# Stickley Morris Chair - finished



## Ironballs (4 Apr 2010)

Right then, this is my evening class project for the year and I've decided to do a chair, Gustav Stickley's interpretation of a William Morris recliner chair to be precise. I've not built a chair before and I like the specific look of the Stickley so I decided to get some plans to follow, a quick search and a tenner later I have what I need from Plans Now - though they are American which means everything is inches. Job number one was to convert into metric.

Like Stickley's original my chair was to be made from quarter sawn white oak, which meant a long time trawling through boards down at the timber yard to find what I needed. Chris at Yorkshire Oak was his usual helpful self and was on hand to help me dig through them; in particular when I started to hunt out boards to make the 10mm square spindles, he pointed me in the direction of his waney edge offcuts, all I needed and those came for free.

This is what I arrived home with (though not all shown), pretty rough and there's a lot of work to properly select my pieces and make my cuts.

















Now the more observant among you may have noticed that we are in April and most classes start in September, well, yes they do. However I had decided that I would do this project almost solely at class, which limits my shop time to 2.5 hours a week in term time. What I did underestimate was just how long it was going to take me to machine all this stock and most of the first term was given over to preparing the boards (bar a couple of weeks lost to a side project). I was pretty fed up with machining by Christmas. I was also a little bit stronger as heaving that amount of oak around keeps you fit.






The legs on a Stickley have Q/sawn figure on each face, which means they're composite legs, the originals had a special interlocking moulding based on a 45 deg bevel. You can buy the tooling to do this, but it isn't cheap - for a one off. The plans used a couple of planks glued together with a sawn veneer covering the glued non Q/sawn edge, I didn't fancy this and went for a 45 degree bevel joint instead.

For some reason I had disengaged the brain when buying my stock and had bought boards just over the full thickness of the leg rather than thinner boards for making composites. So I had to re-saw the boards and thickness (very slightly!). It was then off to the spindle moulder to pass the parts through; this largely worked well but a minor issue in set up lead to some instability and the cut wasn't perfect, ie some snipe and some undercutting.

A further issue arose when I inspected the boards the following week. Some had moved. Balls. Any road I cleaned them up and embarked on one of the most trying glue ups I've ever done. See below...





















As you can imagine it was a delicate job and involved lots of tightening and backing off of clamps to get the piece nice and square. It was at this point that I thought, perhaps a jig would have been a good idea. The rear legs came out fine but the fronts were the ones with the movement and despite me best efforts I could not overcome this and there were too many gaps and overhangs. So I binned them. Bought some new boards and made up for lost time by making the cuts at home, but this time by ripping on the table saw.











This largely went well but again the cuts weren't perfect and needed some cleaning up. Glued these up as before and you can see where there were some imperfections.






There was also some excess glue which was trimmed off with a scraper






A couple of minutes with a scraper burnisher had closed the gaps and a wipe with the sandpaper tidied things up






That left me with these and the more eagle eyed amongst you will notice that one leg is not 100% square, duly noted in my onward calculations and not a big enough issue to warrant a remake






Finally it was time to get on and cut some joints, so off to the morticer to make some holes in the legs











After that I had to make about 14 billion tenons and decided that bandsaw and shoulder plane/chisel was the way to go, giving me a mix of power and hand tools. Needless to say it took quite a while to fit each of the rails, but satisfying and you got nice black hands from the tannins and cast iron.

Now......also included in the plans is an accompanying ottoman (stool to you and I) that I wasn't going to build, but after pressure from the Design Authority I decided to go for it. As this coincided with a slight letting up of the sub-Arctic temps round here I decided to speed things up by doing the stool at home. Again lots of machining and one piece legs this time.

My little Axi morticer ate up these mortices and again proved its worth. Previous experience lead me to do two things, one to shim the fence with card to get it square (a design flaw) and two to treat the chisel like any other and flatten/polish the sides. Like a knife through butter now and no sticking.

Here are the legs being done
















I made and fitted the tenons as before and then went on to making the bevels on top of the legs. A bit of marking






A bit of sanding to get through the waste











Then some block planing






Some more marking and repeat of the steps above






To leave me with these






Now, remember those spindles I mentioned earlier, 32 on the chair and 16 on the stool, these took an age to machine and all need a little tenon on each end. Essentially a batch job and one for the tablesaw. Now for those of a nervous disposition, yes the guard and knife have been removed, but I'm using the sliding carriage and my hands stayed on the safe side of the upright clamp holder.

Here you go. A pass on all of them to the shoulder line and a second pass to remove the waste at the end






That left me with this little pile that all needed cleaning up with the smoother. This was a looooonnngggg day






Back to the chair, I had to make some more tenons for the back slats but these required 1.5mm of wood removing from each face. Not a great deal, so I decided to make use of the full facilities at the college











Worked a treat after the test piece had shown that the bed was 0.5mm out :x 






Another job on the chair, this time the arms and as they have a bend in them you have to create a little extra thickness to allow the cut to be sawn in. Doesn't look pretty now but hopefully will do later






Seems to be a lot of elapsed time for not too much progress! I do have some other bits and pieces complete like the corbels for instance, but I'm at the point where things will start to come together quite quickly


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## WoodAddict (4 Apr 2010)

looking good so far, all the time on the prep work will be worth it in the end


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## wizer (4 Apr 2010)

Wow, bravo. Looking good mate.


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## OPJ (4 Apr 2010)

I like the look of this so far. Do you have any photos or sketches of the design?

Interesting way of doing the legs. I also much prefer this method to gluing a length of veneer on two faces. :? Why did you decide not to add any biscuits or splines? That surely wouldn't have helped with the alignment during the glue-up.

Keep those photos coming!


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## Mattty (4 Apr 2010)

There is a serious amount of work in the legs mate. Do you have a pic of the design or a similar project?


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## Ironballs (5 Apr 2010)

There is a lot of work in the legs and I'm hoping it's worth it - they look good so far. Olly, yes, biscuits may well have helped! However I don't have a great deal of depth to play with and there are a lot of mortices that could find a biscuit. Hindsight though eh....

Like I said at the top, I got the plans from Plans Now and they're generally pretty good, they provide you with dimensions, by board cutting lists (though finished rather than sawn) and also some building tips as you go along. There's also a related article I took off FWW as well and this gives a bit of advice on fuming.

Couple of pages from the plans to give an idea of the design











If you google-ise ready made ones in the US then these chairs can go for up to $3.5K, a lot for an old chair but so far I've sunk 250 quid into the timber and spent a fair few hours on the construction. Even the batch jobs are not quick


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## Ironballs (12 Apr 2010)

Okay, another update and time to mark out and cut the end of the arms to shape from where I added the extra chunk on.






Waste removed on the bandsaw, carefully does it to avoid finger issues and taking chunks out of the arms











Leaving the rest to be cleaned up with planes and chisels (and ultimately a bit of sanding). Was quite pleased that the quarter sawn figure came through on the cut piece, helps blend it in and keep the flow






It was a lot of work with the block plane and I didn't realise till too late that my finger was a little sore and a blister had popped up. Dedication to the cause






Then to the back of the arms to drill out the holes for the adjustment pegs, took my my forstner to the limit of its depth











The other side of the arm has the corner taken off











Next minor job was to profile the top of the tenons on the rear legs to match the slope on the shoulders. God bless those little bevel boxes






And job done






Last job tonight was to cut the tenons on the top rails, fairly straightforward with a little cutaway taken out too. Getting closer to the dry clamp up - and then the fettling to get it all square and un-rhombus like, which it's bound to be....


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## mickthetree (13 Apr 2010)

Super project Ironballs.

Would really like to make one of these soon.

Keep those pics coming :wink:


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## woodbloke (13 Apr 2010)

Coming on well...I think I recognize on of those LN's if I'm not mistooken :wink: - Rob


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## Karl (13 Apr 2010)

Nice work IB. Looking forward to seeing it progress.

Cheers

Karl


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## Benchwayze (18 Apr 2010)

I am watching this one with interest IronB. 

I have these plans myself. There is also a DVD on constructing an almost identical chair on the FWW site. In case you didn't already know.

I found a reliable (I am informed) supplier for 1/4 sawn oak. Now I have to get down to actually doing some woodwork! 

You seem to be doing well on this so far!

Regards
John


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## Mr T (19 Apr 2010)

Hi Damian

Interesting job, approached with your usual precision. I'd be interested to know why you did the legs that way, it would have been easier to laminate with a saw cut veneer on the faces where the laminates show, and they would look the same. You seem to be gettig through it quite quickly, how many hours so far?

I remember someone doing a Stickley chair almost exactly like this when I taught at Leeds (not actually in my class), so Derek should be familar with it by know!

Chris


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## ByronBlack (19 Apr 2010)

Im watching and making notes of this one. I had my eye on the very same set of plans - that chair is earmarked for the office after our recent re-decoration, such a great looking chair, but not sure if it's beyond me. You seem to be making great progress.


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## Benchwayze (19 Apr 2010)

Being one who rarely follows a plan *exactly,* I planned to form the armrests from laminated oak, over a curved former. 

Just a departure that seemed to make sense to me. Whether or not it would actually work I don't know, but I can't see reason why it shouldn't. 

Nice going though. 

John


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## Ironballs (19 Apr 2010)

I'd agree about the legs Chris, they were a real fiddle and still aren't perfect, I just didn't want the slight ridge you'd get with the sawn veneers - unless you mitred the joins. With regard to making quick progress, bear in mind that I started it in late September...  That said if you got a good supply of sawn or P2F boards then that could cut down the time machining greatly, mine were very waney.

I've done very little at home until easter so total time taken so far is probably about 50 hours - I spent most of the first term just machining as there are a lot of components in this chair.

BB most of this chair is mortice and tenon joinery of some type, so well within the scope of anyone who has the skills to build a guitar - like yourself. I've only been at this hobby for 3.5 years and learning all the time, so if I can give it a go anyone can.

BW don't see why your plan wouldn't work, having looked into plenty of plans before going for this one, they seem to split into 2 main groups, bent arm and bow arm. So yours is a popular choice. In fact it should be possible to do a more "Maloof" curve to the arm that goes the other way. However you'd then have to put some other curves into the piece and you end up with a completely different chair. Would be fun though  

Must get some more pictures up with recent progress. Have been building a jig to allow accurate routing of the strips to hold the spindles


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## Mr T (20 Apr 2010)

Hi Damian

Interesting what you say about a slight ridge with saw cut veneers, not sure I've experienced that, possibly because I haven't been looking.

50 hours seems very reasonable for the progress you have made.

Chris


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## jorgoz (20 Apr 2010)

Very nice woodworking going on here. Hope to see the end result soon. I envy you :wink: you're seriously equiped, veritas nx60 =P~


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## Ironballs (20 Apr 2010)

jorgoz":2jazdwvq said:


> Very nice woodworking going on here. Hope to see the end result soon. I envy you :wink: you're seriously equiped, veritas nx60 =P~



Competition prize


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## gasman (21 Apr 2010)

Beautiful looking chair - and great to follow the process - great project


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## Benchwayze (21 Apr 2010)

Ironballs":17x5jmac said:


> BW don't see why your plan wouldn't work, having looked into plenty of plans before going for this one, they seem to split into 2 main groups, bent arm and bow arm. So yours is a popular choice. In fact it should be possible to do a more "Maloof" curve to the arm that goes the other way. However you'd then have to put some other curves into the piece and you end up with a completely different chair. Would be fun though
> 
> Must get some more pictures up with recent progress. Have been building a jig to allow accurate routing of the strips to hold the spindles



It's a thought IB, but too many curves would mean sharpening my draw-knife for a job this size. I am not long on patience for that kind of honing! 

Cheers.
John


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## Ironballs (21 Apr 2010)

Okay a few jobs here, a few recent ones and one I did a while back but didn't get a photo. First is the underside of the arms, they need a channel routing to so that they can sit on the upper rails for strength and stability, fairly simple job with a router and fence - and I'm now a proper convert to bench cookies












I did the corbels a while back, made a template in mdf and used this to draw on the cut to size rectangular blanks before bandsawing and spindle sanding. Template was used as a reference again when sanding. These just need part of the tenon trimming off once I trial fit the arms






You may recall that I had difficulty getting the legs 100% square when glueing up, well this transferred to the tenons when marking up from the outside face. The result was this set of measurements






I needed to get to 38mm square so out with shoulder plane to trim to size






And a veneer added to one face to add some thickness






As I now know that the mortices in the chair arms are going to be 38mm I could make the mortice caps - a decorative cheat. Made them 0.5mm oversize just in case, so prepared this blank






Fronts were simple and just required angling the tablesaw blade to 9.5 deg and cutting each side against a stop block






And then cut off to the required depth






Rears were a little more complex involving more saw angle (and less) and mitring the cuts to the blade. Pretty dull to follow and even more so to write here, so I'll skip that

Next was the little jig I needed to make to rout the slots in the filler strips for the spindles to go into. There are 4 for the chair and 4 for the stool, each spindle needs to be the exact same distance from the other; the eye will easily spot a difference here. I was all set to try and clamp the pieces together with some mdf cheeks and devise some way to rout equal distances, until I asked Derek the tutor what he would do. He sketched out this jig for me, simple and clever.






MDF base, fixed piece screwed square on one side and a floating piece on the other side that will clamp the strips and act as a base for the router. I then had to rout a first channel and then a second using a thickness block to get the right distance between the channels






Oh and you definitely can't see a third channel, that's just an optical illusion. Certainly not a cock up. Oh no. Leaves me with these channels






One of which I can slot a form of fence into 






Strips inserted and first cut has to be lined up by eye from my pencil marks






Then the jig comes into its own and the slot fence fits into the cut I've just made











I then just feed the strips up each time and ensure they're properly aligned






Little instruction to make sure I don't get carried away






And jobs a good un. Last thing for this update, I did say elsewhere that I had something in this project that Rob would really hate.... and here it is






Yep, woodworm holes. A few of the pieces have some old worm holes. In the spirit of economy, character and the way Hank Gilpin uses his timber, I decided that rather than chuck out great figured pieces I'd carry on and retain them and their holes in the piece. Adds a little character I think

Feel free to criticise Rob, I can take it. Go on, punch me in the stomach, hard as you like

 :wink:


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## clogger (22 Apr 2010)

Great work in progress.
Has anybody seen this work in progress of the same chair?
www.finewoodworking.com/morris-chair-video-preview/


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## Benchwayze (22 Apr 2010)

clogger":xmnr23t8 said:


> Great work in progress.
> Has anybody seen this work in progress of the same chair?
> www.finewoodworking.com/morris-chair-video-preview/



Clogger;

I think your picture-link has been caught by the automatic spam filter, as you are a newbie. After a few posts this 'trap' is sprung and goes away, but if you pm me, I will check the link and post it for you. 

Welcome to the forum by the way, and I hope you enjoy this place as much as we do. 
regards
John 

PS 

Seems the link in my 'quote' works. It's fine. Just woodwork-po*n!' Nothing nasty at all! I have seen it myself, but anyone who hasn't will find it interesting. 

John


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## ByronBlack (22 Apr 2010)

Looks like your making good progress IB - on the worm-hole front, I'm with you; keep them in, they add to the piece IMO, and are so small that most people wouldn't see them anyway.


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## OPJ (22 Apr 2010)

Good to see another Bench Cookie convert (there have been several others, lately! ). Your first image demonstrates another reason why they are excellent - you probably would have had to clear most of your bench first if you were using an ordinary rubber mat! Also, they'll support "any" length, where you may otherwise need to lay a second mat or more. :wink:


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## woodbloke (23 Apr 2010)

Damian - my compassion on this occasion is unbounded 'cos... 






there's woodworm holes in the back panel of this. 

However, had there been sap... :lol: - Rob


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## Benchwayze (23 Apr 2010)

OPJ":2v35plwz said:


> Good to see another Bench Cookie convert (there have been several others, lately! ). Your first image demonstrates another reason why they are excellent - you probably would have had to clear most of your bench first if you were using an ordinary rubber mat! Also, they'll support "any" length, where you may otherwise need to lay a second mat or more. :wink:



I had to Google 'Bench Cookie' Olly! Never heard the phrase before. 

I missed out there. Somewhere, I have some 10mm thick MDF circles; the waste from a hole-saw project I did some years ago. I used them as 'cookies' and also as coasters! They are probably down the back of my bench, where I can't reach anymore. (Number One Son will move the bench for me one day!) :lol: 

But I have often cut up scrap into small squares when I want to lift a job clear of the bench. I guess it's because 'Hard-tack' biscuits in the Navy were always square! :wink: 

John


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## OPJ (24 Apr 2010)

John, you can make pretty good 'imitation' cookies from discs of MDF and bits of rubber matting (Andy King did this in Good Woodworking a few months ago). But, the mesh on the cookies is much finer and doesn't appear to mark the work in the same way that an 'oily' mat can when you're sanding. £10.95 for a pack of four isn't bad, really (even if the Yanks get a free mug or T-shirt...! :roll: ).


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## Benchwayze (24 Apr 2010)

Thanks Olly...

Sadly there wouldn't be a 'T' shirt to fit me! :lol: 

I use one of those mesh mats sometimes. But my routing I usually do in overhead mode on the router-rack. 

So I think the BCs would lie idle a lot. But it's worth thinking about! 
regards
John


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## wizer (24 Apr 2010)

Nothing wrong with woodworm. I recently saw woodworm holes being dremmeled into white painted MDF panels. :shock: I'm not kidding either! :wink:


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## Ironballs (19 May 2010)

Okay, a few weeks since the last update but I have been busy getting some fiddly jobs done, I'm getting to the stage where we're close to dry fits and final fettling. In other words, slow progress  

A bit of fettling arrived at this little pile for the stool






And a couple of dry fit ups to check











All pretty much cock on

Also got to the same point with the chair back






Had to trim and fit the mortice inserts for the spindles, still a weak point in the design with these plans IMO and I think I'd do it differently next time. It wasn't the time saving trick they claimed it would be. Anyroad, glued 'em in






As mentioned before I'd decided to fume the oak to give the darker colour before finishing, all new territory for me but I had some fun browsing reagent.co.uk and looking at all the evil chemicals available just a click away. Eventually settled on this stuff






Thought it best to break out these as well






The mask deals with most of the fumes but it doesn't stop vapour hitting your eyes and it really does make them water if you get a faceful. Must be said though, not unlike old cat litter if you've let your cleaning regime slip...  

Next job was to build a fuming cabinet, simple pine frame resting on a MDF base (not attached)






A trip to B&Q to get some clear, thick polythene proved fruitless at first. They only had the thin decorators stuff and asking the assistant was no good, ascertained I wanted polythene, I re-iterated it had to be clear, he then took me to a shelf and pointed at some black DPC and asked if that would do. So I stabbed him through the neck with a small Philips and left him gurgling in a pool of his own blood and carried on. Luckily I found a big ball of clear poly in a bin that had been used to wrap some stock, so swiped that and in the best tradition of Bodgit & Fixit arrived at this






Got out a couple of tupperware sarnie boxes and put in enough ammonia to just cover the base and placed these pieces in the fuming cabinet with them to see what happened






Two and a half hours later and this was the result. I deliberately used a piece with some sap on to see what the effect would be, quite striking really and shows that the sap has almost no tannic acid. For comparison there is an unfumed spindle shown as well






And in direct sunlight






I then spent a vast amount of time doing the remaining cleaning up jobs and then onto planing, scraping and sanding. Now have a right arm like Glenn Quagmire from Family Guy after he discovered internet porn. Also found out how long it takes the thermal cut out to kick in on the old Dyson when using it with the Abranet - about 15 mins non-stop.

Bit behind with my pictures but do have this of one end of the stool glued up. Stool is now fully glued up so will have to get a picture of that






Had to glue and screw the cleats for the base of the stool and for some reason I decided I needed to polish the screw heads. Don't know why as they won't be seen






Need to make a lot of dowel for the joints so this will be getting some hammer - literally






Will be spending some time with the tutor as well as some pegs need turning; so tomorrow I'll be doing a bit of turning at class and then going home to shower and scrub myself clean and pretend it never happened.


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## Oryxdesign (19 May 2010)

wizer":a6i91fz7 said:


> Nothing wrong with woodworm. I recently saw woodworm holes being dremmeled into white painted MDF panels. :shock: I'm not kidding either! :wink:



There real they are, blinking hard to get them to eat mdf :lol: especially in such a selective manner.


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## OPJ (19 May 2010)

Ironballs":13z6yfl0 said:


> So I stabbed him through the neck with a small Philips and left him gurgling in a pool of his own blood and carried on.



Is your real name Jack Bauer?!? 

Looking good though. Th fuming appears to have worked quite well. Is that dark enough for what you want or are you going to try and darken it some more?

I also see your doing your mortises the true Arts & Crafts way, with the use of spacers... Is any easier than cutting a series of mortises? I can't see any real benefit to it.


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## TrimTheKing (19 May 2010)

Liking this, more pics


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## Ironballs (29 May 2010)

Okay, a bit more progress. I did say that I had glued up the stool and so here it is






Most of the jobs from here on in are little finishing items, fettling and trimming etc. Such as fitting up the fake through tenon covers, straight at the front and angled at the rear






Jobs a good un






Then I glued in the corbels, the rears required an angle putting in. Disk sander job
















You'll recall that last weekend was the hottest of the year so far, on the list of things not to do in a warm garage when it's boiling are making oak dowel with a dowelling plate. Sweat tacular











This meant that there was now no putting off a glue up and it has to be said that this was one of the most awkward/difficult glue ups I've done. All those spindles were a nightmare, though luckily I had an assistant. However, near the end of the job my assistant said I was one spindle short, assumed we had just glued one too few but in actuality I had 16 spindles and 17 holes. Balls. Swiped a spindle from the other side, but of course this would leave me 2 short on the other side. Don't know how I managed to make an extra hole but maybe it was subconscious as it looks much better and more balanced with 17. Just the other side to do






I did mention I had to do some turning, I'd just like to make this clear it's a means to an end  Fairly simple, make the pivot and adjustment pins which are a shaft and a larger head with rounded end. Even I could cope with this. The only bit I really enjoyed was using the big gouge thing that shifts waste at speed and up in the air. These were the result






Which after some cleaning up looked like this






I had glued the back up previously so now had to mark up and then drill the holes for the pins. I tried various drill bits in some scrap, I didn't have a forstner of the right size as my dowel so thought a lip and spur would do. Results were average, some holes good, others a bit oval. Played around with a few other bits and some other forstners but then realised that what I needed was a forstner of the right size as getting this finishing touch wrong could trash the piece. So added a 10mm Clico forstner to my Axminster basket and off I went, more expensive but worth the expense.











Trimmed my dowel down to slightly too long and then fitted into my lovely round holes, bit of glue round the edges of the hole but none on the dowel to try and avoid glue squeeze out. Little tap in and away we go






Did all the pins on the stool, so will be trimming and then finishing tomorrow. Plus glue up of the other side of the chair...............


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## slemishwoodcrafts (30 May 2010)

Very impressed with how this is coming along, its something i've aways wanted to build. Looking forward to see how it turns out.


Off topic, i can't help noticing the exhausts in the above picture. Can ask what sort of car it is?  

Michael


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## OPJ (30 May 2010)

It must be nice to have it all glued up, at last.  I did my chair this week and, despite using Titebond Extend (which is supposed to give you 15-20 minutes... ), at college, it was starting to go off in less than ten minutes! :shock:

Only thing I might have done would've been to pre-finish/ebonise the spindles before gluing them in. Hope it doesn't give you too much bother when you come to finishing those edges, later.

For that amount of dowelling I probably would've bought in a longer length or made them on the router table! :wink:

Looking very good, though. You really have got some nice oak, there.


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## Ironballs (31 May 2010)

The exhaust is the side pipe from my Cobra V8 kit car, lovely car but really gets in the way when you're trying to do big glue ups. Also currently for sale as I have a TVR itch to scratch  

If you have the time and inclination then I'd give this project a go, most of it is straightforward mortice and tenon, you just need to be accurate with your marking and cutting - and don't under estimate just how much oak it consumes :shock: 

Olly you're right about glue up times in this weather, it's a nightmare. Thankfully I got the other side glued up tonight so tomorrow I can glue the two halves together. Have started to throw some finish on the stool, pegs and chair back, looking really good but oiling the spindles is a faff


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## slemishwoodcrafts (31 May 2010)

I thought perhaps it was a kit car. Would love to drive a V8 cobra, will need to stick to my golf however until the student loan is paid off!!

I made a mission style coffee table, similar sort of design with the spindles. I found the spindles the most challenging part, however after taking time and care it was a considerable reward to see it finished.

Michael


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## Ironballs (31 May 2010)

Tis a good car the Cobra, even though it's only the Rover 3.5 V8, with those side pipes I've still managed to set off a couple of car alarms when going past parked cars. I'm just a ten year old at heart


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## shim20 (1 Jun 2010)

looking very good, nice and neat, keep it up


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## Ironballs (6 Jun 2010)

Getting close to the finish now, I had my 2 halves of chair which needed bringing together. A test fit of the joints showed that they were a lot tighter than I remembered, combine this with my assistant being away and I knew I was in for some pain.

Went for the alu clamps again as they'd worked well before and are easier to manhandle on your own - think I pretty much tested them to the limit and should have gone for the steel ones. Took quite a while to get them in and a lot swearing, but finally had a chair shaped object.







You can see (just about) that I was on the limit for these clamps, as they had a visible bend in them.






Before going to the finish I knew I had to effect a small repair at the top of the legs on one side. I was struggling to get a perfect fit when assembling leg, rail and arm, the key problem being a slight bow in the length of the rail that had appeared over a period of months. Almost imperceptible but it was there and nothing I could do about it. The upshot was that there was a slight gap at the top of the legs where they met the arm, approx 1mm at the back and 1.5mm at the front. I could have tried removing bits of wood in the joints to try and fix, but my worry was that I'd end up with a sloppy joint, at least I could have a (very) tight joint with repairable gap.

This is where my set of legs that went wrong came in handy, cleaned up a section and took one to the tablesaw, removing 2 very thin slivers that just needed trimming to fit. This was the end result, not too bad and in a spot that in normal use won't get seen - but I would have known was there






You can also see another of the oak dowels there. That Clico forstner really is the dogs danglies, perfect holes every time and there were 30-40 across the chair and stool.

Finish was with Liberon Superior Danish Oil after sanding to 320 grit. Pictures here are after coat number 4 and it's coming out beautifully. Next coat is to be applied with 320 grit paper to smooth and fill and pores that might still be open (this oak has been pretty thirsty), final coat is to be number 6 which will be applied after it comes back from the upholsterer to have to cushions made and fitted. The upholsterer is a local chap who is an ex-student of Leeds College, his website shows some pretty impressive pieces.

You can see from the pics that I was trial fitting the back, this showed I needed to sand down the washers a little and gave me the correct length for the pivot and adjustment pins. Hopefully the next time you see this it will have the final finish and cushions - aiming to get it done in time to display at the college's end of year show


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## Mike.C (6 Jun 2010)

Lovely work mate, but come on you tease lets have a look at the Cobra. Where did you buy the kit and how much is yours up for?

Cheers

Mike


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## Ironballs (16 Jun 2010)

Cobra now sold Mike and I bought it ready built (second hand), will dig out a picture and stick it up. Now on the hunt for a TVR :twisted: 

Got the chair and stool back from the upholsterers today, finished in a beautiful aniline leather. Last coat of finish went on tonight and it's off to the college end of year show tomorrow. Will post up pictures when it's all back together


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## plug (17 Jun 2010)

Ironballs":km75a6id said:


> Cobra now sold Mike and I bought it ready built (second hand), will dig out a picture and stick it up. Now on the hunt for a TVR :twisted:



Good choice this is mine <--- cerbera speed six 4.0l.


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## Ironballs (17 Jun 2010)

Test drove a Tamora today, life will never be the same again. Not sure how I walked out of the showroom without buying it


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## plug (18 Jun 2010)

Yep they are very addictive cars, had mine 5 years now don't think I will ever sell.
Have a look on www.pistonheads.com on the TVR forums lots of helpfull advice on there and the TVR club website.


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## Ironballs (24 Jun 2010)

Right, enough TVR talk (for the minute).

My chair is finished and was finished in time for the college end of year show, many thanks to Ian Hackett at Holme Upholstery for a quick job - and proper pro job.

Here's my chair en route to the display











Had to do a last minute adjustment on the adjuster pins to reduce the shaft length a little.

And here it is in situ, taking pride of place at the entrance to the show area - next to some awesome work from the degree students, there are some very talented designer makers there.

Got some nice comments and an offer of marriage from one lady who was a fan of Stickley furntiure. Best of all the in house customer loved it when I finally got it home and she sunk into the soft leather. I think she may be angling for a reclining prairie settle next. pipper....


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## ByronBlack (24 Jun 2010)

That looks great with the foot stool, nice work! Its definitely given me pause for thought of what to build next... a desk, or one of these stickleys...

The only thing that I would have changed is the colour of the upholstery. I would have gone for something with a little more contrast to bring out the wood, however that is purely a personal taste issue, and doesn't detract from the fine work you have done to produce such a wonderful piece.


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## Ironballs (25 Jun 2010)

Yep deliberately went for that colour, but dark browns and reddy browns also go well - the one in the plans had green cushions in the picture.

I would love to do a mission style prairie settle, I just can't bring myself to machine all those bloody spindles and then fit the smeggers at glue up. One of the hardest glue ups I've done.

Stickley style furniture does lend itself to machine batch production, which may not fit with your hand tool approach - though you could do your take on the craftsman/arts and crafts style...........


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## woodbloke (25 Jun 2010)

Good job Damian. I agree with BB about the colour of the upholstery, it looks a bit insipid to me, but it's a very personal thing.
What about a nice Ferarri red, or BRG? - Rob


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## Mattty (25 Jun 2010)

That is lovely mate. Excellent job.

It really does look like one of them chairs you want to sit in.


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## big soft moose (25 Jun 2010)

thanks a bunch mate

loml has just said - "you could make a pair of those, couldnt you ?" Honest answer: Well i could if I wasnt comuting three hours a day and didnt have the woodworking skills of a small wombat ! , Answer given " yes dear - i'll put it on the list" (at the bottom where hopefully it will be forgotten about)

very nice work - and if i do try and make a set i'll know who to bother with stupid questions


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## softtop (25 Jun 2010)

That is really beautiful and I love the way the colour has come out after the smoking. You must be very proud!


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## Dibs-h (25 Jun 2010)

Ironballs":3klvtlwc said:


> Yep deliberately went for that colour, but dark browns and reddy browns also go well - the one in the plans had green cushions in the picture.
> 
> I would love to do a mission style prairie settle, I just can't bring myself to machine all those bloody spindles and then fit the smeggers at glue up. One of the hardest glue ups I've done.
> 
> Stickley style furniture does lend itself to machine batch production, which may not fit with your hand tool approach - though you could do your take on the craftsman/arts and crafts style...........



Fantastic job Damian.

For me - the leather would have to be oxblood\blood red - but that's just me. As for the mission style prairie settle - that's high on my list of things (furniture wise) along with the matching chairs.

As BSM put it - I too know who to bug with the daft questions. :wink:


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## OPJ (25 Jun 2010)

Fantastic! I agree with the other comments on the colour of the upholstery but, I wouldn't know what else to suggest and the flash (?) on your camera may not give an accurate sense of colour?

The oak's come out very nicely as well.

_Anyone_ can make a comfy upholstered chair...  Now, try making a comfortable wooden one!! :wink:


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## Harbo (25 Jun 2010)

Very nice - looks very comfortable.

Rod


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## woody67 (26 Jun 2010)

Damian - :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: ....fantastic work, brilliant skills, wonderful patience AND a sports car owner............................


























GIT!!!!! :wink: :wink: 

Well done fella

Mark


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## Ironballs (26 Jun 2010)

Not currently a sports car owner Mark, as I'm now Cobra-less, having another look at a TVR today though  

Thanks for all the kind comments chaps, technically it's not a difficult project being M&T joinery all the way, but you do need to be accurate. And patient. Especially with those spindles. The project would have been a lot quicker if I hadn't had to find whatever waney Q-sawn boards I could get to ensure I had the figure I wanted.

Feel free to comment on the colour, as it's very much an individual choice, however I took some more photos with the new DSLR (still getting to grips with it) as my little Coolpix can overexpose with the flash and it's also having difficulty producing crystal clear pics lately. The photos below are a more representative view of the colour - of the upholstery and timber. A bit darker





















It is also the most comfortable chair too, very easy to nod off in. Mrs IB loves it and spends every possible moment sat in it - so much so that she's wanting to oust one the sofas from the living room. What have I done....


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## Benchwayze (26 Jun 2010)

That's a bostin' job IB

It just looks the part.. Well done. 
And please... What the heck is a 'smegger' when it's about?

Got me flummoxed. Mind you I had to look up 'corbel'! 

:wink: 
Regards
John


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## Ironballs (26 Jun 2010)

General term of offence from Red Dwarf, ie you smegger, smeghead, hit the smegging thing.

Thanks for the compliments


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## Benchwayze (26 Jun 2010)

Ironballs":2plmmgyd said:


> General term of offence from Red Dwarf, ie you smegger, smeghead, hit the smegging thing.
> 
> Thanks for the compliments



Ermmm Oh yes! Now I remember!  

Just not used to hearing it in that form! Reminds me just how long it is since Red Dwarf! 
Cheers
John


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## woodbloke (26 Jun 2010)

I still can't get on with the colour of the upholstery, even with the new pics from the posher camera...I think something a bit 'livelier' would have looked better. In fact, what about this: 







...as the colour for the leatherwork. Come to think of it, you could even have one of these as a new runabout :lol: :lol: - Rob


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## Benchwayze (26 Jun 2010)

Ah but Rob.... I quite like the brown. Tones in with the oak just right. 

And wait until the leather has had a few applications of a good leather feed. it will look darker as it ages, and it will squeak like crazy when you sit on it.. for a while at least!

 

John


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## WoodAddict (26 Jun 2010)

Great work IB.

I've been following this one with interest and the end result is great


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## jhwbigley (26 Jun 2010)

I saw this in the fleash the other friday when helping setting up the show(and the first night of the show) and its looks great, nice work Damian!

Should have got me to make a plinth for it you smeghead 

JH


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## Ironballs (27 Jun 2010)

Rob you're a twisted man and potentially going slightly loopy as you count the paycheques down. Is this your subtle way of telling us what you've replaced your old Landie with....  

JH building a plinth could have been premature as I wasn't sure it was going to make it in time until the day before!

Are you on the full degree course then?

And didn't that table look absolutely amazing - including the little carbon fibre tubing supports for the top


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## mailee (27 Jun 2010)

That really does look great. You have made a brilliant job of it. Better not let SWMBO see this post. :roll:


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## woodbloke (27 Jun 2010)

Ironballs":3or8wfnl said:


> Rob you're a twisted man and potentially going slightly loopy as you count the paycheques down. Is this your subtle way of telling us what you've replaced your old Landie with....


Damian, it's the medication...that's my excuse  (though I am on some long term) and I'm sticking to it. As I said earlier, cracking job on the chair :wink: - Rob


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## Orcamesh (27 Jun 2010)

Nice job Ironballs! Great looking chair and must have taken a wee while with all those M&Ts!? But a great result nonetheless. From what you say it looks like you'll be making another one for Mrs IB?!!

cheers
HM


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## jhwbigley (10 Jul 2010)

Ironballs":2op92k3h said:


> JH building a plinth could have been premature as I wasn't sure it was going to make it in time until the day before!
> 
> Are you on the full degree course then?
> 
> And didn't that table look absolutely amazing - including the little carbon fibre tubing supports for the top



been to busy to get on the forum the last few weeks, so not had chance to reply.

being a master plinth maker now, i've got it down to an hour from first cuts to first coat of white.

well i'm in my second year now, did you like my ottoman? 

my favorate bit on that table was the angled half lap dovetials on the drawer front :shock: 

JH


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## devonwoody (11 Jul 2010)

Congratulations on a well made and completed project, way beyond my capabilities. Even the moving around of the components would be a challenge in itself.

So whats next?


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## Ironballs (12 Jul 2010)

Ha nice plinths!

Was that your ottoman? Very nice work, I did like that one, you should get some pics up on here.

Not sure what's next DW, I have an elm box for the remotes that's been in component form for about a year, a walnut and maple DVD tower that's just starting and I need to design a tall bookcase that I bought a shed load of oak for last winter.

Looking forward to it all though

Oh and not forgetting the old Les Paul of course. Ahem


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