# Greene & Greene Gamble House Side Chair



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Material Preparation*

Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.

The school mailed out a cut list a few weeks ago so students could prepare the required stock prior to class. I had enough sapele left over from making the dining table, so there was no need for a trip to the hardwood dealer. Since Indiana is about a 10 hour drive from Eastern Pennsylvania, I decided to cut up enough material to make two complete chairs to be sure I had sufficient material to cover any mistakes.










With my stock cut, I gathered up the required tools for class. This includes square chisels, a Dozuki saw, a plastic head hammer for inserting ebony plugs and a dental pick for cleaning out square plug holes. I also packed a cordless drill and a ROS along with my PPE.

I am looking forward to learning some new woodworking skills and hopefully coming away from the week with a nice chair. After that, I will be into chair production.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


Should be fun, good luck at the class.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


This is SO cool! I checked out the school's website. Interesting model also, where you bring the materials and tools. In Marc Spagnola's video about building his chair at William Ng, he said they had a whole bunch of jigs pre-made. Will you be making jigs for the rest of your chairs? I guess using your finished pieces as a "template". !I wish I could bump some chairs up on my list, but my wife and son would destroy them. Maybe when he's off at college. Until then, I'll live vicariously through you. Best of luck at the class!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


looking forward to following your journey making these chairs,based on what I saw you do with that table I have no doubt your gonna wow us again.hoping you have a ton of fun and wishing I was going with you tung,enjoy.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


Sounds like the chair making class will be quite an adventure. I'll be watching for your real time posts from there.


----------



## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


Is the Gamble House chair the style you plan to make to go around your table, or are you just learning the chair-making process with this class?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


I'm looking forward to this class, always good to learn new skills.

Skully- We were not asked to bring any MDF or plywood to make routing templates and jigs, but I'm hoping to get full size tracings of all of the jigs so I can reproduce them when I return home.

PPK- That is a good question. I like the Gamble house chair, but I like the Thorsen chair better. If you Google the Thorsen chairs you will see they have a different style crest rail and the back slats fit into a lower rail which is different from the Gamble chairs. So I'm on the fence at this point.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Material Preparation*
> 
> Now that my Thorsen inspired dining table is complete (you can see the BLOG here), it is time to turn my attention to a set of chairs. Since I have never built a chair, I decided to enroll in the Gamble House Side Chair class at Marc Adams School of Woodworking in Indiana. Many will know the instructor, Bob Lang, who is not only a Lumber Jocks member but has authored several books and was editor of Popular Woodworking magazine for many years. The chair design is based on the side chairs in the living room of the Gamble house in Pasadena.
> 
> ...


This looks like a really interesting blog-I'll definitely follow along again!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 1*

Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.

Our instructor, Bob Lang, was asked to fill in for George Knutson who was unable to teach the class as originally planned. Bob was able to get the original CAD files from Darrel Peart which he then used to create a 3D model of the chair in Sketch Up. This allowed Bob to check all of the joinery, etc. before we started cutting material. Bob changed a few dimensions from the original cut list, but not everyone received the update (including me). A few of my pieces are slightly different sizes from what Bob has drawn, but I think I can work around this.

After the obligatory shop safety discussion, we started by creating the routing template for the front apron, which has a cloud lift along the bottom. Once the template was completed, I routed the apron and cut my front legs to length.










The chair uses loose tenon joinery. To cut the mortises we set up the JDS Multi-router.










After cutting my mortises, I made up some tenon stock, then cut a few lengths so I could do a dry fit.










The front leg assembly is as far as I can take it at this point.










The back leg assembly requires four templates. The legs have a gentle arched shape above the seat. The crest rail is shaped with both a curve and a profile, and the rear apron also has a unique, almost scalloped profile that requires a template. Bob Lang was kind enough to plot full size drawings that we were able to affix to the MDF to facilitate making the templates.










Tomorrow we will continue making the back leg assembly.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


this is a journey im looking forward to,i love g&g design and really want to do more of it in the future so i thank you for your great blogs.id love to go this school some day,although we have another great school close to me here which is the wiliiam ing school.see ya tomorrow.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


This is awesome! I'm glad to hear you're making templates for your other chairs when you get home. Very cool! I was wondering why Bob wasn't listed as one of the instructors on the website. Nothing against Mr. Knutson, but I'd be very happy with this substitute teacher. I've been a huge fan of Bob's since I got his books at Gamble House.

I may have to look into this school as another option. It seems like they've got a good program. I've always just looked at Ng's. It would be nice to have a choice, although the tradeoff was taking my family to Disneyland while I'm in Anaheim. Hmmm…


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


Thanks for posting the daily news. Looks like they some nice high end toys (errr tools) there. How does the multi router stack up against the Leigh mortise and tenon jig? Full sized templates are the only way to go when you have to make pieces with curves like that. They will really make things move a lot faster with the other 11 chairs when you get home.

Yep, I'm officially Greene & Greene with envy.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


Looks like you're off to a great start! Looking forward to seeing your progress!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


Pottz - William Ng's school looks awesome too, would love to build one of the Blacker chairs some day. but not 12…

Skully - Bob Lang is filling in for George. Unfortunately he was not able to teach the class but Marc Adams was able to get Bob to fill in at the last minute. Kudos to Bob for taking this on, he had to do a lot of prep work in a short period of time including developing a full 3D model in SketchUp, dimensioned 3 views, full size templates and written work instructions.

Earl - Marc's shop is well equipped. I would not hesitate to recommend a class here to anyone. Mostly Powermatic machinery with a smattering of Delta, General, etc.. I was happy to get to try out the new 15" PM bandsaw as that is likely my next purchase. The multi-router is a fantastic piece of equipment, but the Leigh FMT is very nice as well. The nice feature of the multi-router is that the router is mounted to the machine and there is a third axis of motion to control it. With the Leigh FMT the operator has to move the router manually. Both make excellent joints however and so far I see no reason that the Leigh jig will not work just fine for these chairs.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 1*
> 
> Today was day one of the six day Gamble House side chair class at the Marc Adams school of Woodworking in Indiana. After 10 hours driving from Eastern Pennsylvania, I was happy to get a good night rest last evening and get started on this chair. Marc has a very large school and there are at least four classes going on simultaneously.
> 
> ...


The cool thing about woodworking is that you can spend $2K on wood and $3K on tools and make $12K worth of chairs! Especially once you have all the templates made and you made the "prototype" under adult supervision, you can crank out the other chairs mass-production-style! This is how I justify purchases to the Mrs.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 2*

Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.










The crest rail is the most time consuming part to make. The mortises for the floating tenons were made first using the multi-router, while the part was still square. Next, I affixed the template to the blank with double sided tape. Using a Forstner bit, I bored holes where there was an inside radius. After the holes were bored through, I cut the curves for the front and back of the piece on the bandsaw, then taped the offcuts back in place to bandsaw the profile.










The back apron also has a profile which I roughed out on the bandsaw as well. Even in the rough bandsawn state, the parts are starting to take shape nicely.










I began smoothing the parts with a spokeshave and block plane before moving on to final cleanup using my ROS.










Tomorrow we will continue getting the back leg components fabricated and ready for assembly.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 2*
> 
> Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.
> 
> ...


That is a considerable amount of work to complete just one piece of the chair. Still, it helps to see the steps of the process for future reference and not having to figure out the sequence on your own. Very timely blog for me to read since I will be making chairs for my desks later this winter. I can see that the plans will need to be fully developed before starting to reduce the chance of making major mistakes.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 2*
> 
> Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.
> 
> ...


yeah i think when people look at a g&g piece of furniture for the first time they dont realize how much work goes into it.it looks like it would be simple but far from it,but very enjoyable to make.i definitly want to do more in the future.wish i was there with ya tung.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 2*
> 
> Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.
> 
> ...


I wonder what Peter and John Hall would think of the way their chairs are fabricated these days?

Anyone got a DeLorean we could use to bring them here….......?!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 2*
> 
> Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.
> 
> ...





> I wonder what Peter and John Hall would think of the way their chairs are fabricated these days?
> 
> Anyone got a DeLorean we could use to bring them here….......?!
> 
> - Mean_Dean


i think they would love to see what modern tools and materials have done for there furniture.i think if they had todays tools they would have used used them,although probably still incorparating some hand tool use.look at what they accomplished with what they had,and think about what they could do today.who wouldnt ?.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 2*
> 
> Today we continued to work on the components for the back leg assembly. After tracing the outline of the components on the sapele using the templates, I roughed out the parts on the bandsaw. There is a significant amount of bandsaw work just in the parts for the back assembly alone.
> 
> ...





> I wonder what Peter and John Hall would think of the way their chairs are fabricated these days?
> 
> - Mean_Dean


Bob Lang gave us a very interesting slide show of various Greene & Greene furniture pieces at lunch today. While complex enough, the chair we are building is actually a simplified version of the original. One of the biggest differences is in the crest rail, which actually curves in a third dimension (towards the back) and tapers in thickness (thicker at the bottom, thinner at the top. Bob thinks the originals were carved from 16/4 material in order to achieve the backwards curve. Amazing craftsmanship came out of the Halls shop. It doesn't hurt that they were working T&M for the richest people in the country either, I suppose.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 3*

After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.










With that much of the chair dry fit, we moved on to fabricating the angled side aprons. The first step is to lay out the mortises on the back and front legs. The front legs have an angled face that has not been cut yet, so the front face cant be used to locate the mortise. I must locate the mortise from the inside edge of the leg. To do this, I work out the location by laying out the back leg mortise first . I lay out the rear leg mortise with the proper offset, then measure from the back of the leg so I can locate the mortise on the front leg.










Since these joints also use floating tenons, we set up the miter saw at the correct angle and used a stop to be sure our pieces were cut identical and to the proper length. After cutting the aprons to length, we set up the multi-router to cut the angled mortises. I then pattern routed the cloud lift in the bottom of the aprons. With the side aprons complete, it was time for a quick dry fit to be sure everything looked good before proceeding.










The next step is to prepare the bottom stretchers. After dimensioning my material, I lay out the angled through mortise in each side stretcher.










To cut this mortise, we set up the hollow chisel mortiser. By supporting the work piece with a wedge at the correct angle, we were able to bore the angled mortises.










Next I fit the first angled through tenon. After laying out the tenon, I cut the shoulders with a hand saw then cut away most of the waste for the cheeks on the bandsaw.










Back at the bench I cleaned up the tenon with a chisel and fine tuned the fit with a sanding block.










Tomorrow I will fit the remaining through tenon on the bottom stretcher and pattern route the cloud lifts.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


Interesting blog thanks.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


It all looks so easy and simple, but it's not….....


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


coming along quite nicely tung i look forward to each days blog.love that wall of clamps!


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


Awesome! Are you using pencil for your layout lines?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...





> Awesome! Are you using pencil for your layout lines?
> 
> - CaptainSkully


most of the white lines you see are made with a mechanical pencil with white fabric lead. I'm using the white lead, regular lead and scribe lines depending on the purpose.


----------



## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


Very very interesting!!
Thanks for posting this up.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 3*
> 
> After cleaning up the parts with the ROS, I dry fit the back assembly to see how everything fit.
> 
> ...


Looks like you're making very good progress for just your third day!

I'm warming to the idea of the floating tenon. I would normally just make them the regularl way because I don't have the horizontal router, but may have to look into getting one.

I suppose there's always the Domino-after I win the Lottery, of course…..........!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 4*

Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.










I did another quick dry assembly to be sure the lower stretcher parts fit together nicely.










With the lower stretcher out of the way, I start working on the curved back slats. The back slats will be assembled with dominos, have angled ends where they meet the apron and crest rail (compound angles in the case of the two smaller ones), are curved and have a profile cut.

I start with the center back slat. To get the angles for the ends correct and cut to the proper length, Bob Lang worked out a clever solution using what is basically an MDF story stick. I use a scrap of MDF and carefully transfer the angle from the dry assembled chair to the MDF and cut on the miter saw. I carefully trim away the MDF until the part matches my layout lines. Once I have the proper length worked out on the MDF scrap, I cut the angled ends into the real part in sapele.

Next I layout and bandsaw the curved faces. When the curves are complete, I temporarily tape the cutoff back in place and bandsaw the profile.










I originally thought the crest rail was going to be the most work on this chair, but I was wrong. Clearly the back slats are going to be the most difficult part of this project.

Next step- cut the dominos for the center slat then make the side slats.


----------



## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 4*
> 
> Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.
> 
> ...


Tung,
are the dominoes supposed to fit that loose on the sides? (first pic) I've never used dominoes… it looks pretty slick if I ever got a bunch of extra money to spend on one of those things… The chair is looking awesome!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 4*
> 
> Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.
> 
> ...


lookin good tung.the domino is definitely a cool tool,expensive but worth every penny for what it does.im also wondering why you used the wide setting? was this too allow for easier alignment during assembly?keep it comin.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 4*
> 
> Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.
> 
> ...


yes, the slots are wide for adjustability. The domino cutter has three settings that allow the slot to be cut either snug to the domino, slightly loose and more loose. Most of those were cut in the middle setting so we had some adjustability. This was the first time I used the domino and I can see why folks like them so much. One nice thing about it was that it was absolutely dust free with the Festool vacuum hooked up.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 4*
> 
> Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.
> 
> ...


sounds like festool just sold another domino!-lol.im savin up for the big brother!


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 4*
> 
> Today I finished up the second tenon for the lower stretcher, then cut mortises with the Domino 500. This was my first time using the Domino. Once set up it's a fool-proof method for cutting the mortises.
> 
> ...


Well, asked and answered on the Domino….............! (Referring to my comment in Day 3's entry.)

I didn't realize that the Domino can be set at three different settings-could also be used to allow for expansion/contraction where needed.

Guess I'll head out and buy my Lottery ticket….....!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 5*

Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.










With the mortises cut I tested the fit of the center back slat. It took quite a bit of fitting to get the mitered ends just right. I'm starting to see why the original chairs used housed mortises for these parts.










I moved on to the side slats. These slats are mirror images of each other and have a compound angle cut on the end. To make the layout more challenging, the slats are slightly angled to follow the curve of the crest rail. Once I was happy that I had established the correct compound angles for the cuts using a scrap of MDF, I then transferred the angles to the sapele for the cuts on the final parts.

With the final length established and cutting completed, I used the templates to lay out the curve and profile of each back slat. At the bandsaw I first cut the front and back curves, then taped the waste pieces back in place to cut the profile.

I brought the rough pieces to the edge sander to clean up the bandsawn edges, cut the domino mortises and did another dry assembly.










I am very surprised at how much work it is to fit the back slats. Bringing together three curved pieces, two of which have compound angle end cuts and getting all of the joints to fit without any gaps is tedious work to say the least. But I'm very happy with the results so far.

Tomorrow is the last day of class. We will not have a full day but should get to routing the center back slat for the ebony bars and talk about installing the ebony plugs and cutting the final angle on the front legs.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


tung this is one great magical mystery tour buddy,and I'm glad to be along for the ride!thank you for all the time you take to document this journey!


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


Thank you for letting us follow along - it is very interesting!


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


I realize I'm a little late to the party on these last three blog entries, but dang that was a quick five days!

I presume that you're expecting to finish the chair on the last day of class?

For a chair this complicated, I'd definitely want to take a class, and get hands-on instruction from someone like Bob Lang or William Ng. Indiana's a little far from Portland, but William Ng's school is down in Anaheim, CA, which would work out well for me, combining a couple of interests of mine.

In addition to being a woodworker, I'm also an amateur naval historian. So I could make a swing through Southern California, seeing the Gamble House in Pasadena, USS Iowa BB 61 in Los Angeles, and taking William Ng's class in Anaheim. Would be a hell of a week!


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


That is a magnificent chair! Thanks for taking the time to blog while you're at the class. SO COOL!


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


It's a great blog it really helps those who had never taken a quality furniture build class before to know what's involved. Your chair is coming along nicely.


----------



## ckent323 (Oct 14, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


Mean-Dean,

Relative to a class like this close to Portland, check out the Darrel Peart School of Precision Woodworking in Seattle I took the Gamble Chair making class there last Spring. George Knutson taught the class.

We used the multi-router to make floating tenon joints instead of the Domino. The class went very well.

I previously took a class there taught by Darrell Peart. Both Darrel and George are excellent instructors. BTW: The Chair design is Darrel Peart's.

If you go to Darrel's web page you will find a list of upcoming classes. The class size is usually 4 students and the slots go fast and the open enrollment date begins on Oct 23 for all of the 2018 classes.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 5*
> 
> Today I finished up the center back slat by cutting the mortises for the dominos. Most of the mortises could be cut with the Domino machine, but the two mortises on the underside of the crest rail had to be cut by hand since the domino machine would not fit inside the opening. To cut these mortises I first drilled out the majority of the waste on the drill press then cleaned up the mortise with a chisel.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info, Client!

I've been looking at Darrell's classes also, since he was in Renton, WA. And sometime down the road, I may take one of his at his new place in Seattle. Right now, the swing through Southern California allows me to combine several visits into one trip, so that makes the most sense for me.

I do like the idea of only 4 students per class-lots of hands-on instruction!

Thanks again for the info!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Marc Adams School, Day 6*

Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.

Some of my class mates used the class made template to route the slots for the ebony bars in their back slat. I elected to pack up early and deal with the remaining work at home so I could get a head start on the 10 hour drive back to Pennsylvania.

Overall this was an awesome class. Bob did a great job bringing us through the fabrication and construction of the chair components and assembly process. His full size drawings and detailed instructions helped assure we were successful. Marc Adams runs a first class school. The facilities are well maintained with plenty of excellent equipment to work with. Even though we didn't finish our chairs during the 6 days, I really didn't expect that we would. There is simply too much work involved in a G&G piece to complete in such a short time frame.

Next step is to get started on the full set of twelve.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


well tung I don't envie what lies ahead making all those chairs I do envie all the experience you gained this week and will carry with you the rest of your life.im sad for you ending this incredible journey you've takin us on and thank for taking the time time to do it my friend.take a rest and get back to work showing us what you've learned.thank you.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


Tung - Once again you've outdone yourself. Not only did you take up a very challenging and time consuming 6 day class but you also found time to give the rest of us daily posts (with pictures) that captured the pertinent concepts you were learning that day. I definitely want to go to a class like this one of these days after my youngest daughter gets out of HS (2 years).

I know Bob Lang lurks on LJ so I hope he sees your blog series on the table as well as the class, and ultimately the chairs. Sounds like it was a great class.


----------



## doubletenon (Oct 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this thorough write up! I was out there during this time (in the marquetry class) and caught a few glimpses of the class while passing through, it's great to see your detail and progress shots (and your excellent work). Can't wait to see the finished product!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


It was an excellent class, I'm glad I spent the time to do it. I learned a lot and had fun talking woodworking with a bunch of very talented woodworkers as well.

doubletenon- I wanted to get back to see what the marquetry class was up to but never made it. Hope you enjoyed it as much I as I enjoyed the chair class!


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


Looks like you had a great class, learned some new things, and overall had fun!

I've enjoyed your blogs to date, and am looking forward to seeing the dynamic dozen once they're ready for action!


----------



## BobLang (Feb 2, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Marc Adams School, Day 6*
> 
> Today was the last day of class. Bob Lang covered several points on installing the ebony plugs and bars in the center back slat. Bob also did a detailed demonstration on techniques for doing the Greene & Greene style round overs, which have some nuance beyond simply running a quarter round bit over the exposed edges. Often the protruding corners on G&G furniture have an extra amount of rounding, almost giving the piece a worn appearance. It is s subtle detail that could go unnoticed if not pointed out.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind words and the blow-by-blow description of the class. It was a great group and as always MASW is a great place for me to teach, and a great place to take a class. I also know and recommend Darrell Peart's and William Ng's work and classes.

Next spring, I'll be back at Marc Adams to teach a week-long class in building a reproduction of the Gus Stickley Poppy Table. 








Registration for school alumni is open now, general registration open December 1. Information about this class is available on my website.

.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*

Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.

One aspect of the project I have been pondering is cutting and cleaning up of the curves on the wide faces of the back seat apron, crest rails and back slats. In class, we roughed these in using the bandsaw, then cleaned them with various hand tools. I'm not very good with hand tools, so this is a very time consuming process for me that will lead to irregularity in the finished parts. As I spent time researching and thinking through various ways to machine cut these parts, I developed and then rejected several ways that I might accomplish this.

My first thought was to utilize my shaper to pattern cut the parts to templates. This is the same concept used when pattern routing parts, only with bigger tooling. The advantage of utilizing the shaper over a router for this operation is that the larger shaper cutters leave a much smoother finished surface when complete. My first thought was to simply stack rabbeting cutters, which would work but might lead to tear out issues since some of the cuts climb the grain slightly. I then investigated helical shaper cutters like the Byrd Shelix, which would leave a much smoother surface than a straight cutter but are costly. Ultimately I could not come up with a good way to cut all of my parts in a single pass since my shaper spindle is not tall enough. In addition, the shaper cutter required to cut such a large surface would be very dangerous to use, even with a sturdy sled. I abandoned the idea of pattern shaping.

As I browsed the internet for alternative ways to consistently shape these parts, I came across a few people that had adapted spindle sanders to follow patterns. The concept of bandsawing away the majority of the waste and abrasively cleaning the parts up to a template appealed to me as being a safe way to get consistent, smooth results for these large parts (albeit a bit slow). The 6" tall spindles also have sufficient reach to shape the entire face of my parts.

I decided to test the concept with a drill press mounted sanding drum before investing in a spindle sander. I bored a clearance hole in some scrap MDF slightly larger than the drum. After rounding the outside edge I had a quick and dirty pattern follower that will follow an offset template.










I attached a template to a scrap of sapele with some double sided tape. The template rides face down on the table, against the pattern follower. After a few minutes sanding, I had a well shaped part, offset slightly from the template, without the usual irregularity associated with freehand use of a spindle sander.










With my concept proven, I stopped at Woodcraft to pick up a spindle sander. I need the tool in hand to get exact measurements of the sanding sleeves and throat plates so I can design my pattern follower and determine the offset for the templates.










The 2 inch sanding sleeves are actually 2-1/16 outside diameter. The opening in the plate is 2-3/8. I'd like to use a 1/4 inch offset for my templates so my pattern follower will need an outside diameter of 2-9/16. I can turn a follower on the lathe that will press into the opening in the plate. I ordered a short length of 2 inch ID x 2-3/4 inch OD UHMW-PE tubing from McMaster Carr to fabricate the pattern follower from, but it could be made from a piece of hardwood or plywood as well.

With my process for shaping the large parts worked out, I start working through the process flow for each part. With complex projects, I mentally work through the process steps to make each part, sketching as I go. I find that even rough sketches help me to visualize the proper order to do the operations to get the best result. As I sketch, I'm thinking through the templates I will need as well as any tooling or special materials and I note them along the side. By thinking through the steps I can identify errors in my process order that might make a later operation difficult or impossible, all before I cut any material. Here, I am working through the process steps to make the back legs and back seat apron.










Next Steps: Fabricate a pattern follower for the spindle sander, finish developing my process flow diagrams and finalize the templates in CAD.


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don t own.
> 
> - TungOil


I can't help you with the rest of your challenges, but this one is an easy fix


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


tung I think for speed and reproductivity ya gotta go with with a pattern and use a flush trim bit to achieve repettative pieces.ive kinda gotten a love for spiral bits buddy.they make clean cuts and do it fast!just my opinion!in my opinion spindle sanders are to clean up the cuts not make them!good luck buddy.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


I will enjoy watching your progress. You're off to a great start!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> tung I think for speed and reproductivity ya gotta go with with a pattern and use a flush trim bit to achieve repettative pieces.ive kinda gotten a love for spiral bits buddy.they make clean cuts and do it fast!just my opinion!in my opinion spindle sanders are to clean up the cuts not make them!good luck buddy.
> 
> - pottz


Agreed, too bad they don't make router bit that will produce a 5"cut! I will pattern route all the "low sides" of the parts with spiral bits. Cutting the wide faces is the issue. This photo shows the three parts in question- the center back slat is just under 5" wide at the base and the crest rail is nearly as large. The lower seat apron is 3-3/4" wide.










I don't have any equipment large enough to make that cut. I had hoped that I could cut most of it with a pattern setup on the shaper, then flip the part and use a top bearing setup following the cut I just made to finish it up, but my equipment just doesn't have the capacity.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don t own.
> 
> - TungOil
> 
> ...


Indeed, an easy fix!

Actually, everything we did with the Domino I can do with the Leigh FMT I already have, and I have more flexibility on the tenon size.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> tung I think for speed and reproductivity ya gotta go with with a pattern and use a flush trim bit to achieve repettative pieces.ive kinda gotten a love for spiral bits buddy.they make clean cuts and do it fast!just my opinion!in my opinion spindle sanders are to clean up the cuts not make them!good luck buddy.
> 
> - pottz
> 
> ...


I hear ya bud,5" not that i know of sorry.but where theres a will there will always be a way!let me what that will is buddy!-lol.good luck!


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


Dude, I was actually seriously jonesing for a blog entry when I found this this morning. I'm glad you resolved your patterning issue. If anyone deserves to buy a new tool (or two), it's you. I haven't drank the Festool kool-aid yet. I think it's actually great to see you make such epic stuff without a $1,000 biscuit/plate joiner on steroids. It gives us mere mortals some hope. Looking forward to seeing the chairs develop. BTW, I'm breaking ground on my shop today!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> Dude, I was actually seriously jonesing for a blog entry when I found this this morning. I m glad you resolved your patterning issue. If anyone deserves to buy a new tool (or two), it s you. I haven t drank the Festool kool-aid yet. I think it s actually great to see you make such epic stuff without a $1,000 biscuit/plate joiner on steroids. It gives us mere mortals some hope. Looking forward to seeing the chairs develop. BTW, I m breaking ground on my shop today!
> 
> - CaptainSkully


Good luck with the shop, that's a big project. I hope you made it twice as big as you think you need and allowed room for an addition later!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


Tung,

I seem to recall a variation on your spindle sander solution that used a round disk that was dropped into the bottom of the spindle that was the same diameter as the spindle drum. That lets the template ride on the same surface as the piece being sanded and avoids any play that might come from a slip over ring. The obvious downside is getting the blank to be the exact diameter of the sanding drum


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


Wow, these chairs have more manufacturing challenges than most.

I have tried to pattern rout curved chair back parts up to 2" wide, but it didn't feel safe. I think you are on the right track with a template sander attachment on the spindle sander. If that doesn't pan out, maybe just a carbide bandsaw blade so it's easier to sand to the line.

I went to the Huntington Gardens in Pasadena over the weekend, where they have a Greene and Greene display. That, combined with all the Limbert and Stickley pieces at the Craftsman Weekend… my head is filled with inspiration for another year of woodworking.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> Tung,
> 
> I seem to recall a variation on your spindle sander solution that used a round disk that was dropped into the bottom of the spindle that was the same diameter as the spindle drum. That lets the template ride on the same surface as the piece being sanded and avoids any play that might come from a slip over ring. The obvious downside is getting the blank to be the exact diameter of the sanding drum
> 
> - EarlS


Yes, I saw that version too. That is pretty slick, but my spindles attach with a tapered seat so that would not work for me. The fixed pattern follow is easier to make as well.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> Wow, these chairs have more manufacturing challenges than most.
> 
> I have tried to pattern rout curved chair back parts up to 2" wide, but it didn t feel safe. I think you are on the right track with a template sander attachment on the spindle sander. If that doesn t pan out, maybe just a carbide bandsaw blade so it s easier to sand to the line.
> 
> ...


Shaper Feels dangerous to me as well, the sander will take longer but definitely safer. I'm still looking into using a Byrd helical head on the shaper, but I don't think I can make the full cut.

Visiting the Huntington Is on my list of things to do next time I'm on the west coast.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...


A little late to the party here, but looking forward to seeing your process!

By the way, unless you build a aircraft carrier-sized sled to pattern rout your parts, I think the spindle sander setup is the way to go. May take more time-but no need to get fingers reattached in the Emergency Room….........!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Planning the Construction of 12 Chairs*
> 
> Since returning from the Gamble House chair class at Marc Adams, I have been thinking through the construction process for a full set of 12 chairs. In the class, we performed many of the operations with hand tools which can be time consuming and lead to variation in the parts, especially across 12 chairs. We also used the Domino 500 for several of the joints, which I don't own.
> 
> ...





> A little late to the party here, but looking forward to seeing your process!
> 
> By the way, unless you build a aircraft carrier-sized sled to pattern rout your parts, I think the spindle sander setup is the way to go. May take more time-but no need to get fingers reattached in the Emergency Room….........!
> 
> - Mean_Dean


 Agree, I like my fingers just the way they are! I do plan to pattern route some of the smaller parts, but for the tall parts I think the sander is the safer way to go.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*

With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.










There is just enough clearance between the sanding drum and the table insert to fit a bushing. I turned the bushing on the lathe to a nice press into the existing table insert.










The bushing provide a 1/4" offset from the sanding drum which will make design of the patterns easier.










A nice property of UHMW-PE is that it is extremely low friction. This will allow the patterns to glide smoothly along the bushing and also facilitate insertion and removal of the bushing from the table plate.

The spindle sander project kept me busy while I was waiting on delivery of a new bandsaw. My trusty 12" Craftsman served me well over the years, but it was time to upgrade to something with more capacity for this project. Every part on these chairs is touched by the bandsaw except the two front legs and the small lower connecting stretcher. Some of the parts, like the center back slat, are 5 inches thick. A Bigger saw was definitely needed.

I researched a few options on bandsaws. I was looking for something larger than a 14" saw, but not so big that it would be difficult to get into my basement workshop or take up too much room. The Powermatic PM1500 was on my very short list, especially after working on one while at the Marc Adams school a few weeks ago. As luck would have it, SCM put the Minimax saws on sale right around the time that I called to get pricing, putting the MM16 in the same price range as the PM. With larger capacities nearly everywhere, including a 4.8 hp motor, the choice was pretty easy.

About a week after placing my order I received a call from the freight hauler that my crate was ready to pick up. The crate nearly filled my 8 foot utility trailer and had a shipping weight of nearly 800 lbs! I was starting to get worried about getting this thing into my shop.










Luckily, the shipping crate was very substantial and accounted for about 200 lbs. of the weight. Even so, moving this saw was not going to be a 2 man job. With the help of my neighbors backhoe and some clever rigging we were able to lower it down my outside stairs into the shop.










Next steps: clean and tune up the MM16, finish designing and order my routing templates in AutoCAD to be CNC cut and pick up another load of Sapele.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...


Wow that's an upgrade!!!! said the jealous LJ reader ;+)

I just upgraded my 15 year old 12" Delta bandsaw. I bought a new blade, special order to get the 82" size it needs.

That is a really slick idea with the UHMW tubing (pun intended). I wasn't aware that you could get UHMW in tubes. I'm definitely filing that clever spindle sander insert idea away for future reference.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...


Love your process! Can't wait to see you start making sawdust. You're going to have to paint your new bandsaw to match your Powermatic showroom.

I'm excited to see your CAD/CNC templates!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...


I just love the smell of new tools in the morning!nice addition to the shop, too bad they don't paint them like the old mini max s45 I have its the same color as Powermatic.there good tools or at least they used to be,enjoy your new toy tung.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...





> That is a really slick idea with the UHMW tubing (pun intended). I wasn t aware that you could get UHMW in tubes. I m definitely filing that clever spindle sander insert idea away for future reference.
> 
> - EarlS


McMaster Carr carries all sorts of great stuff and they ship really fast as well. Top notch outfit. If you need machine knobs for jigs, odd size screws, etc. they will likely have it.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...


Once again I am reminded that there are so many companies out there that sell just about everything. I use McMaster-Carr to order things at work but I hadn't ever thought about looking there for woodworking supplies.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Pattern Sander Setup and Bandsaw Upgrade*
> 
> With my pattern sanding technique proven and a length of UHMW-PE tubing delivered I got to work making a bushing for the spindle sander. I roughed out a 1" piece of tubing to start.
> 
> ...


Nice bandsaw-enjoy!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*

With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.










I ended up with 46 templates overall, a lot more than I expected. I sent the files off to the local CNC shop for quoting.

While waiting for my templates I decided to test out my pattern sanding rub collar using a template for the back seat rail.










Starting with a sapele scrap, I traced a portion of the full size pattern and headed to the bandsaw.










After rough cutting just outside the line, I attached the template to the part with double sided tape. The rub collar requires an offset of 1/4", which I designed into each CNC template. For this test, I just used the full size template and set it back about 1/4". After a little time at the sander, I had a finished part that matched the template exactly.










Satisfied that my pattern sanding technique will work, I placed an order for a load of quarter sawn Sapele. Working in AutoCAD, I determined that I could get all of the components for a chair from a single 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long. This required a special order from my hardwood supplier, who agreed to bring in some wood for me to pick through.

Next Steps: Pick up the sapele when it arrives and get my CNC templates on order.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


Wow, that is a lot of templates. What drafting program are you using?

Finding a local lumber supplier like you have has been my biggest problem. The local sawmills have domestics only and that is limited to cherry, walnut, maple, oak, poplar, etc. Any online order has ~$200 shipping costs since the wood ships via truck.

I'm starting chairs for the various desks I built, but the plans I bought from Fine Wood Working (Kevin Rodel chair) don't appear to be all that involved. After seeing your post here, I just hope I'm not naively assuming they will be fairly easy to build.

I'm definitely going to "borrow" your sanding technique for the curved portions of the chairs.


----------



## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


Are you using a "basic" spindle sander and gauging progress by eye?

I've had good luck with the "robo sander" drums, basically the same thing as an end bearing guided (template) router bit, but with the sanding drum instead of carbide. It works excellently, but I've only done edges (1"), nothing like your wider surfaces.

I'm not that familiar with spindle sanders, is there a way to add a router style guide bushing to the table much like a router?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


Earl- I'm using AutoCAD for my 2d drafting. I am familiar with the Rodel chair you are building. Luckily for you it is less involved (less curves as I recall). It's a very nice chair and was on my short list of designs to build. That Leigh FMT will come in handy when you get to building them! Have you checked woodfinder.net to find a source of lumber near you?

Splinter- I am using a jet oscillating spindle sander. I turned a custom rub collar on the lathe from UHMW-PE to press into the existing table plate on the sander. Since the spindle oscillates up and down, I had to create an oversized rub collar for the template to ride against but still allow the sanding drum to pass through. All of my templates are offset by 1/4" to account for the oversized rub collar. There are some photos in an earlier blog post.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


With your investment in this process, I would think you'd be justified to get an X-Carve and make the templates yourself, especially for the price point of 46 templates.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...





> With your investment in this process, I would think you d be justified to get an X-Carve and make the templates yourself, especially for the price point of 46 templates.
> 
> - CaptainSkully


If I had room for a CNC I might consider it, but the templates will likely cost $500-600 at most so no real cost justification. Plus, no learning curve if I outsource it.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


Tung - I was not aware of woodfinder.net. Thanks for the information. I think the Kevin Rodel chair will be plenty challenging for me, but nothing like the scale of work and learning curve you have with the G&G chairs.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...





> I m starting chairs for the various desks I built, but the plans I bought from Fine Wood Working (Kevin Rodel chair) don t appear to be all that involved. After seeing your post here, I just hope I m not naively assuming they will be fairly easy to build.
> 
> - EarlS


Only next to a Greene and Greene chair does the Rodel chair seem not too involved 

I'd be interested what the quote is for templates at a CNC shop. Pretty reasonable I would bet, so long as your program is compatible with theirs.

Great stuff.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...





> I d be interested what the quote is for templates at a CNC shop. Pretty reasonable I would bet, so long as your program is compatible with theirs.
> 
> Great stuff.
> 
> - pintodeluxe


I expect you are right. They had no trouble working from the AutoCAD files I supplied last time for the table. I imagine this will be the same.


----------



## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


I like watching your processes!
I've got a table (perhaps TWO) and set of dining room chairs in my future… so this is really fun to watch and learn.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


Man that's a lot of templates…............!

Looking forward to seeing them in action!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...





> I d be interested what the quote is for templates at a CNC shop. Pretty reasonable I would bet, so long as your program is compatible with theirs.
> 
> Great stuff.
> 
> - pintodeluxe


Just got the quote back. $345 for the lot in 1/2" MDF. Hard to justify a new CNC at that price.

And love the Rush lyrics in you sig, Freewill is one of my favorite Rush songs. I think I might have gone with 'and the trees will all get equal by hatchet, axe and saw' myself


----------



## TomSanDiego (Oct 21, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *CAD Templates and Pattern Sanding Test*
> 
> With the new bandsaw tuned up and cutting nicely I got to work designing the templates needed to make the chairs. I worked through the steps to make each part, designing pattern routing/sanding templates to aid each step. Each part has several templates to be used to route the shape, mortises, etc.
> 
> ...


TungOil: thanks for all the information. I built tow Gamble House chairs with arms last year. Now building two without arms. Some of your methods are much better than what I did previously. The back splat I used was bent lamination. Very time consuming. Any way to get your CAD file of the templates? Thanks again for posting.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*A Lumber Mill Run*

The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.










At 16 to 18 feet long these boards are too big for my trailer and wood rack. I had the mill cut them to 11 foot lengths for easier transport and handling in the shop. At 11 feet they hang off my utility trailer a bit front and back.










I also received the quote for the CNC cut templates, a very reasonable $345. The templates will be made from 1/2" MDF and should be ready in about 2-3 weeks.

While I wait for the templates, I will start roughing out my chair parts on the bandsaw.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *A Lumber Mill Run*
> 
> The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.
> 
> ...


Nice looking load of lumber. I went to the "Wood Store" Saturday, which for me is my kiln out back!

I bet that sapele mills up really nice.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *A Lumber Mill Run*
> 
> The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.
> 
> ...


I'm green with envy that you live close enough to Hearne Hardwoods that you can drive over there. That is a seriously fat stack of premium wood.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *A Lumber Mill Run*
> 
> The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.
> 
> ...


looks like a load of fun to me tung.cant wait to follow your journey on this build,


----------



## NormG (Mar 5, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *A Lumber Mill Run*
> 
> The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.
> 
> ...


What an awesome project, keep us udated


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *A Lumber Mill Run*
> 
> The Sapele that I ordered arrived at Hearne Hardwoods earlier in the week. I need about 300 bf for this set of chairs. I can get all of the components for a single chair from one 8/4 board as long as it is at least 9" wide and 10' long, so I need at least 12 boards. Ed at Hearne brought in 400 bf of wide 8/4 quarter sawn Sapele for me to select my boards from. The boards are all 16-18 foot lengths, and 10"+ wide.
> 
> ...


Very handsome stack of sapele!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Roughing It*

The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.










To be sure I have spare material in case of an error, I cut enough parts for 14 chairs. I ripped the wide stock to 7" widths on the bandsaw, then joined one face and edge before planing to final thickness.










As I started planing the stock to thickness, some internal compression damage was revealed on several pieces. All of the damage was located where the lumber had been stickered in the yard. In the image below you can still see some of the sticker stain next to the damaged area.










I went back to the lumber pile to rough out some additional replacement boards. With these boards planed to thickness, they are as far as I can take them until I get the templates.










Most of the damaged boards were salvaged later to make smaller parts such as the front legs (that's why we always start with the biggest parts first, right?). In some cases the grain was not running parallel to the edge of the board, requiring me to lay out the parts parallel to the grain and true up on the bandsaw and jointer. Truing up in this way helps avoid the diagonal grain seen in the top leg below, which will be used for setup only.










As I was working I kept a pair of diagonal cutters in my pocket to remove stray staples from the lumber yard. I don't cut the staples, but I find the diagonals get a good bite making them easier to remove.










Next I roughed out the stock for the back slats. Ideally the center slat and two outside slats should come from the same board and be kept in sequence. It's going to be a real challenge to keep all of the parts properly labeled and oriented as I make these parts.










With the two largest parts roughed out, I moved on to cutting the stock for the smaller parts. The crest rail and lower back seat rail are made from 8/4 stock. The side seat rails and front rail finish up at 7/8" thick so I will resaw the 8/4 stock to get two parts from each blank. The poplar blanks will be used as setup pieces.










The majority of the parts are rough cut at this point, with the exception of the lower stretcher components. These parts are small and can be easily cut from the drop offs left over from roughing out the main chair parts.










Next step: Finish roughing out the remaining parts then joint and plane to size in preparation for pattern routing and sanding.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


You certainly have been busy. I can certainly relate to using the scrap for making the smaller pieces for the chairs.

I'm curious if you are keeping track of the hours spent working on a project this large. That band saw looks very impressive as well.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


and the journey begins!its gonna be a fun trip,cant wait buddy.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


You make me really miss being able to back the truck up to MacBeath's in Berkeley, CA and load up a bunch of mahogany and QSWO for various projects. I really need to make a nice heirloom piece. You've inspired me. But first I have to finish building the shop. Not complaining. Looking forward to you getting your CNC'd parts. These kind of projects in my mind justifying buying a benchtop CNC machine.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...





> These kind of projects in my mind justifying buying a benchtop CNC machine.
> 
> - CaptainSkully


I would have thought so as well, but for less than $350 to cut the templates there was no way I could justify it (This time…). I really don't have room for a CNC or time to learn how to program it anyway.

Good luck with the shop build, that is always an adventure.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...





> I m curious if you are keeping track of the hours spent working on a project this large. That band saw looks very impressive as well.
> 
> - EarlS


Yep, I have a simple paper form that I jot down the start and finish times as I'm building. I keep track of time by process step. I created it in Visio, and it's a page in the master file where I have the steps for the entire project layed out.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


Looks like you're off to a good start!

I'm looking forward to seeing how your templates turn out. Question, though: Are you concerned about using MDF material for the templates as opposed to 1/2" plywood? It seems with the number of parts you'll be milling with these templates, and the relative softness of MDF, that the templates could lose the integrity of their edges and cause parts to be imprecise copies of each other?

The reason I ask, is that I've had MDF templates get dented slightly along the business edge, and have to be refabricated. Swore I'd always use 1/2" Baltic Birch from then on….......!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...





> Looks like you re off to a good start!
> 
> I m looking forward to seeing how your templates turn out. Question, though: Are you concerned about using MDF material for the templates as opposed to 1/2" plywood? It seems with the number of parts you ll be milling with these templates, and the relative softness of MDF, that the templates could lose the integrity of their edges and cause parts to be imprecise copies of each other?
> 
> ...


Not so much, but I agree it is a risk. One option is to harden the business edge of the templates with some thin CA glue. I've never needed to do this but I think for this project it is probably a good idea.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


If you are worried about the integrity of the original templates, you can always start the project by making a set of copies of the originals that way if one gets a ding, you can make a replacement off the original. I'm sure there is some technical term that is used to better describe the parts and process.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Roughing It*
> 
> The sapele has been in the shop for a week acclimating and my CNC cut templates will not be ready for a while, so I got busy roughing out parts. I started with the largest parts, the back legs. A leg blank 7 inches wide will allow me to cut both back legs for a chair from a single board, helping with grain and color match. Several of the boards were a bit over 14" wide, allowing me to get two pairs of legs from each cut length.
> 
> ...


That's a good idea Earl, I need to pick up some sheet goods to make the routing fixtures for this project anyway, I should grab a sheet of MDF while I'm there.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*

My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.










After inspecting the templates closely I was relieved to find that the damaged corners were all in non critical areas. It's a good thing I made my routing templates a bit long on the ends to have a little lead in.

Time to get to work. For this project, I plan to fabricate the back assembly first, then cut the angled side rails and finish up with the front assembly. By working in this order, I can adjust the length of the front rail to account for any errors that might accumulate during fabrication and be assured of tight fitting joints.

I start by laying out the back legs. I trace the full size template onto the leg blanks. For darker woods like walnut and sapele, I use a white fabric pencil for my layout lines for visibility. I cut enough parts for fourteen chairs leaving four extras in case of mistakes.










I head to the bandsaw to rough out the back legs.










While cutting out the blanks, I came across hidden checking on four of the parts. There goes all of my spares! Any mistakes going forward will require me to make more parts.










After hardening the edge of the routing template with some thin CA Glue, I affix the template to the poplar set up piece and make a test cut at the router table.










With my test blank completed, I moved on to pattern routing the legs. This is a large piece at 43 inches long and each part takes quite a while to pattern route.

This is a tricky cut, even with a spiral carbide cutter, due to the end grain and tight radius at the top of the leg. Not surprisingly I lost several parts while routing the top of the leg. Cutting against the grain, even with a spiral cutter, is always iffy.










Since I have no spares left, I head back to the lumber rack and rough out several more blanks and pattern route replacements. After all the dust settled I end up with eight damaged leg blanks- four with checking and four damaged while routing. I'm down to a single spare leg at this point.

In preparation for laying out and cutting the mortises I arrange the legs on my shop cart, flipping then into pairs of right and left legs. Most of the leg pairs are matched from the same board, but due to the damaged pieces unfortunately not all of the legs could be matching pairs.










Next steps- lay out and cut the mortises, then move on to the back seat rail.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


nice progress,have fun buddy.


----------



## Siv (Nov 3, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


Just want to say that I love following your progress on these builds; it's nice to see the attention to detail and your learning process. It's clear you are very thoughtful and plan extremely well - the total opposite of me!

As someone who makes plenty of mistakes when building, I have gotten into the habit of making the largest parts first. Then, when I screw them up, they have the potential to be re-purposed for some of the smaller pieces.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


What did I miss here, I thought you were going to pattern sand the parts? Change of heart?

I know the feeling of proceeding without many extra chair parts. Spooky.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


I know what you mean about pattern-routing endgrain…..... I tried that once (and learned my lesson-never agin!) and in the process had the workpiece flung across the shop. Scared the hell out of me….......

From then on, endgrain is always shaped on the spindle sander. Which is what I thought you were going to do.

By the way, don't get timid now that you have little margin for error-I've found, if I'm too concerned about screwing up, I usually screw up. Just work as you normally do,


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...





> What did I miss here, I thought you were going to pattern sand the parts? Change of heart?
> 
> I know the feeling of proceeding without many extra chair parts. Spooky.
> 
> - pintodeluxe


Pinto- I plan to pattern sand only the parts that are too wide for the router/shaper (crest rails, lower seat rails and back slats). The narrow parts can be pattern routed so that is the faster way to go.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...





> I know what you mean about pattern-routing endgrain…..... I tried that once (and learned my lesson-never agin!) and in the process had the workpiece flung across the shop. Scared the hell out of me….......
> 
> - Mean_Dean


I've had that happen as well, it's sobering to know how much force these tools can generate. Good reminder to keep body parts well clear of things that spin!

in this case I realized as I was taking the router bit out after I was done, that I had grabbed the down spiral bit by mistake instead of the up spiral. The down spiral, when table mounted, has a tendency to lift the workpiece, making it difficult to control around the end grain. Wish I had noticed it sooner!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


That has to be frustrating to lose so many planks this soon. At least you have plenty of test pieces for the mortises…

Are you using double sided tape only when pattern routering? I've never been able to get the tape to stick well enough so I use a clamp sled to hold the pattern and the piece. How tall are the legs?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...





> Are you using double sided tape only when pattern routering? I ve never been able to get the tape to stick well enough so I use a clamp sled to hold the pattern and the piece. How tall are the legs?
> 
> - EarlS


Earl, I'm using both double sided tape and my clamping sled, which has four De-Sta-Co clamps on it. I started using the double sided tape from MLCS about a year ago, I find it has really good holding power but I can still get it off the part fairly easily- much better than carpet tape. Legs are 43" long, which is longer than my 36" sled, so I need to reposition the leg several times to make the full cut. I'm using the tape to be sure the pattern doesn't move when I reposition.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *CNC Templates and Begin Back Leg Fabrication*
> 
> My routing templates arrived Friday from the millwork shop so I headed out to pick them up. A few of the corners were damaged in transport, so I unwrapped everything to take a closer look.
> 
> ...


I can't believe how much you're getting done between blog posts! These chairs are turning out great! The blog posts are very informative and make my mornings.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*

Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.

I first lay out the mortise on the end of the back seat rail setup piece, which is made from poplar. The Leigh FMT jig only requires that the center of the mortise be marked with cross hairs, but as a double check I layout the full mortise to verify size and location along with the mortises for the back slats and the final profile of the rail.

Next I lay out the matching mortise on the leg and verify that everything is aligned correctly.










The Leigh FMT jig is equipped with toggle clamps and a stop that, once setup, allow multiple parts to be made very quickly with perfect repeatability.










The cross hairs that mark the center of the mortise are used in conjunction with the 'targeting sight' on the FMT to very accurately locate the center of the mortise.










First, I cut all of the mortises on the ends of the back seat rails. All mortising is done before I bandsaw the back scalloped profile to provide large flat clamping surfaces.










Next, I route the matching mortises in the back legs utilizing the same setup in the FMT, assuring a perfectly flush fit. Since the mortises are near the center of the back leg, I must use the extension feature of the FMT to create a stop with a scrap block of wood and a clamp.










The legs are mortised in mirror image pairs, so two setups are required on the FMT to make sets of left and right legs.










With the back seat rail mortises complete, I move on to creating the mortises for the crest rails. These mortises are cut at an angle into a curved section of the leg, so the FMT jig will not work easily for these mortises.

To solve this problem, I use a jig made from two CNC machined templates. Together they form a jig for routing the mortise. One template has an oversize slot that matches a router bushing. The other template has a leg shaped opening that positions the leg to properly mortise. This image shows the bottom of the jig with a leg fit in place, ready to be flipped over to route the mortise.










The template is designed to be used for both the left and right hand legs by simply switching the locating template to the other side. After a little fine tuning of the opening in the template to allow my router bushing to clear smoothly, I cut all of the mortises.










The remaining mortises on the back legs for the side seat rails and lower stretchers are parallel to the front face. These will be cut later.

Next I build a mortising jig to cut the four mortises on the top of the back seat rail that will be used for the back seat slats. Since two of these mortises are angled, the FMT would be difficult to use. I build the jig from a CNC cut template that locates all four mortises.










The finished mortises are quick to cut using the jig.










With all of the mortises cut in the back seat rail, I bandsaw the scalloped outer profile.










To prepare for pattern sanding the profile, I assemble another jig using a toggle clamp and CNC cut template. The template mounts to the bottom of the jig and is 1/4" undersize to account for the pattern follower mounted on the spindle sander.










The pattern sanding technique does a nice job cleaning up the bandsaw marks and developing the final shape on the rails. Due to the height of the part, the top 1/8" of the seat rail does not get sanded. It is easily cleaned up using a spiral pattern bit in the router table after the sanding is completed.










The back seat rails are now ready for final sanding.










I do a quick test fit to verify everything looks correct.










So far so good!

Next step: fabricate the crest rails.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


damn tung you make feel lazy buddy-lol.im lovin the journey,lets go for a ride!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


I'm worn out just reading all of the work you've accomplished. That is a lot of work that you've completed. Sounds like things are going smoothly as well.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


I can already see that your meticulous efforts are going to result in some really fine chairs. I love the G&G style. Looking forward to seeing them finished.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


Yeah! This is better than Saturday morning cartoons!


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


So much fun to follow along on this!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


Having a few days off work certainly helped with my progress.

The hardest parts are coming up next. The crest rails will be quite a bit of work, since they are curved and profiled. The back slats are going to be very challenging as well since they are also curved on all four sides and the ends have a compound miter cut and need to fit exactly.

After those parts are finished, the rest of the construction is actually pretty straightforward.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


Looks like you're making some amazing progress!

So, how do you like routing your mortises, as opposed to using a dedicated mortising machine?

I have a mortising machine, but it tends to leave the mortises a little rough, which then need to be cleaned up. I like the idea of using a router, as it gives nice, clean mortises-but then you need to make all sorts of routing jigs. So you're sort of damned if you do, damned if you don't. Anyway, just curious what you think.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


I love watching chair builds. Yours is right up there with the best I've seen.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...





> So, how do you like routing your mortises, as opposed to using a dedicated mortising machine?
> 
> I have a mortising machine, but it tends to leave the mortises a little rough, which then need to be cleaned up. I like the idea of using a router, as it gives nice, clean mortises-but then you need to make all sorts of routing jigs. So you re sort of damned if you do, damned if you don t. Anyway, just curious what you think.
> 
> - Mean_Dean


I've preferred routing mortises for a long time. I have a home made mortising block (the Jeff Miller design that was published in Fine Woodworking years back) that I have used for many years. I use it to cut the mortises then cut the tenons on the TS or use floating tenons. Works great for straight mortises, but kind of a pain for angled work. The Leigh FMT is certainly a more refined and flexible jig for mortising and it produces a very nice joint, especially on the angled work.

I've used hollow chisel mortisers in the past with similar results to what you describe. A bit of a choppy looking mortise. They can be finicky to set up in my experience, but would certainly work for these chairs with the right jigs.


----------



## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Back Leg Mortises and Back Seat Rail*
> 
> Now that the back legs are routed to shape, I move on to cutting the mortises. I start with the back seat rail mortises. The back seat rail sits flush with the inside of the back leg, so it makes sense to cut both mortises using the same setup to assure the parts fit perfectly flush.
> 
> ...


I'm envious of your methodical and detailed approach to all this 8^)

It must be some mental gymnastics to get the part setup, cut, and profiled, then realize you have "x" more to do (where "x" is a large number 8^)

Your investment in the templates really proves their value, truly some quality craftsmanship.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Crest Rails*

The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.










The order of operations is critical for this part to assure that everything comes out as accurate as possible.

I begin by cutting the mortises. The two mortises in the ends of the piece are easily done using the Leigh FMT jig, as are the two center mortises on the underside. The outer mortises on the underside are angled, so I use a CNC cut template to machine those.










I decided to take my poplar setup part completely through the shaping process to vet out the proper order of operations. I started by roughing the concave curve using the bandsaw. I save the cut-off, as I will need it later. I then use a CNC cut template and the spindle sander to bring the concave face to final shape. The part is too tall to complete using the spindle sander, so I clean up the last 1/2" using a pattern bit in the router table. After the first curve is completed, I bandsaw the opposing curve, spindle sand and route that face. I now have the curved shape completed, ready to move on to shaping the profile. I tape the cutoffs from the bandsaw back in place on the part, then rough out the profile. I use a 5/8" Forstner bit to rough out the inside radii, while the rest of the profile is cut with the bandsaw and a saber saw to remove the waste from the hand hole. Another jig and template are used to pattern route the profile. The part looks good in the profile, but there is a problem- I bored the holes with the Forstner bit after I had cut and shaped the curve in the crest rail, with the cut-offs taped back in place. The clearance between the cut-offs and the part was large enough that there was some blow out on the back side of the part.










Good thing I decided to take my setup piece completely through all of the fabrication steps before I moved on with my actual parts!

To eliminate the issue, I re-arranged the order of operations to put the boring of the holes first and tested the new order of operations on the next part.










I rough the inside curve on the bandsaw, pattern sand and route the shape, then rough the outside curve.










Mounted in the next jig, the part is ready for pattern sanding the outside curve.










With the inside and outside curves completed (and no blow-out!), I tape the parts back together and rough out the profile using the bandsaw and saber saw.










Mounted in the routing jig with the template, I pattern route the profile.










The finished part looks nice, so I do a quick dry assembly to verify the fit is good.










With the first part completed without any issues, I'm ready to move on to the next step: finish out the crest rails for the remaining 13 parts.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


I goota take my hat of to ya tung,im working on a maloof rocker this week myself and I know what your going through-hell! but enjoyable hell.id blog mine but I'm afraid somewhere along the way I'm gonna f it up and be too embarrassed to show it.so I'm not given nothin till its done-lol.see ya at the finish line,whenever that might be-ha.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


You should do a blog. Mistakes are the best teacher and we all learn from them.

A Maloof rocker is on my WW bucket list for some day….


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


oh trust me I do plenty,this chair is kickin my ass,but teaching me plenty.maloof has always been one of my idols and to do an interpretation of his signature piece is on the top of my ww bucket list.this is one project I'm not rushing,so if it takes a month or a year I'm in no hurry.one screw up can take multiple hours to make a new piece so I'm going back and forth to the video instructions many times.all I can say tung is if you can do what your doing now the maloof will be breeze for you buddy.see ya at the finish line.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


I managed to cut a couple of the curves for the crest rails and back rails last night after I got home from work before I had to go out and shovel snow. You did 10X that much, if not more, and it is a lot more complicated than what I'm doing. Plus the quality and attention to detail you are achieving is outstanding.

How many hours a day are you working on the chairs? Also, a really basic question - what kind of white pencil are you using? Is it something you order online? The ones I get at the Hobby store don't work well.

I agree with you about blogs - they are there for others to learn. The mistakes are probably the most important part of the blog. If you mess something up, tell others about it and how you fixed the problem so they can learn from it and not make the same mistake.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


Love the blog. I'm a big fan of posting my mistakes. It's actually for selfish reasons. Over the years, I've duplicated projects and referenced my own blogs to avoid from repeating the same mistakes years later.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...





> How many hours a day are you working on the chairs? Also, a really basic question - what kind of white pencil are you using? Is it something you order online? The ones I get at the Hobby store don t work well.
> 
> - EarlS


I've been on vacation for almost two weeks which helps. When I'm able to get into the shop, I usually get a full 6-8 hours in, sometimes more. I tend to work until I have a step completed, even if that takes me into the evening, rather than stopping at a set time. I am tracking my time on this project closely and I will post a final recap with the last post.

Regarding the white pencil, it is a fabric pencil. The one I use is a mechanical style pencil, I ordered it from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UAKL4Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works well for marking Sapele, walnut and ebony. They are a bit soft so they tend to break easily but the marks are generally very visible.

I was going to skip over the mistake to keep this blog post a bit shorter but in the end I decided to include it (In a shortened version) because it really is a part of doing this type of project. Perhaps if I had 100 chairs under my belt this would have been an obvious mistake, but since these are my first chairs I fully expect to make some mistakes and errors. I'm making enough parts for 14 chairs in the hopes that in the end I'll end up with 12 good ones…..


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


It's always a good idea to make test pieces and see how a process goes-better to screw up on poplar than the expensive stuff! (I had to learn that lesson the hard way, so always test pieces from then on….....!)

It's also good of you to post your shop hours-I've always thought I was a slow wood worker, but I'm learning that I'm probably about average in that department. Projects always seem to take about twice as long as I figure they will. Still have no idea why that is….....


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rails*
> 
> The next component to be made is the crest rail. This part has a complex profile as well as a curved face and back, making it a bit more difficult to fabricate. I begin by laying out the part on all of the faces of my poplar setup piece.
> 
> ...


Tung - thanks for the link to the white pencils. I just ordered a couple of them. I had previously looked on Amazon but nothing showed up. Wrong choice of search words I guess….


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Center Back Slat- Part 1*

After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.










I start by making a test center slat from poplar. I cut the angled ends and mortises while the stock still has straight edges. To determine the angles for the end cuts, I use a MDF story stick. By cutting the angles on the end of the story stick, I can sneak up on the correct length for the part. Using the side profile template, I mark the story stick to show the outline of the part.










I transfer the angles to the miter saw and trim the ends.










After the end cuts are made, I set up the parts in the Leigh FMT and cut the mortises.










With the mortising complete, I move on to cutting the curves. First I rough cut the inside curve with the bandsaw. My original plan was to pattern sand the curves. I set up the pattern sanding jigs and did a test with my poplar set-up part. The sanding time was excessive, so I decided to go old school and broke out the spoke shaves to perform the preliminary cleanup work, then finished off the part on the belt sander.










Once the curves are complete I tape the cutoffs back in place and band saw the profile. A few strokes with the spoke shave cleans up the edges. A float and some thin files clean up the 'V' cut in the bottom. The spoke shaves and floats work well to break the edges.










A quick test shows the center slat fits nicely.










With my poplar test piece completed, I move on to making the real parts. For the actual chair components, I rough out fourteen blanks 9 inches wide then rip 1-3/4 inches off either side.










I make sure to keep the parts carefully labeled to maintain grain alignment for the finished chairs.










I set aside the side slats for now to work on the center slats. Back at the miter saw I cut the angled ends. After cutting one side, I set up a stop block to assure all of the center slats are the same finished length.










With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


this just inspires me to do more and be better buddy,thank you for taking the time to do these awesome project tutorials! fantastic work my friend.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


That must have felt good to get the test slat fit. It's looking good now!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


That poplar test piece even looks great as the back splat. Looks like the crest rails turned out good as well. It looks like you have a lot of waste on the curves. Are going to be able to use any of it for smaller pieces?

I'm a bit lost on your reference to using the spoke shave on the curve. Is there a reason you didn't use template routing to get the final curve and then sand it smooth?

I also see your white lead pencil. I ordered a couple of them after you sent me the details on how to find them. They do a much better job of marking than the white pencil I was using.


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


Wow, these are going to be beautiful chairs, can't wait to see the final results.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...





> That poplar test piece even looks great as the back splat. Looks like the crest rails turned out good as well. It looks like you have a lot of waste on the curves. Are going to be able to use any of it for smaller pieces?
> 
> I m a bit lost on your reference to using the spoke shave on the curve. Is there a reason you didn t use template routing to get the final curve and then sand it smooth?
> 
> ...


Im happy with the crest rails. I decided not to post any update after I made them since it was really just 'I made 14 more just like the first one, and it took a looooooong time'.

A lot of waste is a huge understatement. I'll try to remember to post a picture of my scrap barrels - they are overflowing, and I've already sent a lot through the fireplace already. I doubt I will be able to use much of the cut-off for anything useful. I tend to not keep smaller pieces of material under a few feet long. After many years of hoarding that stuff I finally admitted to myself I would never use it so it went into the fireplace.

This center splat is 5" wide at the bottom, making it too wide to pattern route or pattern shape (at least on my shaper). It is even too wide for the pattern sander setup I made, but at least with that arrangement I could sand most of the shape then flip the part and pattern route the remainder. I did start doing that on the test part but it was just too slow (or maybe I was being impatient) and my bandsaw cut was very close to the line so I just switched to the spokeshaves and sander to clean it up. I may switch back to the pattern sander after I do a few more parts, depends on the results I'm getting.

Those fabric pencils work really well on this darker material, ebony and walnut especially.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


I know what you mean about hoarding scraps that you have every intention to use. It feels wrong to throw them away or burn them, but a yer's scraps can be a pretty big pile. That's why I'm doing the 2018 box swap, to use some of the scraps. I'm also going to go crazy on clocks and any manner of other interesting nic-nacs, at least until I get tired of working with little projects and switch back to big pieces. My goal this spring is to clear out the scraps and also use all of the lumber I've been hoarding as well.

I found the I could use my 5" random orbit sander to sand the concave (front) portion of the crest and back rails without things looking too wavy (180/220 grit). I also used it on the convex (back) curve to good effect.

I saw some yellow, red, green, and blue lead for the fabric pencils on Amazon. Might have to try some just for fun.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


Earl- to your question about scrap-

Here the scrap pile so far:










And this pile will have some usable pieces for the side and front apron pieces










Tonight I was able to work through the first center splat in sapele. Here are the cut offs from just one center splat:










I will finish up these parts with the ROS when I'm closer to being ready to assemble everthing.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


You know you COULD make a few end grain cutting boards with all that scrap and post it in the Projects…... ;-D


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


tung you have more scrap left from one project than most guys have in there total wood supply-lol.


----------



## abie (Jan 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


A wonderful series with great picts
I don't make G&G Stuff anymore but should I , this is a great series to bookmark,
TNX


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...





> tung you have more scrap left from one project than most guys have in there total wood supply-lol.
> 
> - pottz


Unfortunately you are right, I'm tripping over the stuff right now. Need to get the fireplace going …..


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


Looks like you're making some pretty good progress! I've been enjoying this project so far!

As for your scraps, I'd hate to see you burn them. I've had some success selling my scraps on Craigslist, as pen-turning blanks, or other small-project pieces. Not only does selling them get them out of your shop, another woodworker gets some nice wood cheaply, and you get a few coins in your pocket to use on future projects.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...





> You know you COULD make a few end grain cutting boards with all that scrap and post it in the Projects…... ;-D
> 
> - EarlS


I don't think I have enough friends to give them away to if I were to use up all that scrap on cutting boards!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...





> Looks like you re making some pretty good progress! I ve been enjoying this project so far!
> 
> As for your scraps, I d hate to see you burn them. I ve had some success selling my scraps on Craigslist, as pen-turning blanks, or other small-project pieces. Not only does selling them get them out of your shop, another woodworker gets some nice wood cheaply, and you get a few coins in your pocket to use on future projects.
> 
> - Mean_Dean


Not a bad idea, how big is a typical pen turning blank? I can probably cut about 1,000 of them from my scrap pile…....


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...





> Looks like you re making some pretty good progress! I ve been enjoying this project so far!
> 
> As for your scraps, I d hate to see you burn them. I ve had some success selling my scraps on Craigslist, as pen-turning blanks, or other small-project pieces. Not only does selling them get them out of your shop, another woodworker gets some nice wood cheaply, and you get a few coins in your pocket to use on future projects.
> 
> ...


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 1*
> 
> After finishing up the crest rails, I move on to the center back slats. I begin by making up the loose tenon stock I will need. After cutting the stock to width, I fine tune the thickness with the drum sander and add the rounded edges with a bullnose bit in the router table.
> 
> ...


pen blanks are about 3/4 square and 6" long,so yeah hundreds-ha.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Center Back Slat- Part 2*

With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.










Since the ends of the slats are angled slightly, I adjust the Leigh FMT to hold the parts at the appropriate angle.










Once the Leigh FMT is set up correctly for the first piece, the rest of the parts are run without any layout work which is a real time saver when making multiple parts.










Next I take the parts to the bandsaw and cut the outside and inside curves. By staying tight to my layout lines I minimize the amount of cleanup work needed.










Back at the bench, I begin the cleanup work with spokeshaves. I work one half of the part from one end then flip it to work the other half, always working with the grain.










Next I bandsaw the profile, then it's back to the bench to clean up the edges with the spokeshaves.










The test fit looks good for the center slat.



















Happy with my test fit, I fabricate the remaining center slats. To clean up the marks from the spokeshaves I head to the belt sander. The marks are readily apparent under raking light.










I smooth the concave side on the belt sanders pulley and the convex face on the bed.










The back slats are fully shaped, but need the corners softened and the ebony bars added- details that will come later. I do a dry fit of all the chair backs to be sure there are no fit problems.










Next step: fabrication of the side slats.


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Wow, Tung. Amazing work. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Good thing the Greene brothers had the Hall brothers to build their furniture and homes. That stuff is complicated!
You're doing a particularly good job in every step so far. I tip my hat to anyone who tackles G & G furniture.


----------



## MKH (Jan 20, 2018)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Awesome looking work TungOil


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Looks like you are making good progress. Before long the miscellaneous chairs in the table picture will be replaced by these beauties.

The FMT Pro really does make things a lot faster for production runs. Once the set up is dialed in you can make one or a hundred pieces without having to tweak anything.

Rather than take a chance of messing up with a spoke shave (since I'm not great with hand tools) I rough cut the curved crest and back rails for my chairs on the band saw then used the router with a template jig to get the final curve and sanded them smooth using a 5" ROS.

Do the side slats have the same curve?


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Blown away! So sexy! Epic build!


----------



## sawdust1whisperer (Nov 11, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Your a master! Thanks for sharing this very complex project.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


This is such a fun project to follow. It brings back memories from an earlier project of mine.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


Thanks all, this has been a challenging and fun project so far.



> Do the side slats have the same curve?
> 
> - EarlS


Earl- The side slats do have very similar curves to the center slat, but they have the added complication of having a compound miter cut on each end that needs to be exactly the right length or there will be a gap somewhere on the crest rail…..fun!


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


This is looking first class. Great progress.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Center Back Slat- Part 2*
> 
> With all of the stock cut to length, I'm ready to move to the next step, cutting the mortises and curves. I lay out the center marks for the mortises needed by the Leigh FMT on the ends of one piece.
> 
> ...


This is a really complicated project you've undertaken, but you're handling it with your usual aplomb! Can't wait to see them arrayed around the table!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Side Slats*

With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.

Bob Lang's approach to this in his chair making class was to use a MDF story stick to sneak up on the exact angles and lengths, which worked very well. I started by cutting two poplar pieces to use for the test fitting. Once I had established the correct compound angles for each end, I fit the parts to length by trial and error, taking light cuts to sneak up on the proper length.










With careful fitting I was able to achieve a tight fit on my test parts. I then laid out the mortises and profile on the slats to match the mortises in the crest rail.










Moving on to the actual parts, I cut the compound angles on each end then cut the mortises using the Leigh FMT.










With the mortises complete, I lay out the curves and profiles and head to the bandsaw to rough out the parts. After bandsawing I clean the parts up quickly with a spokeshave. Later I will finish sand them on the belt sander and break the sharp edges.










The test fit looks good with a snug fit on all parts.










It's not easy to see in this image, but all three Slat parts were cut from the same blank and kept in order so that the grain will match in the finished chair.










Next Steps: finish up the side slats for the remaining chairs, then start on the angled side aprons.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Side Slats*
> 
> With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.
> 
> ...


This is the part of the project where the details are critical but it seems like things are moving so slow that I am always tempted to hurry or take a short cut, usually to my detriment. Looks like you are staying focused and doing some excellent work.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Side Slats*
> 
> With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.
> 
> ...


You are right about that Earl. And I have been traveling for work the past 6 weeks so it seems like things are moving even slower. These side slats are the hardest part of these chairs, once I get past these the rest should be pretty straight forward.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Side Slats*
> 
> With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.
> 
> ...


This chair is turning out to be amazing! I'm loving it and it's really an inspiration, yet daunting at the same time.


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Side Slats*
> 
> With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.
> 
> ...


Well, just keep taking your time, and getting things right.

Sometimes I start getting impatient, and just want to get the step done. When that happens, I force myself to take a break, go eat lunch (or just get out of the shop for an hour) and leave the project be for awhile, or even overnight.

After a break, I'm ready to go again!


----------



## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Side Slats*
> 
> With the center slats completed I move to the side slats, arguably one of the most difficult parts of the project. With the center slat already cut, the side slats must be cut very precisely or there will be a gap in the finished assembly somewhere. In addition, both ends of the side slats have a compound miter and must have a mortise precisely placed.
> 
> ...


Great project and beautiful work!!!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*

With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.










Next I put together a quick template to route the shallow slots for the ebony bars that are inset into the center slat.










In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.










The subtle curves and shaping done on these pieces is amazing and could be easily overlooked.

I realized that my stylized version of the chair would benefit greatly from some extra shaping and rounding, so I began working on my poplar setup pieces to see what i could come up with. The leg tops were straightforward. I shaped them with some rasps and finalized them with some sandpaper.










For the crest rail, I first thinned and tapered the top half of the piece, then rounded the corners with a rasp. I finished up with some sandpaper.










These pieces still need some additional shaping work, but they are already looking much better.

Next steps- shape the crest rails and the tops of the legs and cut the side rails for the seat.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


Huntington gardens is a great place for inspiration. I really enjoyed the Greene and Greene exhibit there.

Good work on the chairs.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


The Huntington gardens was great as was the Gamble House tour. I killed a whole day just at those two stops!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


A couple of days back I posted a picture of a G&G chair that is in the Chicago Art Institute in the 2018 Box forum. The version you posted looks to be slightly different. The shaping really does change the look with all of the edges rounded over rather than just taking the edge off. Keeping the shaping consistent looks like it will be a challenge and rather time consuming as well.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


Hah - I lied. I didn't post the chair pictures. They were a G&G table and a Harvey Ellis chair. I'll have to find the picture of the G&G chair and post it for comparison.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


Great, please post it for comparison. Thanks Earl. The shaping will definitely be time consuming, but I'm hoping that I'll get faster with each successive part…..


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet.  After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


Tung - here are the G&G chair pictures. Looks like they were from a different set altogether.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


Yep, that's a chair from the Blacker House. They are beautiful chairs!


----------



## Mean_Dean (Oct 13, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Preparing Apron Stock, a Router Template and Crest Rail Shaping*
> 
> With the side slats cut and fit for all the chairs, I turn my attention to preparing the stock for the side and front aprons. I had rough cut the material for these parts a while ago, but had not gotten to resawing it yet. After flattening one face and squaring an edge on the jointer, I set up the resaw blade on the bandsaw and split the boards into two pieces 15/16"thick. I'll let this stock sit for a few days before I take it to the planer for final dimensioning.
> 
> ...


The shaping looks like it's coming along nicely!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*

Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.










Once the mortises are complete on the side rails and lower stretchers, I transfer the locations to the back legs and set up the Leigh FMT to cut the mortises.










After cutting all of the leg mortises for the side rails, I do a quick dry fit to check that everything looks good.










Since the Leigh FMT is set up to cut the leg mortises, I go ahead and cut the mortises in the front legs at this time. It's critical to keep the left and right legs marked to prevent mixing them up. Since the mortise is slightly offset from center, they are not interchangeable.










Once the front leg mortises are cut, I do another dry fit to check progress and alignment.










Starting to look like a chair now!

Next steps: Cut parts and mortise for the front seat rail and lower stretcher parts, then pattern route the cloud lifts in those parts.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*
> 
> Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.
> 
> ...


Nice progress! The last photo shows how far you've gotten - keep up the excellent work!


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*
> 
> Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.
> 
> ...


Great work, Tung. Those are going to be beautiful. Thanks for sharing your progress.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*
> 
> Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.
> 
> ...


Looks good. I see you have some test inserts on the back of the chair on the right. Just that little detail makes such a difference compared to the chair in the foreground without them. The lower side stretcher cloud lift details look great too. There are so many small details on G&G that make the style so unique. They just take a long time to complete correctly.


----------



## Kelster58 (Dec 2, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*
> 
> Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.
> 
> ...


Wow, they are very nice…GREAT Job!!


----------



## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 1*
> 
> Rather than dive into all of the hand work to shape the crest rails now, I decide to finish up cutting the side rails. I rough cut my side rail stock a few weeks ago. Now that it has had time to acclimate to the shop, I resaw the 8/4 stock then edge joint and plane everything to 13/16" thick. Since the length of the lower side stretchers is the same as the side rails, I prepare stock for those parts so I can miter and cut them all to length with a single setup of the saw. With the ends mitered, I mortise both ends with the Leigh FMT.
> 
> ...


Everything so crisp and clean!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*

With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.










The side rails are matching pairs resawn from 8/4 stock, so I keep them together as I work.

A quick test fit shows everything fits together nicely.










Next steps: Complete the lower stretcher components.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...


Your profile is the "We Love to Work the Wood" on the front page of LJ.

I can see the lower right stretcher with the cloud lift in the last picture. Looks like they are getting close to being built. I'm guessing you have loads of square ebony plugs ready to install once you mortise the holes?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...


That lower stretcher you see is on the prototype chair that I made at the Marc Adams class in the fall, but the rest will look the same of course. Unfortunately, I have just a handful of ebony plugs left over, so I will need to go into 'plug production' mode again soon to crank out a batch. Fortunately this chair has relatively few plugs, so there will not be that many to make.


----------



## CaptainSkully (Aug 28, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...


Are you going to use the method that Darrell Peart describes in his book on how to make pillowed plugs?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...





> Are you going to use the method that Darrell Peart describes in his book on how to make pillowed plugs?
> 
> - CaptainSkully


I have used Darrell's 'mouse pad' method.. I also messed with William Eng's method of using a hand drill. Both work well, but a little tedious.

On my dining table build I moved to chucking my square ebony stock in a 4 jaw chuck on the lathe and shaping the pillow with a file. I then sand the end of the plug with sanding sponges of progressively finer grits, all in the lathe. I will also skip the polishing step this time as i saw no difference in the appearance of the plugs when spraying lacquer.


----------



## sawdust1whisperer (Nov 11, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...


Great work. Can't wait to see it completed.


----------



## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Side Rails and Front Legs-Part 2*
> 
> With the side rail mortises complete, I move on to cutting the front rails and mortises. The Leigh FMT makes quick work of the remaining mortises. Next I trace the cloud lifts onto the side and front rails, rough cut the parts on the bandsaw and clean them up with a spiral pattern router bit.
> 
> ...


I've also experimented with both methods and settled on a compromise. Darrell mentions the height of the plugs as being super short, which means any overruns on pillowing requires excess height to keep it above the surface. Finishing the plugs off the workpiece is therefore work intensive and risky. Instead, I do light pillowing by hand to 360 grit, install and finish to smoothness in place with tape masking. The trick is using Abralon pads - in my case on a Mirka DEROS 2.5 with a little hand finessing - to truly blend each plug. Original G&G pieces look like the plugs were finished in place also, however I'm sure that can't be the case for everything. Still, doing so seems to be a step in the right direction towards the flowing naturalistic feel of the originals. Similar to yourself Tung, I've pored over countless photos analysing the curvatures that routing on its own doesn't come close to replicating. One has to bear in mind the sort of workflow, tooling and machinery available to the Hall Bros. in their mill back then….it certainly highlights how many modern reproductions of G&G pieces fall short of the mark in terms of the feel and form, which to my mind are key. Props for taking time to absorb this! It shows.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Lower Stretchers*

I start by cutting the mortises in the legs for the lower side stretchers. I then cut the mitered ends on the side stretchers and fit the length.










With the side stretchers fit I move on to cutting the mortises for the center stretcher. The center stretcher has a through tenon on each end. I set up the Leigh FMT to cut the mortises in the side stretchers, then square up the ends with a chisel.










I miter the ends of the center stretcher with the miter saw, then cut the square tenons on the Leigh FMT. I cut a few extra parts to cover any potential mistakes.










After a little fine tuning with a float, the tenons and mortises fit together snuggly.










Next I layout the cloud lift, rough cut to shape on the bandsaw and pattern route the final shape with a spiral carbide bit.










Next steps: fabricate and fit the ebony bars and square plugs, break and shape the sharp edges then finish sand for assembly.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Lower Stretchers*
> 
> I start by cutting the mortises in the legs for the lower side stretchers. I then cut the mitered ends on the side stretchers and fit the length.
> 
> ...


There are so many subtle details and tricky joinery in the G&G chairs. No wonder they never really were able to mass produce furniture like Stickley did.

You should have those plugs and bars knocked out in no time. Do you have all of the mortises cut for the plugs and bars?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Lower Stretchers*
> 
> I start by cutting the mortises in the legs for the lower side stretchers. I then cut the mitered ends on the side stretchers and fit the length.
> 
> ...





> There are so many subtle details and tricky joinery in the G&G chairs. No wonder they never really were able to mass produce furniture like Stickley did.
> 
> You should have those plugs and bars knocked out in no time. Do you have all of the mortises cut for the plugs and bars?
> 
> - EarlS


I think the Greene's were working for a very limited, wealthy client base as well, I read somewhere that the cost of the furniture in their homes was higher than the cost of an average house in the day. That will limit your pool of clients quickly!

I have not started any of the mortises for the plugs and bars yet, but they should go quickly. I have a lot of ebony plug stock left over from the table but not sure if it's the right size or if I have enough so I'll probably need to make more of that as well.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Rounding Parts and Establishing Plug Locations- Part 1*

With the lower stretchers rough cut and the cloud lifts formed, I move on to some of the detail work.

First, I round over the edges of the lower stretcher parts with a 1/8" round over bit in the router table. With the rounding complete, I compare 3/16" and 1/4" square ebony plugs for size on the lower stretcher.










The 3/16" plug looks better to my eye so I cut 3/16" square holes in all of the stretcher parts using the Lee Valley square punch. Except for a bit of hand work on the cloud lifts and final sanding, these parts are ready to assemble.










Next, I work on getting the front legs ready. The sides of the front legs are angled to match the angle of the side aprons. I lay out the angle and cut the legs on the table saw, making sure to keep the right and left legs oriented correctly. I round them over on the router table and set aside, ready for square plug holes and final sanding.










Next, I round over the edges of the front and side aprons and set those parts aside for final sanding.

Before I begin rounding over the back legs and crest rail, I establish the locations for all of the plug holes. I like to do this with the actual plugs whenever possible, but I'm short on 1/4" ebony plugs so I make up a handful. This chair has 27 ebony plugs in total, plus 8 ebony bars. Not a lot by Greene & Greene standards, but with 15 chairs in the works that's over 400 plugs and 120 bars.

There are a lot of ways to make these plugs but I use a method that I find fast and repeatable. I head to the lathe and make up a batch using the process I worked out on a previous project. I start with a handful of long 1/4" ebony plug stock mounted in a four jaw chuck. I can make the plugs in batches by forming a plug on each end of several sticks, then cut them off and repeat.

I form the initial pillow shape with a file, then finish up with a 400 grit sanding sponge. This does not leave a polished finish, but since I will be spraying these chairs with lacquer when completed the 400 grit is sufficient.










With a few plugs ready, I establish the locations for all of the square holes in the crest rail and upper part of the legs.










Next steps: finish rounding over the back leg assembly components, cut the square holes and fabricate a batch of ebony plugs.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Rounding Parts and Establishing Plug Locations- Part 1*
> 
> With the lower stretchers rough cut and the cloud lifts formed, I move on to some of the detail work.
> 
> ...


Looks like you are "plugging" away at it….. yep you knew that pun was coming.

It's surprising how many plugs and bars are on any given piece of G&G furniture. Without them, though, the piece doesn't look nearly as nice.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Rounding Parts and Establishing Plug Locations- Part 1*
> 
> With the lower stretchers rough cut and the cloud lifts formed, I move on to some of the detail work.
> 
> ...


Looking good!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*

With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.










There are 27 square plugs on each of the 15 chairs, for a total of 405 square plugs.

After all of the clearance holes are drilled, I cut the square plug holes using the Lee Valley square hole punches. I align the punch with the hole using a long dowel pin, then square the punch with a saddle square. A spare loose tenon inserted into the mortise helps keep the mortise wall from collapsing as I cut the square plug hole.










It takes about 12 hours to cut 405 square plug holes by hand. A hollow chisel mortiser would have been a good investment.










After cutting all of the square plug holes, the top of the square plug cutter has mushroomed quite a bit and will need to be cleaned up on the grinder later.










Next steps: shape the tops of the legs and crest rails, finish sand, cut and fit the ebony bars and make up a batch of ebony plugs.


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...


Aren't you done with those yet, Tung? Just kidding. They're looking great. Using that saddle square is a great idea. I'll be stealing that one from you.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...





> Aren t you done with those yet, Tung?
> 
> - Rich


I wish Rich, but it's mostly downhill from here, with a lot of hand tools along the way I'm afraid.


----------



## RichT (Oct 14, 2016)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...





> Aren t you done with those yet, Tung?
> 
> - Rich
> I wish Rich, but it's mostly downhill from here, with a lot of hand tools along the way I'm afraid.
> ...


If anyone can do it, you can buddy. I have faith. Looking forward to seeing them arranged around that gorgeous table.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...


Ugh 400 plugs all by hand. I agree that a mortising machine would have helped speed things along. Still, you have to keep the mortising chisels sharp or they start making a real mess. Good to see you made it through this part without any major mishaps.

I need to get one of those saddle squares for punching G&G plug holes. It looks a lot more efficient than eye balling it or trying to make a jig or use a regular square.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...


The saddle square a big help, Earl. Lee Valley sells two sizes, I use them both, but the one pictured is the smaller one. They have a nice broad side that allows easy alignment of the square punch before you slide it down to contact the wood.


----------



## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...


Heh!, It makes me smile to see your hole cutter develop the mushroom head 8^). I've cut only a 100 or so with mine and it is just starting to expand, yours tells me that you are probably into the 1000's!

Nice trick using a dowel for alignment. I have always pounded the punch in until it stayed, then drilled with a bit through the hole in the punch for the clearance relief. Your method makes so much more sense!

For a current project, I decided to go ahead and make Andy's plug jig 
to speed the torture along. It works great! 3/8" plugs don't fit my 1/2" drill so I have to do them by hand. Smaller ones are still a pain. For this jig I used a standard bull nose bit I had and simply borrowed the bearing/retainer from a pattern bit to make it all work.

Your lathe method does make me think it's cost would be easily justified 8^)


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Plug Locations and Square Holes- Part 2*
> 
> With my plug locations established, I move on to drilling the holes and cutting the square plug holes. I set up stops on the drill press and drill the clearance holes in the front legs, back legs and crest rails.
> 
> ...


Yeah, I've really pounded that punch pretty good. I will say the business end holds an edge really well. I've only had to sharpen mine once after close to 1000 holes.

I picked up the extra long dowel pins from McMaster Carr. you can also use a spare twist drill turned around to align to the hole.

As I was making the plugs for my table, I was designing that exact jig in my mind. I started making them on the lathe so I never built it. The jig is probably a little faster, but the lathe works well also and no special jig needed!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Crest Rail Final Shaping*

In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.










It will not be possible to create the dramatically swept back profile seen above on the top of my crest rail, but I can approximate the look by thinning and shaping a curve that tapers towards the top and rounding over the edges.

To Shape the crest rails, I start by laying out guidelines on the top of the rail. I strike a guideline in the middle that will be used to shape the concave curve and a second guideline to divide the remaining material in half and define the peak of the crest rail.










I begin by shaping the curve of the crest rail with a spokeshave. A Kreg bench clamp attached to my old mini-Workmate puts the part at a comfortable work height while allowing me to easily reposition the workpiece.










The curve begins near the center and tapers to the top. I work the spokeshave with the gran of the part to minimize tearout.










After shaping the curve, I round over the top edge with spokeshaves, then add a line along the middle of the edge to guide shaping the cloud lift round overs on the top of the rail.










To shape the round-overs I use rasps. I begin by shaping all of the round-overs using a fairly coarse 11 grain, 10" cabinet makers rasp. The large size helps remove the bulk of the waste material quickly, but leaves a rough surface and the size of the rasp prevents me from getting into the tight inside radius of the cloud lifts and finger hole.










With the rough work completed, I switch to an 8", 13 grain rasp to refine the shape. With the smaller rasp, I am better able to shape the inside radii, but not completely. The 13 grain rasp leaves a smoother surface as well.










To complete the shaping, I switch to a 6", 15 grain modelers rasp. The small size allows me to finalize the shape of the inside radii and leaves a very smooth surface, about the equivalent of 80-100 grit sand paper.










I finish up the crest rail with a variety of abrasives. The large faces are sanded using 120 grit followed by 220 grit on the ROS. All of the edges are sanded by hand using a variety of soft pads.










To make sanding all of the inside radii easier, I made up a custom sanding stick. The radius of the stick is 1/16" smaller that the radius of the inside curves on the crest rail. I then used a piece of 1/16" double sided foam tape to hold a piece of 220 grit paper in place. By including a flat area on the stick I was able to use it to sand the outside round-overs as well.










Shaping these crest rails was a considerable amount of effort, more than I expected. it took between 3-1/2 to 4 hours to complete the shaping of each part (about 60 hours total) with spoke shaves, rasps and sanding. I was a little surprised to see such a large pile of shavings after I finished up working these!










Next steps: complete rounding over the remaining curved parts, then work on the ebony bars for the back splats.


----------



## WhattheChuck (Aug 26, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Nice! Whenever I'm doing Greene and Greene stuff, I remind myself that those dudes had their own cabinet shop, and clients with bottomless wallets. The interesting thing I've found as I've proceeded through a Queen Anne Lowboy reproduction is how much simpler it is to make than the G&G stuff. There's a reason there's a bazillion lowboys out there, as well as the fact that they were owned by lots of middle class people. G&G? Not so much.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


I agree, Chuck. G&G is decievingly difficult to make if done the way the Hall's worked. Every time I study the details of G&G pieces in museums I come away with a huge respect for the craftsman that made this furniture. I tend to simplify the details in the interest of actually finishing them in this lifetime…..


----------



## WhattheChuck (Aug 26, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Lifetime is right. And I'm not bragging, but I DO know how to do all the small details. Like the little knee-thingys. But you start putting all those together on a piece, along with the sculpted breadboard inserts, and the tapered pegs, and actually finishing a piece just seems to be interminable. I attempted to streamline some of those effects while building the little TV/ stereo cabinet I made. Compared to the coffee table (which is full-on) I think I saved some time. I think.

Building a roomful of that stuff blows my mind. I'd have to be retired. And bored. I look at the big dining room sliding table and my eyes boggle. It's like Moby Dick-look long enough into the abyss, and the abyss looks back at you. Even Darrell Peart does all that stuff on his CNC table now-because he wants to have enough money to EAT!


----------



## WhattheChuck (Aug 26, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


BTW-hats off to you building a set of chairs. You are obviously talented. Or have OCD. Or both. ;-) Drop me a line when you finish sanding all those pegs. The first round's on me!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Tung - how are the hands holding up with all of the detail rasp, filing, and sanding? The curves, and shaping are one of the details that make G&G look so appealing. I applaud your attention to detail and appreciate your willingness to show us all of the tedious details that go into making these chairs.

I'm also very jealous that you were able to see all of the G&G furniture at the Huntington Library Museum. Post more pictures when you have time. I'm hoping to get back to the Chicago Art Institute later this summer so I can get some better pictures of the few G&G pieces they have as well as the Stickley pieces.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Hands are fine but my shoulders are feeling it. They are awkward parts to shape without something like a pattern makers vise.

The Huntington is worth a trip to LA. The airfare is cheap, just do it for a weekend. You will not be disappointed.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


i applaud your effort on this having made a g&g wall table i know too well what goes into making there furniture.a bed and night stands are on my to do list,and may be there a while-ha.im just finishing up a maloof rocker and i hear ya on the shoulder and arm pain from using spoke shaves and rasps for hours of shaping.ive been to the gamble house but not the huntington,that is something for your next visit.tours are led by jim ipekjian,a master of g&g who recreated the furniture for the blacker house.i love the time you took to show us your process for making those beautiful chairs,thanks tung.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


I just realized I forgot to include an image of the finished parts. Here's a before and after view.


----------



## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


You have a beautiful body of work. Can I ask why you either chose not to or felt you could not recreate the crest rail of the original? IMO, from seeing everything you've done, you have the ability. Was this simply an executive decision to expedite the project?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...





> You have a beautiful body of work. Can I ask why you either chose not to or felt you could not recreate the crest rail of the original? IMO, from seeing everything you ve done, you have the ability. Was this simply an executive decision to expedite the project?
> 
> - builtinbkyn


Executive decision- By the time I went to the Huntington, I was too far along to get that shape out of the parts I already had cut, which looked like the crest rail on the left in the photo above.

Bob Lang and I discussed this, we both feel that you would need to start with 16/4 material to get the finished piece to look like the original, which is only about 1/2" thick. Can you imagine the waste?


----------



## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Thanks for responding Tung. You know I took a closer look at the pic of the original you posted and it looks like the crest is a separate piece. There look to be horizontal seams. It also looks like the grain changes direction to being vertical. You obviously saw it in the flesh and have the original pics, so you would of course know better, but that would certainly change the approach to making it. Maybe it's just an artifact in the pic?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...





> Thanks for responding Tung. You know I took a closer look at the pic of the original you posted and it looks like the crest is a separate piece. There look to be horizontal seams. It also looks like the grain changes direction to being vertical. You obviously saw it in the flesh and have the original pics, so you would of course know better, but that would certainly change the approach to making it. Maybe it s just an artifact in the pic?
> 
> - builtinbkyn


The seam you see is a repair, the original must have tipped over backwards at some point and the top of the crest rail broke off. It's easier to see in this view


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


I really enjoy following along on this build. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## builtinbkyn (Oct 29, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the explanation. Guess my aging eyes weren't deceiving me after all.


----------



## SteveHaf (Nov 30, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Great detail. Thanks for posting!


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


Any updates?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


No, just a lot of boring sanding right now.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Crest Rail Final Shaping*
> 
> In February I was in Pasadena and took the opportunity to visit the Huntington Library Museum, which houses many Greene & Greene pieces. The museum holds one of the living room chairs from the Gamble House and that gave me a good opportunity to study an original up close. The crest rail is beautifully shaped with a lot of rounding and shaping evident. Here is a close up of the crest rail on the original.
> 
> ...


I can believe that! Lots of parts…


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Shaping and Sanding*

It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.

The top of the rear legs on the original chairs is quite heavily rounded. To approximate this look, I lay out the shape on the leg with a white pencil. I mark the centerline of the leg as well as the curve on both sides so I have a reference line to work to.










The round over is shaped with various floats and progressively finer rasps.










Completed batch.










The bottom of the legs are shaped as well, but just a slight round over.










The bottoms of the rails and most other parts get rounded over and softened as well. The original G&G pieces all have a 'worn soft' shape that is subtle but really helps complete the look. It's also time consuming to reproduce.










Cleaning up the bandsaw marks on the tapered slot in the center back splat proved to be a challenge. Luckily I had a very thin file that fit at the narrowest point.










The rest of the parts were shaped similarly, using spokeshaves, rasps and files. Figuring out how to hold these parts was half the challenge. My old benchtop Workmate with a Kreg self adjusting clamp was a big help.










Before and after shaping and sanding the back splats.










After that just a lot of boring sanding. I went through quite a few disks on the ROS sanding these parts.










A very large pile of parts, almost ready for assembly.










Next step: cut the pockets for the ebony splines in the center back splats.


----------



## 000 (Dec 9, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


Good lookin work Tung!
Great job on keeping everything consistent.
Looking forward to the next…...


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


Thanks jbay!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


I was just re-reading your previous entries for my G&G fix for the week. I can only imagine how many hours you have into sanding and shaping everything. My sand paper stack would be about 10x bigger since I get impatient and pull the paper off before it is worn down.

I think you might have to invest in a new ROS after this. If so, take a look at the Mirka Deros. I switched over to one after I started getting carpal tunnel pain and numbness in my hands from my Dewalt ROS sander which really helped. It's expensive, but a lot less costly than surgery.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


All that time on the details will be worth it - this is a first class project!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...





> I was just re-reading your previous entries for my G&G fix for the week. I can only imagine how many hours you have into sanding and shaping everything. My sand paper stack would be about 10x bigger since I get impatient and pull the paper off before it is worn down.
> 
> I think you might have to invest in a new ROS after this. If so, take a look at the Mirka Deros. I switched over to one after I started getting carpal tunnel pain and numbness in my hands from my Dewalt ROS sander which really helped. It s expensive, but a lot less costly than surgery.
> 
> - EarlS


Too many hours sanding, I can tell you that. Feels like I spent the entire summer sanding. That was only half of the stack, I threw the other stack away earlier in the summer. Even with my air cleaner running, my entire shop was covered with a film of fine dust after imwas done sanding.










Interesting side note- I had a box of Makita disks and a box of the Indasia Rhynogrip disks. The Indasia disks lasted probably 3x longer than the Makita disks before I needed to toss them.

The Mirka is a really nice sander for sure, but my Bosch sanders are relatively new. They are actually pretty decent tools, very little vibration especially from the bigger one. I work on a piece of carpet padding as well,which helps absorb some of the vibration.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...





> All that time on the details will be worth it - this is a first class project!
> 
> - sras


Agreed, the details are what make these pieces special. The splines in the back splats are next on my to-do list and are a perfect example. When I studied the originals on the chair at the Huntington I was amazed at the amount of detail work in each one. Mind boggling.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


More info on the white(?) dots. Are they pins?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...





> More info on the white(?) dots. Are they pins?
> 
> - EarlS


Yes, they are silver rods used as through pins.


----------



## grace123 (Nov 2, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


I am inspired to try a Greene and Greene project again. Your work is outstanding.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...


wow im tiered just looking at these pics buddy,all that shaping and sanding.your work always inspires me,your a true craftsman,great job as always.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...





> I am inspired to try a Greene and Greene project again. Your work is outstanding.
> 
> - grace123


Thanks Grace!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Shaping and Sanding*
> 
> It's been a while since I posted an update on this project, largely because I spent most of the summer shaping and sanding. Pretty boring stuff but I thought I'd post a few progress pictures anyhow.
> 
> ...





> wow im tiered just looking at these pics buddy,all that shaping and sanding.your work always inspires me,your a true craftsman,great job as always.
> 
> - pottz


Thanks pottz!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Back Splat Splines*

With all of the hand shaping and sanding of the chair parts out of the way, the next step is to fabricate the ebony splines and cut the recessed grooves in the back splats to accept the splines.

I start by making a jig to cut the ebony splines. The jig holds a length of ebony securely, allowing me to shape the rounded face of the spline on the router table. I round over the face on several pieces of ebony, then slice off the spline stock to the correct thickness on the bandsaw and repeat until I have enough stock for all of the chairs.










To route the slots in the back splats for the ebony splines, I make a small slot routing jig. The jig is a simple flat plate with a square opening that uses a router guide bushing to produce the slot in the back splat. To vary the length of the routed slots, I fabricate some small spacers to reduce the size of the opening. The jig clamps in place on the back splat using two toggle clamps on the bottom. The slot jig has center lines marked to align each slot accurately on the back splat.










After marking the center line for each slot on the back splat, I carefully align the slot jig and clamp in place. Using a plunge router, I route the slots. The length of the slots varies from top to bottom. The bottom two slots are widest, while the top two slots are each 1/4" shorter than the slot below.










After routing the slots, I square the ends using a square punch and clean up the waste using chisels.










I cut the ebony splines slightly oversized, then use a small jig clamped to the belt sander to square the ends and adjust the spline length to fit the finished slot. The jig is clamped square to the sanding belt and has both a flat face for adjusting the spline length and an angled face to put a slight chamfer on the back of the spline to allow easier insertion into the slot.










For the lower splines especially, it is critical to have a perfect fit- too long and the spline will spread the back splat and possibly split the part, too short and there will be a visible gap. Since each spline is slightly different, I number the back of each spline as well as the mating slot for later reference.

On the original chairs, the splines are pinned with as many as 10 silver rods each. To approximate that look I use 5/64" nickel silver rods- the type used to affix knife scales. Two per ebony spline seemed like a good compromise to get the look without an extraordinary amount of effort.

After the spline has been fit to the slot, I bore the holes for the silver pins. A standard twist drill has a tendency to wander off center when trying to drill the rounded face of the spline, so I use a 5/64" end mill mounted in the drill press to be sure the holes stay centered in the spline.










I cut off two short pieces of the nickel silver rod and glue into the spline with CA glue.










I then finish sand the spline, rounding and blending the pillow shape through 400 grit which shapes both the ebony spline and cleans up the silver rods flush with the ebony. The bottom spline below has not been finish sanded yet, the top is completed.










The finished splines fit snuggly into the slot.










The ebony splines are ready to insert, but I set them aside for now since they will be installed after the chair is assembled.

Here the splines are in position but not set into the slots.










Next steps: chair assembly.


----------



## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

TungOil said:


> *Back Splat Splines*
> 
> With all of the hand shaping and sanding of the chair parts out of the way, the next step is to fabricate the ebony splines and cut the recessed grooves in the back splats to accept the splines.
> 
> ...


Looks like a great project and a lot of cool techniques. I look forward to seeing your progress.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Back Splat Splines*
> 
> With all of the hand shaping and sanding of the chair parts out of the way, the next step is to fabricate the ebony splines and cut the recessed grooves in the back splats to accept the splines.
> 
> ...


I am enjoying every post of this project!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Back Splat Splines*
> 
> With all of the hand shaping and sanding of the chair parts out of the way, the next step is to fabricate the ebony splines and cut the recessed grooves in the back splats to accept the splines.
> 
> ...


Just when I think there can't be any more detail work….. Those are going to look incredible with the silver pins in the ebony. Wow!!! All of these details reiterates why there aren't many original G&G pieces. Sheer perfection.


----------



## edapp (Jun 27, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Back Splat Splines*
> 
> With all of the hand shaping and sanding of the chair parts out of the way, the next step is to fabricate the ebony splines and cut the recessed grooves in the back splats to accept the splines.
> 
> ...


I am loving these updates. Learning a lot about patience by following along here… I need to slow down in the shop a bit…


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Chair Assembly*

I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.










Since the outside edge of the front leg is angled to match the side rail, I use wedges on my clamping pads to apply even clamping pressure.










Next I glue up the back legs, rail, splats and crest rail into a second sub-assembly. There are twelve loose tenons to glue and seven parts to align. I have to work fast to get the back sub-assembly aligned and clamped up before the glue sets.










I set these aside to dry overnight. The next day I bring the sub-assemblies together with the side rails and lower stretcher assembly. To assure a good clamp up of the angled sides, I cut a complimentary angle in some scrap wood cauls and mark the centerlines for the clamps.










I leave the chair assembly clamped overnight to dry.










While the chair assembly is drying, I fabricate the ebony plugs. To make the plugs, I mount the square ebony stock in the lathe using a four jaw chuck. A few swipes with a smooth mill file pillows the end of the plug, followed by a quick sanding with a 400 grit sanding sponge. I cut the plug to length, then chamfer the inside corners on the belt sander.










After the chair is dry, I remove the clamps and insert the the ebony plugs and splines. I use a bamboo skewer to apply glue to the inside of the plug holes.










I set the depth of the plugs using a block of hard maple with a shallow dado.










The splines are installed in a similar way. A few dabs of glue hold the spline in place. 









I set the splines flush to the face of the splat. Each spline has a pillowed face.










The chairs are glued up, ready for corner blocks and slip seats.










Projects this size remind me why a shop can never be too large.










Next steps: fabricate and install corner blocks and slip seats.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Those chairs look great. Have you decided on upholstery?


----------



## edapp (Jun 27, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Your blogs offer so many learning opportunities for people like me. Thank you for the time you take to document each step! Patience is the big take away here… i need more patience!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


after doing a g&g hall table i know how much work that went into this project and my head hurts-lol.nice step by step tutorial tung.nice work on the plugs and splines those came out great.im exhausted just looking at this buddy.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


I've been waiting for this! Nice job - first class all the way!!


----------



## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Judging from your photo I am surprised you could build anything let alone Green & Green style chairs, but you obviously aced it. Great work. I love that style of furniture. Unfortunately my wife doesn't, so I can't go there, but at least I can enjoy seeing the good ones like yours.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Those chairs look great. Have you decided on upholstery?
> 
> - EarlS


Black leather


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Your blogs offer so many learning opportunities for people like me. Thank you for the time you take to document each step! Patience is the big take away here… i need more patience!
> 
> - edapp


Welcome!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> after doing a g&g hall table i know how much work that went into this project and my head hurts-lol.nice step by step tutorial tung.nice work on the plugs and splines those came out great.im exhausted just looking at this buddy.
> 
> - pottz


I'm exhausted too….


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> I ve been waiting for this! Nice job - first class all the way!!
> 
> - sras


Thanks Steve!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Judging from your photo I am surprised you could build anything let alone Green & Green style chairs, but you obviously aced it. Great work. I love that style of furniture. Unfortunately my wife doesn t, so I can t go there, but at least I can enjoy seeing the good ones like yours.
> 
> - stefang


Yeah the foam hands and lack of opposable thumbs makes it difficult at times. On the flip side, I never mar a finely sanded surface!

I didn't give my wife any choice. If I did, we would have wound up with some boring milk painted country pine, or worse….


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Judging from your photo I am surprised you could build anything let alone Green & Green style chairs, but you obviously aced it. Great work. I love that style of furniture. Unfortunately my wife doesn t, so I can t go there, but at least I can enjoy seeing the good ones like yours.
> 
> - stefang
> 
> ...


i think she's gotta agree what your doing beats that choice any day.


----------



## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Fabulous detail!

I'm still envious of you shaping the plugs on a lathe 8^)


----------



## htl (Mar 24, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Beautiful work and well done!!!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Judging from your photo I am surprised you could build anything let alone Green & Green style chairs, but you obviously aced it. Great work. I love that style of furniture. Unfortunately my wife doesn t, so I can t go there, but at least I can enjoy seeing the good ones like yours.
> 
> - stefang
> 
> ...


Ha! You obviously have never met my wife


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Fabulous detail!
> 
> I m still envious of you shaping the plugs on a lathe 8^)
> 
> - splintergroup


It is a pretty fast way to make them.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Beautiful work and well done!!!
> 
> - htl


Thanks!


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Judging from your photo I am surprised you could build anything let alone Green & Green style chairs, but you obviously aced it. Great work. I love that style of furniture. Unfortunately my wife doesn t, so I can t go there, but at least I can enjoy seeing the good ones like yours.
> 
> - stefang
> 
> ...


sounds like mine bill-lol.


----------



## BobLang (Feb 2, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Nice to see these nearly done!


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Nice to see these nearly done!
> 
> - BobLang


Nice to be almost done with them, feels like I have been working on them forever! Thanks for all your,help to get them to this point Bob!

I'm back at MASW in July for the bolection inlay class….Thorsen sideboard is next in the queue…


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Beautiful work! How many hours did you spend on this? I want to start my own home project and it d be good to know the timeframe. Thanks!
> 
> - AlexBlackburn22


Not done yet, I'll tally up the hours in my last blog post. It's north of 500 hours….


----------



## SteveHaf (Nov 30, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Really nice! I'm getting my band saw tuned to be ready for for this project. also need dust collection upgraded.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Good luck with your build Steve. Better get a few extra trash cans too, these chairs produce a tremendous amount of waste!


----------



## SteveHaf (Nov 30, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...





> Good luck with your build Steve. Better get a few extra trash cans too, these chairs produce a tremendous amount of waste!
> 
> - TungOil


I already keep too many scraps. It pains me to stick sapele cutoffs in the fit pit.


----------



## EläväPuu (Nov 23, 2014)

TungOil said:


> *Chair Assembly*
> 
> I do the chair glue up in several stages. First, I glue up the front legs and rail into one sub-assembly.
> 
> ...


Those are pretty much the best-set plugs I've seen outside the originals. Super low profile and look like they're meant to be there, rather than separate or clunky.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Corner Bracing and Slip Seats*

With the chair assembled , the next step is to fabricate and install the corner braces and slip seats. To get the miter angles accurate for the corner blocks, I use a Bora MiteriX angle duplicator.










After measuring the angle, one side of the tool is removed to set the miter saw.










The resulting angles make for a perfect fit. I add some glue and screw the blocks in place set so the top of the slip seat is flush with the top of the chair side rails.










The slip seats are cut from Baltic birch plywood. To facilitate cutting the seats, I make a tablesaw sled to cut the angles.










The slip seats are difficult to cut accurately since each chair is slightly different. I sneak up on the correct angles and assure there is clearance for the seat covering using shims all around.










Next steps: drop off the slip seats at the upholster, stain and finish.


----------



## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Corner Bracing and Slip Seats*
> 
> With the chair assembled , the next step is to fabricate and install the corner braces and slip seats. To get the miter angles accurate for the corner blocks, I use a Bora MiteriX angle duplicator.
> 
> ...


Hey that's looking pretty neat. Did you leave enough room for upholstery? I usually leave 1/4" on each side for batting and leather when I make cushions. Let the upholstery shop make the call, but be sure to communicate with them about the clearance.

Lookin' good!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Corner Bracing and Slip Seats*
> 
> With the chair assembled , the next step is to fabricate and install the corner braces and slip seats. To get the miter angles accurate for the corner blocks, I use a Bora MiteriX angle duplicator.
> 
> ...


That is a slick tool. Gotta remember that one. I made frames for the upholstery without the slip seat. There is some sag in the seat already.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Corner Bracing and Slip Seats*
> 
> With the chair assembled , the next step is to fabricate and install the corner braces and slip seats. To get the miter angles accurate for the corner blocks, I use a Bora MiteriX angle duplicator.
> 
> ...





> Hey that s looking pretty neat. Did you leave enough room for upholstery? I usually leave 1/4" on each side for batting and leather when I make cushions. Let the upholstery shop make the call, but be sure to communicate with them about the clearance.
> 
> Lookin good!
> 
> - pintodeluxe


It's a good point Willie, I did talk to the upholsterer about clearance and for the leather I'm using they suggested no more than 1/8" all around. When I got the cutting for color approval, I used it to zero in on the actual size which is slightly under 1/8".


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Corner Bracing and Slip Seats*
> 
> With the chair assembled , the next step is to fabricate and install the corner braces and slip seats. To get the miter angles accurate for the corner blocks, I use a Bora MiteriX angle duplicator.
> 
> ...





> That is a slick tool. Gotta remember that one. I made frames for the upholstery without the slip seat. There is some sag in the seat already.
> 
> - EarlS


I spoke to the upholster about that as well. They advised to use a solid plywood slipseat and based on the approval sets they covered for me earlier this week they were right. Very comfy.

One thing about leather that I forgot to mention in my write up is to drill some air holes in the slip seat to allow the seat to breath. Unlike fabrics covering, the leather acts like a balloon if you don't add breather holes.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Stain and Finish*

With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.










I use a similar finish schedule on these chairs that I used for the dining table in my previous blog. First, two applications of General Finishes water borne dye stain are sprayed on. I quickly wipe the excess off after each coat for an even coloring. I use Darrell Peart's formula of 7 parts orange to 4 parts medium brown.










A lazy Susan bearing mounted between two pieces of plywood make a nice rotating platform to allow easy access to spray all sides of the chair.

Next I apply a single application of Target Coatings EM-1000 sanding sealer followed by a thorough sanding to smooth any raised grain. The Target sealer sands easily to a powdery smooth surface.










Next I build the base finish with two coats of Target Coatings EM-6000 gloss water borne lacquer. I prefer to build the base coats with gloss since it allows the grain and chatoyance of the wood to show nicely. After a light scuff sanding to remove any dust specks, I spray a final topcoat of satin and set the finished chair aside to dry overnight.

The next day I test the fit of the slip seat which is just back from the upholsterer.










The upholsterer did a fabulous job matching the thickness and overall shape of the original Greene & Greene cushion.

The final touch is to screw the slip seat in and install the floor glides on the chair bottom.










With my finish schedule worked out, I spray the remaining chairs, install the slip seats and glides. Done, just in time for Easter!










Next: final wrap up.


----------



## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


They look fantastic! You have one of the nicest dining sets possible (in my opinion).


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Thanks Steve. I'm just happy to have these things out of my shop at this point. These took forever to build.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


WOW! and i mean wow tung,having followed you on this journey im kind of sad to see it end,but it sure is ending with a bang! that is one beautiful ding set you gotta be proud of,something your grandkids kids will sit down to someday.sweet ending my friend.


----------



## socrbent (Mar 9, 2012)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Congrats on a job much more than well done. Thanks for sharing.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Thanks guys!


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Your big spray booth looks like mine when I have big projects to spray.

The black leather upholstery is a perfect match for the chairs.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Thanks Earl!


----------



## SteveHaf (Nov 30, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...


Well done Bob!! The chairs look great. Maybe I'll come see them one day before starting the rest of mine. I'm still on #2.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Stain and Finish*
> 
> With the slip seats out at the upholsterer, I focus on staining and finishing the chairs. First I set up my temporary spray booth, which consists of heavy plastic sheeting held up with zip wall poles. I cover the floor with kraft paper and mount a fan in the window to extract the overspray.
> 
> ...





> Well done Bob!! The chairs look great. Maybe I ll come see them one day before starting the rest of mine. I m still on #2.
> 
> - SteveHaf


Sure Steve, any time you want to stop by just give me a holler.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

*Final Wrap Up*

Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.

Board feet of Sapele used: 315
4' x 8' sheets of 3/4" baltic birch plywood: 2
Number of chair parts fabricated: 285
Number of mortises: 720
Number of floating tenons: 360
Number of square ebony plugs: 405
Number of ebony splines: 120
Quarts of finish used: 10
Hours to complete: 596

What worked well?

I spent about 40 hours drawing templates in AutoCAD to be cut by CNC at the start of the project. I made some minor adjustments to replace dominos with the the standard mortise sizes available with the Leigh FMT. This was time well spent as it made the fabrication go very smoothly.

The Leigh FMT jig again proved worthwhile. This is a well made tool and makes beautiful, precise mortises. With 720 total mortises on this project, I gave it a good workout.

Carefully planning and thinking through the steps of construction and assembly for these chairs was key to making sure they came together successfully.

Bloopers

I broke a few of the smaller 3/16" loose tenons while dry assembling and disassembling the chairs. Using a 1/8" chisel I was able to extract the broken tenon pieces without damaging the mortises.










The biggest mistake was when a dry assembled chair disassembled itself and the back assembly fell over, breaking the top of the center back splat.










Luckily it was a clean break and no wood was lost. I squeezed some glue into the break, put wax paper on either side and clamped the splat between clamp blocks.










After it dried I cleaned up the repair with a scraper and it was nearly impossible to see.










Overall this was a fun and challenging project and I'm glad I took it on. A special thanks to Bob Lang for teaching the class and providing advice, and to Darrell Peart for the design that these chairs are based on.


----------



## horky (May 18, 2010)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


TungOil, what a great project … both the table and the chaiirs. I have really enjoyed all your updates along the way. I am sure it will be cherished for a long long time.


----------



## pottz (Sep 15, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


thats an impressive list tung,im tiered just reading it-lol.


----------



## EarlS (Dec 21, 2011)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


What a herculean undertaking. You ate the elephant one bite at a time. Can't wait to see the pictures of the table and chairs on the project page.

What's next on your woodworking agenda?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


Thanks guys.

Earl- next project is the Thorsen sideboard, although I might need to slip a small project or two in before I start that one.


----------



## BobLang (Feb 2, 2009)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


Just saw your chair in the "Gallery" section of Fine Woodworking. Once again, nice work on an incredibly involved project.


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...





> Just saw your chair in the "Gallery" section of Fine Woodworking. Once again, nice work on an incredibly involved project.
> 
> - BobLang


Thanks Bob, they would not have been possible if I had not taken your class! Your help was invaluable!


----------



## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...


Congrats on the Gallery spot in FWW! When Bob mentioned it I looked forward to receiving that issue and having a close look. So many of those entries look too fine to be real 8^)

Did you photograph it or did they send someone?


----------



## TungOil (Jan 16, 2017)

TungOil said:


> *Final Wrap Up*
> 
> Here are the project totals, for those that are interested.
> 
> ...





> Congrats on the Gallery spot in FWW! When Bob mentioned it I looked forward to receiving that issue and having a close look. So many of those entries look too fine to be real 8^)
> 
> Did you photograph it or did they send someone?
> 
> - splintergroup


Thanks, the photo is mine. It took me a long time to figure out that the key to getting published is to make their job easy by providing publication ready images. Luckily I did a photography minor as an undergrad.


----------

