# Garden Chair



## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*The Story & the Start*

Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.

DW had this wooden chair given to her a few years ago. She loved the chair and used it out in the garden when she got a few spare moments to enjoy nature. Well after years of being outside it got a little worse for wear and started coming apart. She asked if I could put is back together for her to use as well as make one for her to use in the house. So there you have it . . . a project.

This is what the chair looked like when I took it inside before the snow fell this year.





I started disassembling it and notice this marking on the underside. Made in 1963.



After I got most of the pieces disassembled I made templates out of packaged pine.





I used a blue piece of bristol board for the seat template.



When I got to almost a complete state of disassemble DW was given another chair by the same person who gave her the original.



Got some more to disassemble and then gotta pick up some poplar and start roughing out pieces.


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## MsDebbieP (Jan 4, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


what a beautiful little chair!! 
someone is REALLY lucky to have you around!!


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## mtkate (Apr 18, 2009)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


This is making me think of spring!


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## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


Hi Zuki, very timely project for me. I have two chairs to redo myself. Can you explain how you got the glue apart if there was any? If there was other joinery, can you explain how you got that apart also? Thanks in advance, I'll be watching with interest.

Best,


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


Well Jim . . .

Seat fell apart on its own.

Most of the other pieces were screwed together. Some screws were a little tough to remove. I would insert the screwdriver and tap it with a hammer to loosen the screw.

The dowels . . . lightly tapping the pieces with a wooden mallet (a piece of wood in my case) so as not to destroy the wood.

There are a couple of piece showing in the bottom photo that have very small nails inset in the wood. Not sure how I'm going to tackle that. 

PW had an article a couple of years ago that had a pretty detailed article on fixing chairs. If i can find it I will post the issue.


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## jockmike2 (Oct 10, 2006)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


Nice job Zuki, not an easy job, making a chair, I've made two from scratch and know how frustrating it can get at times. Rewarding too. Very nice piece. Your a natural.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *The Story & the Start*
> 
> Hey all. I have not blogged much in a while now, but now I have a project that I call Garden Chair.
> 
> ...


Zuki, thats a cute little chair.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*Roughing it*

Here is the chunk of wood I purchased to build the chair. 8bf of 8\4 poplar = $35.



I ran it through the planer and jointed the edges and voila.



I had a smaller piece of 8/4 already so I roughed out the front legs from that.



For the rear I hacked off a piece and ran it through the BS. The rear legs were 1 1/8 wide . . . odd sizing.



After giving the dimensioned board a scuff with the sander to remove the BS marks, I penciled out the legs and roughed them out on the BS. I really could have used some bench cookies as the board was skittering all over the bench while using the ROS.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *Roughing it*
> 
> Here is the chunk of wood I purchased to build the chair. 8bf of 8\4 poplar = $35.
> 
> ...


Nice peice of wood.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*More Roughing*

Spent a couple of hours in the shop today. I sketched out some of the parts of the chair -parts that go under the seat and attach to the legs . . . aprons I guess. These attach in a different way than I am used to. I will cover that later.



I used the BS (no trance this time) to cut them out. Normally when using the BS I cut the pieces about 1/16 larger and then use a template (made from the original part) and my template bit on the router table to get the part to its appropriate size. I was always a little nervous of my BS skills and keeping the blade cutting along the line.

This time I cut pretty much on the line and then used a drum sander mounted in the drill press to remove the BS marks. It worked quite well. However, I did use the leg template and the router table to make the back legs.

Here I have the parts I made and the two legs clamped together . . . I gonna sand the edges to ensure that they are mirrors of one another.


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## DanYo (Jun 30, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *More Roughing*
> 
> Spent a couple of hours in the shop today. I sketched out some of the parts of the chair -parts that go under the seat and attach to the legs . . . aprons I guess. These attach in a different way than I am used to. I will cover that later.
> 
> ...


looks like you are having fun


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## spud72 (Oct 31, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *More Roughing*
> 
> Spent a couple of hours in the shop today. I sketched out some of the parts of the chair -parts that go under the seat and attach to the legs . . . aprons I guess. These attach in a different way than I am used to. I will cover that later.
> 
> ...


Nice work

Guy


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*Seating for One + OUCH!*

I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the 
original is 1 ¼.



I did the initial cutting with the TS slowing inching the blade taking deeper and deeper cuts until I got to the maximum depth. Then over to the BS to get rid of the remaining section holding the two pieces together.

While using the BS the blade kissed my finger . . . well a little more than kiss. I am so very happy that I had my gloves on as the damage would have been much worse. It is a very deep cut just above my knuckle. Here it is after DW did some bandaging up. I now have a splint (actually a short piece of dowel) taped to the underside to restrict movement. DW says I should go for stitches . . . I don't think its that bad.



The BS blade never even cut through the glove. Look at the third finger from the top. For some reason the BS has had something against me lately . . . I gotta have a chat with it to see what is wrong.



After I got bandaged up I wanted to do a little more work in the seat. There was a strip of wood on the seat sections left over from the difference in the TS blade width and the BS blade width. I used my el cheapo mastercraft plane to remove it. A quick one-handed sanding and we have a seat blank.


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## Newfounlandwood (Feb 2, 2010)

Zuki said:


> *Seating for One + OUCH!*
> 
> I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the
> original is 1 ¼.
> ...


Zuki,
Sorry to hear about your finger. I hope it heals quickly! That's the first thing I thought on when you mentioned your trance like state using the bandsaw.  
Your project is coming along great, keep up the good work and I wish you a speedy recovery.

Dennis


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *Seating for One + OUCH!*
> 
> I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the
> original is 1 ¼.
> ...


Tks Dennis.

No trance this time. I was pushing on the wood with my fingers in the way and the blade decided to start cutting very quickly. I will be much more careful in the future.


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## roman (Sep 28, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *Seating for One + OUCH!*
> 
> I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the
> original is 1 ¼.
> ...


medicinal crazy glue has saved me many a trip the emerg

A personal thing here but I dont wear watches, nor rings and again, just a personal thing but I find gloves dangerous in a shop. Blades, bits, knives etc., have a tendency to grab hold of the fibre and pull the wholehand in.

Hope you heal quickly.


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## Chelios (Jan 2, 2010)

Zuki said:


> *Seating for One + OUCH!*
> 
> I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the
> original is 1 ¼.
> ...


Zuki

Careful! The reason you got "kissed" was probably cause of the gloves. You might want to rethink wearing gloves when working on the saws.

Best


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## Tony_S (Dec 16, 2009)

Zuki said:


> *Seating for One + OUCH!*
> 
> I did a little work on the seat today. I rough cut the wood to length. It is 1 7/8 thick and the seat on the
> original is 1 ¼.
> ...


Yep….don't want to sound like a Parrot, but I agree with the posters above. None of the guys in my shop are allowed to wear gloves of ANY sort while using machinery. Not only can they get caught on blades, but a myriad of other things, including the wood. They also tend to give guys a very false sense of security.

Glad to hear it's not so bad.
My not feel like it right now…..but today was your lucky day! Go buy a lottery ticket! LOL!


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*Last bit of roughing*

I was off today so I got a couple of hours in the shop. My first task was to attach the two pieces of the seat together. I used my "homemade" glue and pocket screws. The last time I made a chair I used pocket screws to hold the seat together; however I failed to consider the top of the chair being scooped out.

This time I measured where the screws were going and then measured the depth of the indent on the model chair. I set the pocket screw depth for the finished seat. You may be able to see the lines in the pic below that guided me when using my Kreg jig.



Before screwing it together I slapped on some "glue" and clamped it up.



The final bit of roughing out is for the back of the chair and the bracing underneath. This is the donor wood and the old chair.


Here are the final pieces.



Now that I have the easy stuff done . . . its on to the assembly.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *Last bit of roughing*
> 
> I was off today so I got a couple of hours in the shop. My first task was to attach the two pieces of the seat together. I used my "homemade" glue and pocket screws. The last time I made a chair I used pocket screws to hold the seat together; however I failed to consider the top of the chair being scooped out.
> 
> ...


Looks like a fun project.


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## TimC (Sep 17, 2009)

Zuki said:


> *Last bit of roughing*
> 
> I was off today so I got a couple of hours in the shop. My first task was to attach the two pieces of the seat together. I used my "homemade" glue and pocket screws. The last time I made a chair I used pocket screws to hold the seat together; however I failed to consider the top of the chair being scooped out.
> 
> ...


looks like its headed in a good direction. Have fun with it.


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## Newfounlandwood (Feb 2, 2010)

Zuki said:


> *Last bit of roughing*
> 
> I was off today so I got a couple of hours in the shop. My first task was to attach the two pieces of the seat together. I used my "homemade" glue and pocket screws. The last time I made a chair I used pocket screws to hold the seat together; however I failed to consider the top of the chair being scooped out.
> 
> ...


It's looking good. Should be some fun joinery ahead.

Dennis


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*The Seat - Part 1*

Now that the seat is all set up its time to form it. I placed the old seat right over the new one as a template.



I then sanded the edges with the ROS with various grits (40, 80, 120) to get it smooth. Using the original seat for measurements I marked out where the seat is to be scooped. The arrows indicate the direction of the slope.





I do not have a "seat scooper" so I will be using a plunge router making numerous deepening passes and chisels to make the rough shape of the seat. Then I will use sandpaper to smooth everything out.


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 1*
> 
> Now that the seat is all set up its time to form it. I placed the old seat right over the new one as a template.
> 
> ...


Great start on the seat.


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## davidmicraig (Nov 21, 2009)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 1*
> 
> Now that the seat is all set up its time to form it. I placed the old seat right over the new one as a template.
> 
> ...


Looks good Zuki! I will be interested in watching your progress on this one. I need to make a couple maple chairs for my dining room. I am going to buy a grinder and an excalibur blade for scooping. I will be curious how your method turns out.

David


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 1*
> 
> Now that the seat is all set up its time to form it. I placed the old seat right over the new one as a template.
> 
> ...


You could use a sled. The same principal as a router planing sled, except the rails are curved to get the dip in the seat.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*The Seat - Part 2 (Finished)*

I scooped out the chair seat today. The first three pics you can see the scooping that was on the original chair . . . it got deeper as it went back and shallower towards the rear.





I chucked up my ¼ spiral upcut bit in my plunge router and set it to 1/16 and made an "outline" of what needed to be cut. That black mat under the seat is some leftover non-slip matting used for tool chests.





I then switched the spiral for a ½ straight sit bit. After following the outline I dropped the bit about a 1/16 at a time and cleared the entire seat . . . then dropped it another 1/16 and cleared the seat . . . and so on. I got a little more aggressive as I got toward the middle. One thing that I realized is that router plate would end up riding on the cut section of the seat and not the flat part making little gouges and ridges all over the seat.



I then sharpened my chisels and started knocking down the high spots, smoothing the edges.





I then put a 40 grit paper in my ROS and started smoothing out the chisel marks. 40 grit certainly removes stock very quickly. Then I used a 60, 120, and foam sanding pad.





I then rounded over the edges of the seat. Looks pretty good to me. I'm happy with it.


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## ScienceNerd (Feb 12, 2010)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 2 (Finished)*
> 
> I scooped out the chair seat today. The first three pics you can see the scooping that was on the original chair . . . it got deeper as it went back and shallower towards the rear.
> 
> ...


Nice job, Zuki! A set of barstools is on my do-someday list, and I've been pondering how to handle the seats. This method looks do-able to me.

Btw, I just stumbled upon your greenhouse posts on Friday. Consider me jealous.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 2 (Finished)*
> 
> I scooped out the chair seat today. The first three pics you can see the scooping that was on the original chair . . . it got deeper as it went back and shallower towards the rear.
> 
> ...


Tks. I used somewhat of a similar method on another chair I built. This way worked much better.

The greenhouse was fun and productive. It held up to the winter pretty well.

Cheers


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## OutPutter (Jun 23, 2007)

Zuki said:


> *The Seat - Part 2 (Finished)*
> 
> I scooped out the chair seat today. The first three pics you can see the scooping that was on the original chair . . . it got deeper as it went back and shallower towards the rear.
> 
> ...


Looking good.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*The Back Revisited*

I was initially going to make the back of the chair straight, however upon closer inspection I noticed the back of the model chair was curved. I went back and purchased another smaller piece of poplar for the back.



After I planed and jointed the edges I sketched out the curve for the back. I fired up the BS with the original 3/8 6T blade and it would go nowhere so I decided to install my ½ 3T blade. What a difference in cutting . . . holy cow. It was a little rougher than the smaller blade but it made short work of the 6" thick board.



Then to the ROS with 40 grit. I have the back cut, however I have it laid back in the waste piece to that it will not rock and slide over the bench.



Here is the board sanded. It's a little thicker on one end. A little more work needed with the sander.



I then ripped the two pieces (top and bottom) and did a compound miter cut on each end to match the originals.



Sketched out for the mortises.


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## Chrmakr (Feb 9, 2010)

Zuki said:


> *The Back Revisited*
> 
> I was initially going to make the back of the chair straight, however upon closer inspection I noticed the back of the model chair was curved. I went back and purchased another smaller piece of poplar for the back.
> 
> ...


Zuki,
Good job solving the curved rails and locating the mortises. Keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to more pictures of your progress.


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

Zuki said:


> *The Back Revisited*
> 
> I was initially going to make the back of the chair straight, however upon closer inspection I noticed the back of the model chair was curved. I went back and purchased another smaller piece of poplar for the back.
> 
> ...


Interesting blog, thanks for the detail.


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## Zuki (Mar 28, 2007)

*Still at the back*

Back at the back today. I started by drilling out the mortises for the back of the chair. A few minutes with a sharp chisel and they were cleaned up.



Next I formed the vertical pieces. Pull saw and sanding made a decent replica of the original.



I clamped up the upper back piece so that I could round over the top front edge. I chucked up a round over bit in my Mastercraft plunge router and no go. It would not run. Darn it. I gotta dig up the receipt and bring it back. Thank goodness for a 3 yr warranty.



Here is a dry fit. The lower tenons could fit a little better. Still have to round over the top edge. Probably use the router table for that.


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