Mario imparted some wise advice. Always cut at least 2 dovetails with the same material and to the same thickness as you will use in the project. That’ll give you a good feel for the material and how it will react when you cut the real ones. Great advice.

Got to work for the first time on a Moxon vice. This thing was awesome! Allows you work to be right where you need it. File this one away for a future project. Or, this one offered by PFW is very nice.

Layout for the tails. These dovetails are really tiny. And in material 3/16” thick. I could barely see the gauge lines. This is white chalk used to snap chalk lines. It made sawing much easier.

Finished tail board for the drawer side. Not bad.

The first drawer side. I cannot believe it is me actually cutting dovetails like this. I’m slow at it, but I can’t argue with the result. I’m enjoying this!

Mario gathered up a few other drawer sides from the class. Mine is in the middle.

Didn’t get to set my drawer lock, and I find myself slipping behind the others in class. Trying not to beat myself up about it. I’ll need to catch up before the last class. That means assemble and fit the drawer, and the lock.

Wish me luck! I’m going to need it!

The recess on the back of one of the writing panels is where the easel will fit when the desk is folded flat.

Finally, a shot of the panels being recessed to 1/32”. Done with the Bosch Colt freehand and then the ends were cleaned up with a chisel.

Also for homework was a test run on fitting a half mortise lock and practice on helf-blind dovetails for next class. For it’s off to assemble the drawer!

First a little about the desk. The original desk was designed by Thomas Jefferson so that he could write in his coach while traveling between Monticello and Philadelphia. The original is housed in the Smithsonian. I haven’t yet seen the original, but Mario and Alan describe it as “flawed”. Jefferson would more then likely be surprised that it has survived and actually has become a national treasure of sorts. The original was hastily built, and cross grain issues have severely warped it.

Yet the design really fascinates me. It’s like the original laptop. It has a foldout surface for writing, and a small drawer to keep pencils and paper and such.

Mario and Allen, the instructors at PFW are awesome. A great place to take a class. They cautioned us that this project would best be described as fussy, but they are patient and rally want all of us too succeed.

So this post finds me about midway complete with the build. We have attended 2 full weekend classes with homework in between.

So I will post some shots, with some description, then pick up from there.

A shot of the bottom panel of the carcass. We’re using a good quality mahogany. It’s very easy to work.

Dry fitting the sides of the carcass

The carcass pre-glue up

The glue-up

The writing panels are fitted with breadboard ends to help control movement

On to the homework before next class!

So one side stretcher in place.

And then the next.

I’m happy that they they fit pretty well.

I think the thing that’s taking the longest is cutting the corner waste out of the corners of the mortises that have been cleaned out with a forstner bit. Does anyone have a good technique on chpping out the corner waste?

Here is what will be one of the legs of the bench. All the legs and stretchers were milled and surfaced over the course of the last few months while I finished some other projects.

Here are the short stretchers.

And here is the first layout ever of a mortise. They will be 5/8” wide and about 2 3/4” in depth. I marked them out with a marking knife so that I had a good mark to register the chisel during cleanup. I used an ultra thin pencil to make the marks just a bit more visible. The pencil is so thin that it stays inside the marking knife scribe lines.

And this one is the practice mortise I made in a scrap piece. I am shocked at how well it actually came out. The short stretcher slides in and out and is very tight. I learned a lot from this test. The best learning is when you actually have to do it.

Next is the layout on the drill press. I used a 5/8” Frostner bit to drill out the majority of the material. One trick was to keep the edges of the bit in between the scribe lines. I clamped a dead straight fence on the back of the press to keep the bit centered between the scribe lines.

I started by drilling the holes on each end of the mortise. And then drilling a hole next to one end until the other end. It seemed much easier to drill non-overlapping holes to begin with. And then I followed up by drilling out the remainder of the waste in between the separate holes. What I found was that if you have the work piece clamped down, it’s much easier to drill holes with a Forstner that are this deep. If the work piece is not clamped down, you lose a lot of control and the bit has a tendency to bind when lifting it out of the exit hole.

Here is the final mortise prior to clening up with a fresh set of sharp chisels. So it’s off to get them nice and sharp. So far, mortises aren’t as intimidating as I orginially anticipated. We’ll see!

So I went to the Woodworking in America show in Valley Forge PA last October and as luck would have it, there was a company offering kiln dried Ash 12/4 on down specifically cut to size for the Holtzapffel bench. I really stepped in it for sure.

So first things first. The layout for the top. I have 4 planks of Ash for the top. They are 3” thick, 76” in length and ~7” in width. I will side glue these 4 planks after planing and jointing or course.

There are a few different layout configurations I was thinking of. If you have any advice, please post.

I know I want the top to be 24” wide. I am leaning toward cutting each piece to 6” widths. But another way would be to use as much of the full width of each board and make up any difference with the last board. If you have an opinion, please weigh in?

Also, please take a look at the way I’ve laid the boards out. There are 2 darker planks. One I would consider medium in color, and one that is obviously lighter. How would you configure these 4 planks so that they would look good aesthetically? The layout in the picture is what I’m thinking of going with.

So the first actual step is to make a set of 3 wooden cauls that will help keep the planks even during the glue-up. I’ll post here on the process of maiking them.

Thanks for you input.

Assembling the base of the table.

The legs go on with glue and screws from the back.

The most difficult part of the whole assembly was getting the spacing correct. The plans called for a distance of 18 1/4”. So it was a matter of getting the 2 ends of the top to run parallel at 18 1/4” while maintaining the same overhang on each of the sides.

Next was making sure the interior slats had the same spacing. I got the desired spacing and then dry fit them in.

Next, I cut a template for tracing the arc on the table top. I un-screwed the top and cut the curves for each table slat carefully on the band saw.

As always, my shop helper stopped working long enough to tak a quick picture.

Here are a few of the completed chair before spar varnish finish. Needed to round over the front and back of the slats

There you have it. A new Adirondak Chair and table. Now all we need is some good weather in the Northeast. I wll be posting the final finished chair and table in Projects when complete!

BTW. The holes in top are plugged. Just didnt snap another picture.

Here is my conclusion after taking the class. You can read all the articles in the world, and see all of the videos. I’ve done close to that. If you really want to have success at this skill it helps wildly if you actually see someone assemble it, like a Mario Rodriguez, and receive feedback on your technique. There were tips and tricks that Mario passed on that really de-mystified the whole process.

I walked out only assembling one practice dovetail, and the beginning of a half-blind dovetail that I need to complete at home. But I now have the tools, literally and figuratively, and the confidence to have success. Mario promised a 100% imporvement in your ability to cut dovetails, and he wasn’t kidding. Thanks Mario and Alan. Looking forward to the next class.

Here are a few photos I snapped during the class. Hope you enjoy.

Here’s a side view. I cut the spacers with the chop saw (with a stop block to repeat the cut), since I don’t own a table saw. The wood used for the spacers is just from some pressure treated that’s been laying around for a while. Probably better ways of doing this, but this seemed to work fairly well.

And here’s the head on view.

So it was sanding, counterbore, glue and screw the slats down, and waaaalaaaa! ... no more pieces to assemble. I quickly called in a few testers, to ensure the chair was working the way it should. I think I passed the test.

So the only thing left is to plug the screw holes in the seat slats, and then final sanding and finish.

I plugged the holes in the chair. But not only did I align the grain, I tried to match the grain color as best as I could for every plug. Sorry, OCD kicking in.

So that’s just about it! I’m probably going to wait until it starts to get a bit warmer to add spar varnish. So the next posts will focus on a nifty little side table.

Really rusty for sure, but surprisingly the handle is in good shape, and the saw plate is straight as well. I might just be able to get a working saw out of this one. That’s a bonus since all I really wanted to do was bring it to the class to practice.

The techinque used for cleaning the saw plate was really very simple. Just some automotive wet-dry sandpaper with some WD40 as a lubricant. With a little elbow grease, the saw plate came clean. Astonishingly, as rusted as this saw is, there is noticeable staining, but no pitting!

After about an hours worth of work on both sides, the plate is ready to go. I’m happy that there’s some mirror in the saw plate.

I sanded the handle, hit it with a light coat of wipe on poly, and then dyed the handle with a cherry finish. I added 2 coats of Bison Clear wax as a protectant, and she’s ready to go. What do you think ? Not too bad for a first attempt?

Here’s a couple more. I’m working on my photography as well, thanks Andy. Please post feedback to those who know what they’re doing. Thanks.

Anyhow, back to my nice day. My compatriot John T, came over today to help me with some odds and ends. First, the cover of my Ridgid drill press was broken off where it screws into the top. So we lathered it up with some epoxy, and that seems to have fixed it.

Also, John gave me a tutorial in cleaning up old hand saws. Here is a picture of one that I just bought.

So we spent some time cleaning the saw plate and the brass on it. I’ll save this for a separate blog entry. I bought this saw as a way to practice saw sharpening. John and I are headed to a class at the Philadelphia Furniture Workshop in March of this year where Mario Rodriguez will be teaching us how to hand cut dovetails and he throws in a lesson on saw sharpening.

So on to this weeks progress on the chair. We worked on getting the back slats of the chair on this week. The center slat goes on first.

Next, the outer slats go on next. We are using 1 5/8” stainless screws to attach the bottom and 1 1/4” on the top. All of the screw holes will receive plugs later.

And then the intermediate slats go on. These are aligned by eye, and there you have it, the back is done.

And of course my helper dropped by to pose as well.

And here is a picture from the back. Now it’s feeling like a chair. Not much is left. Next up, the finishing touches. The seat slats. Then we can begin the table!

So here we go. First, I installed the brackets which are used to support the arms.

The top gets an 1 5/8” stainless screw, and you have to be careful with the bottom screw. There’s not a lot of material left when counterboring for an 1 1/4” screw. I took my time and all went well.

Next it was on to the long awaited arms of the chair. Norm recommends doing the rounding over on the arms after attaching it. I just didnt feel comfortable doing ths because I didn’t want to risk putting any weight on the arms. So I did this prior to installing, and I’m glad I did, because I went slightly deep with the 3/8” roundover on one spot on the arm. It was easier to make the adjustments before it was installed. Here are the arms prior to rounding over.

Next comes the fun part. You need to install the arms so that the arm has a 1 1/8” overhang from front leg and 3/4” from the inside of the front leg. So I tried something different. I flippped the chair over, and lined up the arms where the needed to be and traced the leg and bracket outline on the bottom of the arm. From there I drilled a small pilot from the back of the arm so that I know where the holes would be on the top. From here I drilled the counterbore for the screws that will attach the arm to the leg and bracket.

With that completed, I attached the arm to the leg with one screw so that I could make adjustments to each arm such that the width between the arms stays 20 1/2”. Once that it done I dry fit the upper rear cross piece (clamped in place) to ensure all was in order.

A front view

Rear view

Top View – It’s starting to feel like a chair finally.

My best helper, Julia, came out and was the very first person to sit in the chair. I put one of the seat slats down.

I ran into an issue though. The silicon bronze carriage bolts that I bought are too short for attaching the arms to the upper cross piece. I bought 1/4”- 20- 2”, and they do grab about half of the bolt. However, I’m not about to settle for this. I’ll need to order the 2 1/2” length. Only issue is the cost. 4 bolts cost $7 from bolt depot, and the shipping is $9. Does anyone know where I can get the bronze bolts for cheaper?

So all and all, a good weekend. The hardest parts are over. Next week it’s on to the back slats.

I’ve gotta get some other source of heat in there. Can’t glue the chair indoors because it’s too big. Can anyone out there recommend a good way to heat the garage? It doesn’t need to be tropical, but I’d take 50-55 degrees in a second.

Ok. So here we go. The first assembly is the side members with the fron and rear cross-piece. The rear cross-piece is the curved piece.

I drill and countersunk 1 5/8” stainless steel square drive screws purchased from McFeely’s. These are great screws, however they’re a bit soft. I actually snapped the head of one of them off during this part of the assembly. No worries though, I backed the rest out and got it free. You must ensure that the pilot holes are deep and wide enough. I’m using the square to ensure my drilling is straight.

Next is the assembly of the front cross piece. The most difficult part is trying to clamp align the components flush with nothing more than a Workmate! Did I mention I’m building a real workbench next?

On to the front legs of the chair. The front legs are attached with 1/4” carriage bolts. Here I’m showing the measurement and marking for the bolts according to the plan. I used the Starrett spring-loaded ceter punch to provide a decent size hole to begin drilling for the carriage bolts.

After getting the first leg on, I got a visit from my youngest Julia, who is always inquisitive about what I’m doing and ready to lend a hand.

For the carriage bolts, Norm recommends stainless, but I’m using silicon bronze, which I think look really nice on the mahogany as the chair weathers.

So here a a few different shots of the chair as is stands today. Next time, arms and perhaps back slats?

So it’s 1/1/2010. Happy New Year! Spent the morning cleaning up after the New Year’s party, and then it was out into the garage. Luckily, the weather was not that bad. A balmy 40 degrees, more than good enough to open the garage door. That’s the double snow tube we used last week after the 20” blizzard. I don’t know if I should deflate it, or leave it inflated until the next snow? Hopefully?

I set up the chop saw and cut the 24 degree angle on each side member.

Then, off to the band saw to rough cut them down to approximate shape. I got the chance to use the new snake lamp for the bandsaw that I got for Christmas. What a difference a direct light source works. Felt like it was much easier.

The chair also has small brackets under the arms, so I took care of these as well.

I then put the rough-cut components back on the templates to get the exact shape. I found myself reaching again for the Bosch Colt instead of the standard Porter Cable router. The templating bit for the Bosch worked wonderfully. It just feels like you have so much more control with it.

Here’s one of the brackets after running the template bit.

I’m finally finished with all of the routing and all of the components for the chair and table are cut to size. There’s some round over work on the table left for next time. I might do some light sanding. Then…finally I can start assembly. I might even get the time this weekend. I hope.

We had a big day planned. A lot of Jointing, planing, ripping and cross-cutting would fill the air with the sweet smell of Mahogany. And the 50+ degree temps made for a very enjoyable day.

First, we flipped on the Jointer, and jointed one edge of the rough boards. This would give a good edge to rip the boards to width on the table saw later.

Then, off to the surface planer to get the stock down to 1” and 3/4”. John’s Ridgid surface planer is excellent and up to the task. I hope to purchase one by the end of the year.

With the 2 of us, we were able to quickly crank through the planing. One feeding and the other catching. Here is some of the stack.

Once the boards were planed to thickness, we moved to the tablesaw to rip the boards to width. Again, what an advantage having 2 people. One feeding and one catching at the other end. It goes very quickly.

Next comes the fun part. We get to use the hardboard templates that we made while building a chair last year. Here we are laying out the arms.

Then it was off to the bandsaw to rough cut the curved components of the chair. We cut these components to rough size and then will come back later with a templating bit to make the exact final shapes.

I had to throw in a picture of John. The arm that he cut was a lot better than mine. He’s been at it longer than I have, but perhaps I’ll get as good as he is some day.

Here are the arms after cutting on the bandsaw. This time, we saved cutoffs (show on top of each arm) from each of the arms so that when we plug the holes, we’ll hopefully get a pretty good match. Especially since the grain on these arms is so wavy.

The upper rear cross support is the trickiest cut on this chair. It requires a curved cut that also has a 30 degree bevel, as you can see here.

No matter how careful you cut this curve on the bandsaw, there are little humps and bumps along the entire surface of the curve. Now, when Norm does it on the video, he’s got a souped up drum sander to smooth out the curve. We’re not so lucky. The last time we attempted this with an orbital sander. I remember it took a while to get it right. This time, John suggested we try a spokeshave.

It worked very well. It was the first time I’d ever used one. What a great little tool.

Very little sanding will be required in the final assembly thanks to this. I’ve gotta pick up one of these.

Another compound curve required for this chair is the lower back support, which requires a 6 degree bevel angle. This cut is a challenge because the waste side isn’t waste at all. It actually forms the rear-most seat slat, so there’s no room for error.

Here, I’m using the template to lay out the cut.

And here is the result…not too bad.

A few passes with the spokeshave, and it’s off to assembly next time.

I looked high and low for the perfect chair. Any time I saw one, no matter where we were, I would always stop to test it out. Until one day I flipped on The New Yankee Workshop. Norm was demonstrating his version of the Adirondack Chair. He explained how he had visited a museum where he borrowed the best features of many styles of Adirondack chairs to arrive at the design of his. It seemed to have all of the features I was interested in.

I bought the plan, and thus began my first woodworking project. I literally had no experience with woodworking at all. Other than hanging pictures in the house, and dabbling in installing base molding, I had no idea what I was doing. When I received the plans for the chair, it looked extremely intimidating. I had no idea where I wood by the lumber for such a project, let alone where to purchase it. However, a good friend of mine lent me his time, and experience (and his shop) and we built that chair! It was everything I’d expected it would be. I built it of Sepele Mahogany for my wife, and it came out just beautifully.

There is only one bad part. I only built one of them. So this blog will be dedicated to the process of building a second matching chair, along with a small side table.

I started the build process already. We purchased the Sepele Mahogany for the chair and table. I’ve rough cut the lumber to approximate size for the chair components, so forgive me if I’m not starting at the absolute beginning.

My shop (if you can call it a shop yet), does not have all of the tools that are required to get the stock down to size and thickness. I am still relying on my friend John T. for that. I don’t own a table saw, jointer, or surface planer. We get together every month for a shop day, and that’s where I get the lumber down to size. Thanks Johnny!

We pick up this story with the chair slats completed. And some of the back seat slats were dimensioned correctly in our last monthly meeting, so I was able to use my bandsaw to cut the shapes of the back slats.

With the first chair, we made templates of the chair components out of hardboard, so you’ll be seeing those throughout.

So here is one of the templates and the seat slat before using a 3/4” templating bit with the Bosch Colt. The Colt is quickly becoming one of my favorite tools. Easy to maneuver, lightweight. It’s the best.

Next, I clamp the template in place and routed the curves of the slats. You can see the bit of the curve left proud of the line on the bandsaw.

The same technique on the center rear seat slat.

Once the slats were trimmed to the exact curve given by the template, I used a 1/4” roundover bit to round over the front side of the seat slate. I used bench cookies when routing the long runs on the seat slats, but I honestly felt I needed a more stable surface than the cookies when rounding over the curves. A couple fo clamps for that.

Here are the slats after rounding over.

Here are all the slats I’ve done so far. One is missing. It still needs to go through the surface planer.

So thus far, I have the back seat slats completed (sans 1) and the seat slats.

I clamped them together to prevent twisting, and also to keep them safe in the garage.

Next time it’s surface planing, jointing, and ripping all parts down to size.