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Orchard Street Sofa

43K views 151 replies 25 participants last post by  Bigrock 
#1 ·
Getting started

Some of you may recall that my son wants me to make a sofa for him that looked like a bow arm Morris chair. I haven't made a Morris chair yet, nor have I made anything resembling a bow arm, so I jumped at the chance. I found a FWW video series with Greg Paolini that does a nice job of illustrating the making of a bow arm Morris chair and I bought the plans from LV to get the profile for the arms. Greg (my son) found the sofa= he liked on Stickley's site. Therefore, this project will actually be a combination of these two.

I was fortunate to find some nicely figured 5/4 qswo and moved it into the shop about 5 weeks ago.

Furniture Wood Shelf Shelving Wood stain


I like to mark the planks with chalk to try to maximize the yield.

Handwriting Wood Rectangle Gas Font


Once that is done, I cut them to length.

Wood Automotive exterior Bumper Composite material Gas


Then it is off to the jointer to flatten one face and square an edge. Unfortunately, my photographer slept through this step, but, trust me, it happened. Next up is to cut the opposite edge square with the table saw.

Table Wood Flooring Floor Automotive tire


I had had enough fun by this point, so I restacked everything so it could move a bit if necessary. I also marked the names of the pieces on their ends to make it easier going forward.

Property Furniture Shelf Wood Shelving


That's all for today, thanks for stopping by!
 

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#97 ·
Finally, getting back at it

I apologize that I haven't updated this blog in almost a month. I got dragooned into a couple gardening/lawn maintenance projects that weren't on MY list, but were critical nonetheless. :)

This past Friday, my son, Greg, brought the rubberized webbing and we installed it in the seat frames. The cheapest I was able to find was at upholsterysupplyonline.com for both the webbing and the clips.

We started by cutting a 1/2" by 3/16" groove in the frames an inch from the edges to receive the clips.

Wood Fixture Rectangle Door Plank


The webbing is inserted into a clip and then the clip is squeezed closed and put into the groove.

Wood Textile Automotive tire Interior design Flooring


Then the webbing is lightly stretched to the opposite groove and cut off squarely, inserted into another clip and that is then stretched into the groove.

Hand Wood Table Finger Kitchen utensil


Then the repetition begins.

Wood Shelving Wood stain Fence Material property


The process is the same for the strips from the adjoining sides except that you need to weave them over and under the first series of strips.

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Font


It is pretty easy, but it is boring and time consuming-it took us about 40-45 minutes per frame IIRC.

That is it for tonight. Thanks for your patience.
 

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#98 ·
Finally, getting back at it

I apologize that I haven't updated this blog in almost a month. I got dragooned into a couple gardening/lawn maintenance projects that weren't on MY list, but were critical nonetheless. :)

This past Friday, my son, Greg, brought the rubberized webbing and we installed it in the seat frames. The cheapest I was able to find was at upholsterysupplyonline.com for both the webbing and the clips.

We started by cutting a 1/2" by 3/16" groove in the frames an inch from the edges to receive the clips.

Wood Fixture Rectangle Door Plank


The webbing is inserted into a clip and then the clip is squeezed closed and put into the groove.

Wood Textile Automotive tire Interior design Flooring


Then the webbing is lightly stretched to the opposite groove and cut off squarely, inserted into another clip and that is then stretched into the groove.

Hand Wood Table Finger Kitchen utensil


Then the repetition begins.

Wood Shelving Wood stain Fence Material property


The process is the same for the strips from the adjoining sides except that you need to weave them over and under the first series of strips.

Rectangle Wood Flooring Floor Font


It is pretty easy, but it is boring and time consuming-it took us about 40-45 minutes per frame IIRC.

That is it for tonight. Thanks for your patience.
Art

You do great boring work!

Take care my friend. Love your work!!

Steve
 

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#104 ·
A little progress

I am finally getting back at this project and hope to finish it before I die. haha

I needed to round off the sharp edges on the fronts of the back rest supports so I did that with the oscillating sander. I found that it collects dust much better when the shop vac is on. :/

Wood Bumper Table Automotive exterior Vehicle door


After that, I started gluing the back rest together. Even though it isn't necessary, I put a dab of glue into the mortises for the slats.

Wood Finger Rectangle Musical instrument accessory Thumb


Pretty standard glue up process, but I did need a diagonal clamp to square the back up about 1/8".

Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Automotive exterior


While the glue was curing, I started working on the arms. When Greg was here, they decided how much they wanted the back rest to lean back and I marked the front and back of the support on the edges of both arms. My pins are 5/8" diameter, so I marked the center 5/16" back from where the back rest needs to be.

Wood Rectangle Composite material Publication Hardwood


I drilled the holes for the pins with the drill press after ensuring that the arms were level and plumb.

Automotive tire Wood Motor vehicle Bumper Gas


The back corners are clipped off, so I marked them,

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Material property


and cut them off with the BS,

Wood Table Gas Flooring Hardwood


and, finally, cleaned them on on the planer.

Wood Floor Handle Flooring Gas


That concluded my shop time today. It was good to be back. :)
 

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#105 ·
A little progress

I am finally getting back at this project and hope to finish it before I die. haha

I needed to round off the sharp edges on the fronts of the back rest supports so I did that with the oscillating sander. I found that it collects dust much better when the shop vac is on. :/

Wood Bumper Table Automotive exterior Vehicle door


After that, I started gluing the back rest together. Even though it isn't necessary, I put a dab of glue into the mortises for the slats.

Wood Finger Rectangle Musical instrument accessory Thumb


Pretty standard glue up process, but I did need a diagonal clamp to square the back up about 1/8".

Wood Composite material Gas Engineering Automotive exterior


While the glue was curing, I started working on the arms. When Greg was here, they decided how much they wanted the back rest to lean back and I marked the front and back of the support on the edges of both arms. My pins are 5/8" diameter, so I marked the center 5/16" back from where the back rest needs to be.

Wood Rectangle Composite material Publication Hardwood


I drilled the holes for the pins with the drill press after ensuring that the arms were level and plumb.

Automotive tire Wood Motor vehicle Bumper Gas


The back corners are clipped off, so I marked them,

Wood Rectangle Flooring Floor Material property


and cut them off with the BS,

Wood Table Gas Flooring Hardwood


and, finally, cleaned them on on the planer.

Wood Floor Handle Flooring Gas


That concluded my shop time today. It was good to be back. :)
Good to have you back Art. Don'tcha hate it when life gets in the way? Project's coming along nicely. Do you have an end date? For what it's worth I will always put a dab of glue on the mortices/tenons for slats or spindles. I didn't on 2 stools i built and the damn things rattle like a skeleton on a string. Have get in there with the CA glue….one day. Cheers.
 

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#107 ·
Arming the ends

My goal today was to get the arms glued to the ends. One of my concerns is that this sofa is heavy and people will lift it by the arms whenever they want to move it. Poalini simply glued the arms to the top end rails for his chair but I felt that more was needed for this sofa. Therefore, I took a tip from pintodeluxe in his Morris chair blog (thanks, Willie!) but with a bit of a twist. I cut a 1/4" groove in the tops of the rails and made a curved spline to fit and match the curve of the arms. With the spline in the groove, I set the arm in place and marked its location with a pencil line on both sides. Then I routed a corresponding groove in the under side of the arms. I tested the fit for both arms and everything worked, so I glued the splines into the rails and then the arms to the splines. Unfortunately, my photog was out to lunch and didn't get any pix, but there is a pic in Willie's blog.

Here is one of the ends in the clamps.

Wood Shelving Table Flooring Shelf


Notice that I saved the rail cut off to give the clamps a square surface to grab onto. Since I still didn't think this was over-engineered yet, I decided to drill a hole through the arms into the legs and glue a dowel in place. I only have a 1/4" dowel making plate so that is what I used.

Wood Wood stain Table Hardwood Plank


Tomorrow will see the start of the finish, at long last. :)))
 

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#108 ·
Arming the ends

My goal today was to get the arms glued to the ends. One of my concerns is that this sofa is heavy and people will lift it by the arms whenever they want to move it. Poalini simply glued the arms to the top end rails for his chair but I felt that more was needed for this sofa. Therefore, I took a tip from pintodeluxe in his Morris chair blog (thanks, Willie!) but with a bit of a twist. I cut a 1/4" groove in the tops of the rails and made a curved spline to fit and match the curve of the arms. With the spline in the groove, I set the arm in place and marked its location with a pencil line on both sides. Then I routed a corresponding groove in the under side of the arms. I tested the fit for both arms and everything worked, so I glued the splines into the rails and then the arms to the splines. Unfortunately, my photog was out to lunch and didn't get any pix, but there is a pic in Willie's blog.

Here is one of the ends in the clamps.

Wood Shelving Table Flooring Shelf


Notice that I saved the rail cut off to give the clamps a square surface to grab onto. Since I still didn't think this was over-engineered yet, I decided to drill a hole through the arms into the legs and glue a dowel in place. I only have a 1/4" dowel making plate so that is what I used.

Wood Wood stain Table Hardwood Plank


Tomorrow will see the start of the finish, at long last. :)))
Art

It is really looking good!

Thanks for sharing!

What are you looking at for the finish?
 

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#113 ·
The beginning of the end

I finished up a couple details this AM, then started finishing.

Greg wanted to highlight the ray flecks as much as possible. Elizabeth wanted the color to be very dark. Therefore, we settled on Jeff Jewitt's Mission Oak Finish. Specifically, see sample #3 with the "Oak Park" variation.

I applied the TT and here is how the sub-assemblies look currently.

Wood Natural material Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Wood stain Natural material


Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Rectangle Natural material


Thanks for watching the paint dry. haha
 

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#114 ·
The beginning of the end

I finished up a couple details this AM, then started finishing.

Greg wanted to highlight the ray flecks as much as possible. Elizabeth wanted the color to be very dark. Therefore, we settled on Jeff Jewitt's Mission Oak Finish. Specifically, see sample #3 with the "Oak Park" variation.

I applied the TT and here is how the sub-assemblies look currently.

Wood Natural material Rectangle Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Wood stain Natural material


Furniture Wood Outdoor furniture Rectangle Natural material


Thanks for watching the paint dry. haha
Ahhh! That looks so great with the finish. What a perfect color for this piece. Magnificent!
 

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#119 ·
GF Seal-a-Cell

This morning I scuff sanded all the parts with 320G, then applied the Seal-a-Cell to everything. That needs to dry over night, so I was done for today on this project.

Here is a pic of a portion of the front rail with only the TT dye:

Wood Grey Rectangle Road surface Beige


This is the same piece after the Seal-a-Cell.

Brown Rectangle Wood Grey Beige


I can't see any difference in the pix, but it looked good while it was wet. Tomorrow should be really interesting to see what it looks like after the gel stain is applied.
 

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#120 ·
GF Seal-a-Cell

This morning I scuff sanded all the parts with 320G, then applied the Seal-a-Cell to everything. That needs to dry over night, so I was done for today on this project.

Here is a pic of a portion of the front rail with only the TT dye:

Wood Grey Rectangle Road surface Beige


This is the same piece after the Seal-a-Cell.

Brown Rectangle Wood Grey Beige


I can't see any difference in the pix, but it looked good while it was wet. Tomorrow should be really interesting to see what it looks like after the gel stain is applied.
I can't wait! That looks like you fumed it!
 

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#122 ·
The end is in sight

I sanded again with 320G, then applied the Brown Mahogany Gel Stain. Jewitt says to let it dry for 36-48 hours, but the can indicated 12-24 hours drying time. The shop is about 65° and 50% RH so I will try sanding tomorrow with 400G to see if I get any corns or not and let that be the deciding factor. I can hardly wait to see how it looks after the polyurethane dresses it up!

This pic is just at the gel stain stage; no poly yet.

Wood Rectangle Pattern Flooring Landscape


Also, I am really getting anxious to complete this project. Thanks for looking.
 

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#123 ·
The end is in sight

I sanded again with 320G, then applied the Brown Mahogany Gel Stain. Jewitt says to let it dry for 36-48 hours, but the can indicated 12-24 hours drying time. The shop is about 65° and 50% RH so I will try sanding tomorrow with 400G to see if I get any corns or not and let that be the deciding factor. I can hardly wait to see how it looks after the polyurethane dresses it up!

This pic is just at the gel stain stage; no poly yet.

Wood Rectangle Pattern Flooring Landscape


Also, I am really getting anxious to complete this project. Thanks for looking.
Such a beautiful mellow color. Wonderful.
 

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#126 ·
Polyurethane

I'm really close now. This is with the first coat of satin polyurethane. Jewitt recommends only 2 coats of the poly, but GF says 3. I think I will go with 2 and evaluate, but I am hoping that 2 will be adequate. This is the most involved finishing schedule I have ever done and I am ready to be done! haha

Wood Rectangle Art Wood stain Flooring


Thanks for hanging with me during this process.
 

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#127 ·
Polyurethane

I'm really close now. This is with the first coat of satin polyurethane. Jewitt recommends only 2 coats of the poly, but GF says 3. I think I will go with 2 and evaluate, but I am hoping that 2 will be adequate. This is the most involved finishing schedule I have ever done and I am ready to be done! haha

Wood Rectangle Art Wood stain Flooring


Thanks for hanging with me during this process.
Depends on how it's applied, but with my spray rig 2 coats is plenty.
Lookin' good!
 

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#130 ·
Good news, bad news

The good news is that I got the second coat of polyurethane on everything today and Jeff Jewitt's finish is a winner in my book. It looks great, at least to me. ;)

So without further adieu:

Wood Natural material Wood stain Rectangle Hardwood


Furniture Wood Rectangle Gas Wood stain


Rectangle Wood Composite material Flooring Tints and shades


Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Wood Flooring Floor Material property Shade


Now, the bad news, Greg's schedule doesn't permit me to deliver this until April 22nd. I will assemble it and do the final glue up after it is in its new home. It is too big and heavy to move from my basement shop as a single piece. That means this blog will drag out another 10 days before the final pix will be available. I apologize for the delay, but hang in there and rest assured that it will be completed eventually. :/
 

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#131 ·
Good news, bad news

The good news is that I got the second coat of polyurethane on everything today and Jeff Jewitt's finish is a winner in my book. It looks great, at least to me. ;)

So without further adieu:

Wood Natural material Wood stain Rectangle Hardwood


Furniture Wood Rectangle Gas Wood stain


Rectangle Wood Composite material Flooring Tints and shades


Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Wood stain Hardwood


Wood Rectangle Wood stain Flooring Hardwood


Wood Flooring Floor Material property Shade


Now, the bad news, Greg's schedule doesn't permit me to deliver this until April 22nd. I will assemble it and do the final glue up after it is in its new home. It is too big and heavy to move from my basement shop as a single piece. That means this blog will drag out another 10 days before the final pix will be available. I apologize for the delay, but hang in there and rest assured that it will be completed eventually. :/
Looks great! I bet it is a heavy piece when all assembled.
 

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#142 ·
The Final Installment

At long last, the sofa is complete. :) I glued the ends and rails at Greg's house because it was much easier to move in individual pieces. The back rest is attached to the ends by steel pegs. The design was inspired by Stickley's Orchard Street sofa with the construction details from a Fine Woodworking series of videos by Greg Paolini and the finish is a Stickley finish developed by Jeff Jewitt. All these details were covered earlier in this blog. I will be happy to answer any questions.

I did not make the cushions.

I want to thank those of you that have followed along and commented. I should also thank those of you that inspired me to do this blog in the first place. I won't mention any names but you know who you are. Finally, I want to thank those of you who have provided suggestions, tips, etc, especially PintoDeluxe, aka Willie.

Bill in Brooklyn, I didn't have time to make one for your birthday, so please consider these pix your present. haha

Brown Furniture Property White Black


Brown Furniture Property Couch White


Brown White Product Wood Rectangle


Wood Textile Rectangle Flooring Floor


Property Furniture Plant Wood Outdoor furniture


Wood Wood stain Varnish Rectangle Hardwood


Plant Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Chair


And, that's a wrap!
 

Attachments

#143 ·
The Final Installment

At long last, the sofa is complete. :) I glued the ends and rails at Greg's house because it was much easier to move in individual pieces. The back rest is attached to the ends by steel pegs. The design was inspired by Stickley's Orchard Street sofa with the construction details from a Fine Woodworking series of videos by Greg Paolini and the finish is a Stickley finish developed by Jeff Jewitt. All these details were covered earlier in this blog. I will be happy to answer any questions.

I did not make the cushions.

I want to thank those of you that have followed along and commented. I should also thank those of you that inspired me to do this blog in the first place. I won't mention any names but you know who you are. Finally, I want to thank those of you who have provided suggestions, tips, etc, especially PintoDeluxe, aka Willie.

Bill in Brooklyn, I didn't have time to make one for your birthday, so please consider these pix your present. haha

Brown Furniture Property White Black


Brown Furniture Property Couch White


Brown White Product Wood Rectangle


Wood Textile Rectangle Flooring Floor


Property Furniture Plant Wood Outdoor furniture


Wood Wood stain Varnish Rectangle Hardwood


Plant Wood Rectangle Outdoor furniture Chair


And, that's a wrap!
Art

I love it! It is beautiful. You did a great job. Everything about it is perfect. Stickley would be proud!

The only question is where did they get the cushions? I have made a Morris Chair and would like cushions like that.

Thanks for sharing and again…Perfect!

Steve
 

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