bevels by hand -small.JPG
 
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(post 4 of 5)

The seat back was temporarily installed:
Outdoor Morris Chair 23 -Temporariy installing the seat back with a piano hinge -small.JPG

It's a good thing that I tested the back, because I realized that if the back were allowed to descend all the way forward it would put undo pressure on the hinges and, eventually, pull out the screws that were holding the hinge. This seems to be a design flaw not noticed by David Theil. A way to prevent this was to place some sort of blocks on the sides of the back that would be stopped by the arms. Margaret suggested that a make these with a angle matching the angle of the tapers on the back of the arms so that the blocks blend in to the design. I did this, and we both think that they do blend in well ?and they do a good job. Here is a picture with the seat back folded forward as far as it has been allowed to go:
Outdoor Morris Chair 26 -Chair back stops when folded forward -small.JPG

The back can assume one of three angles the use of a simple back support with embedded dowels that fits into a pair of holes drilled in the back porting of the arms. I secured each of the the dowels in the support with glue and with a Miller dowel drilled through the support at a 90 degree angle and into the dowel:
Outdoor Morris Chair 24 Securing a dowel in the back support with a small Miller dowel -small.JPG

I love those Miller dowels - they come in so handy so often! :thumb:

Here the back support is about to be inserted into a pair of holes in the chair arms:
Outdoor Morris Chair 25 -Back support -small.JPG

David Thiele's stool also has a pad, but I am leery of placing pads on furniture that people are likely to be resting dirty shoes upon. So, my stools will not have pads. Since there will be no pad, I had to change the stool design a little bit. The other thing that I didn`t like was that the stool is rather plain. I wanted it to have at least some hint of being Arts and Crafts inspired. But I also wanted to stick to the butt-joints only restriction so not introduce something like through tenons.

What to do? :confused: The aspect of Arts and Crafts that appeals most to me is the exposure and featuring of the joints. There is a somewhat interesting joint formed by the L seen at the tops and bottoms of the legs and I decided to feature those joints in the stool top.
Outdoor Morris Chair 27 -A detail to make the footstool look a bit Arts and Crafts -small.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 28-Cutting the notches for the detail with a jig saw -small.JPG Outdoor Morris Chair 29 -Top of completed stool -small.JPG
 
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(post 5 of 5)

Here is photo of the completed chair and stool:
Outdoor Morris Chair 30 -Finished chair and stool -small.JPG

They are both finished with one coat of Sikens Cetol 1 078 Natural stain. I will store them inside during the winter and add a second coat in the spring.
 
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What kind of cushions are you going to use on the chair?

The chair ought to be even more comfortable than the Adirondacks I made last Summer - and they're very comfortable!

I gotta comment on the 'wings' on the back, though. Even though you explained their purpose, the look out of place to me. I'm thinking that if the back was 'fan shaped' it'd both serve the purpose and look better. When tilted forward, the wider-at-the-top back panel would contact the inside edges of the arms before the hinge got stressed.

But that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.

Oh yeah, BTW, welcome back!
 
Hi Jim and I thank you both for the welcome and for your honest opinion about the 'wings'.

The cushions are going to be 4" thick with a seam and ties at the location where the seat and back intersect. They will be covered with waterproof striped material with oranges, greeens, and browns in it.

I would appreciate anyone else's opinion about the wings. Do they look out of place or do they blend in?

Also, does the stool look somewhat Arts and Crafts like?
 
frank, having built a couple of morris chairs, after looking at all the types and and permutations that they have been made, this is the first i've seen with "wings" like that. personally, i wouldn't put them there, but if you're happy with them, that's all that matters.
 
I believe the chair and stool are equally worthy of matching cushions.
Its a set, and a set should match. And nothing is more comfortable than a nice padded foot stool, hard wood is not comfortable on bare feet, as is a hard surface to sit on.
It is a beautiful piece of outdoor furniture, and I admire the look.
I believe a second one is needed as well as a small table in between to hold the snacks and beverages of the day.
 
Looks Good!!:thumb::thumb:

I have the same plan, and wanted to build a couple this summer, but time has
gotten away from me.

Are you buying or making the cushions?
How much lumber did it take to make each piece?
Is it as comfortable as the real thing?

Mike
 
OK, so no one likes the wings. I really do appreciate this feedback and I will do something different for the chairs that I build my daughter. But, they will probably stay on our prototype chair.

Brice Burrel on the Festool Owner Group forum told me that he used a brass rod to attach the back and to act as a pivot point on a Morris chair that he built a few years ago. I will try something like that.
 
I kept the wings

Last week, I made two more of these chairs and, this time, I placed the side slats on the correct side (that is, the inside). Here is a picture of the two new chairs:

Kristel's 2 Morris-inspired chairs 0n -Finished -small.JPG

I figured our just how to use a rod instead of the piano hinges but, in the end, I opted for the hinges again. I was going to use a rod because many people did not like the "wings" that I added the back in order to prevent damage but I decided, in the end, that I like the wings. This is in spite of the feedback that I received above.

Everone who has actually seen the original chair thinks the wings are OK. I know that they are not what one finds on other Arts and Crafts chairs but a fundamental Arts and Crafts principal is be practical and not to hide any working parts and these are practical working parts. They make the chairs that I build unique so, I decided to feature them by branding the back of one of the wings on each chair.

Kristel's 2 Morris-inspired chairs 0n -Brand on back of wing -small.JPG
 
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