Rocking Chair, finally

Lest you think I've retired or taken passage on the Blue Nose, while I have not posted in a while, I have been busily filling orders and finally, finally have a rocking chair.  It's based on a the one featured in Fine Woodworking and was designed by Pete Galbert.  Pete actually sent me the plans a year and a half ago, and the plan was to build one for the birth of our second child.  Well, that never happened, but I did get it done in time for Brenna's first birthday.  I also made Brenna a blanket chest;  I'll post the pics of that tomorrow.

 I am proud as hell of this chair.  The finish is beautiful and there isn't one thing I would change.  All the woodworkers out there know this is rarely the case.

It really came out nice and I couldn't be happier.  And Cathy, the proud mother of Brenna, loves it as well.  I will try t post some more pics soon but have to get ready for  a show in Rockland this weekend.  Hope the see you there.  One reason I haven't been posting in I've been burning the midnight oil to get this chair done for this show.  Hope to get some more orders for this chair.   If your in the Rockland area this weekend, be sure to stop bye and say hi, and see my chairs.

Glazing Glass Doors

Whenever I build doors with glass, if the clients budget and taste allows, I like to have true divided lite panes.  They just look so much better, especially when the client or a friend opens the door and sees that it indeed has divided lites.  I think people have become accustomed to snap in grills, so there is a surprise when they see it.

These doors are a little tricky because they have a molded edge, a quarter round with a fillet, so the end of the mullions ( the horizontal pieces ) have to be coped, that is, shaped to fit the edge pieces.  I'm not really gonna get into that, that would be better covered in a class.  I am going to describe the process I use to glaze the glass panes.  You could of course use wooden strips to hold the panes in place.  I prefer putty, but either is fine.

 Below you can see where we are headed.  A smooth inlay of putty that meets in what is called a masons miter.  One thing to keep in mind is that the edge of the putty has to be inside the wood edge on the other side of the glass.  If you don't cut the putty inside this edge, it looks horrible...ask me how I know this.  What happens is you can see the putty from the outside when the door is closed.  You can chip the putty away to move the line, but that looks bad when the door is open.  Better avoided in the first place.

 Another shot of the finished putty, smooth with a crisp corner.  You can see the wood on the outside of the glass here, well inside the putty line.

 For putty, I like to use Durham's Rock Hard.  It's available most everywhere.  There's lots to like about it---it dries fast but not too fast, is cheap, non-toxic.  The only downside is that you have to mix it with water but I see that as a plus because that way I can get exactly the thickness I want.  I like peanut butter, maybe a little stiffer.  You can't have it too thin because you can't cut it...the cut putty will just blend right back into tapered part.  What you want is to cut it, and have a line that clearly separates the putty glass from the waste.

Here you can see what I'm talking about.  First, you pack the putty into the area above the glass and form roughly a triangle of putty.  At this point you don't need to be too careful.  Just get some putty on your knife, pack it in like you're trying to scrape the putty off.  Don't get too much or it'll be a mess.  Then using a clean putty knife, run the edge down the length of the pane, smoothing it out as you go.  When you get to the corner, leave the tip on the glass, and in one motion lift into the corner, creating a nice mitered corner.  One trick is to clean the putty knife and lick it before smoothing.  I provides just the right amount of lube to smooth it out.  I'm pretty sure the putty is non-toxic, probably should check.   Another important thing is to leave the cut putty until it's dry and then use a window scraper to remove.  Below you can see the cut putty.

 Below you can see the roughly packed in putty.  If you look closely, you can see the wood that you must stay inside of--otherwise you can see it from the outside.

This is the putty knife I use, pretty standard tool.  I don't use the bent part, I use the straight knife end,  not really sure what the bent end is for.  Maybe someone can explain it to me.  I like the knife end though,  really works well.

 One last pointer--I place a duct tape covered brick on the pane.  I glazed a door once,  and when I looked at the finished outside face, I saw that some of the putty had squeezed out between the glass and the door.  I had to chip out all the putty and start over,  ahh the joy of doing things twice.

 Above you can see how I usually hold the doors closed.  On the left you can see a spinner that goes on the inside.  The top part mates with a groove in the underside of a shelf and hold the ( usually ) right door closed.  A rebate allows the the left door to close over the right door and hold it closed.  Finally the left door knob turns and has a finger that goes behind the other door.  I made that sound a lot more complicated than it is.  It really is simple and hold the doors flat and true.   All this takes times and takes patience to do, but it is what separates an average piece from a true heirloom. 


Things have been busy around the shop lately, finishing up this piece... a really nice order from a  recent show and a couple chairs from the same show,  and football coaching coming right up.  I have another show coming up in Rockland in early August.  I also am trying to get a rocker done for that show, and I have a couple other things.  Be careful what you wish for!!

Take a Seat

As I said, last weekend I demonstrated at Maple Meadow Farms in Mapleton.  The weather Saturday was horrible, rain and cold, but Sunday turned out alright.  Erinn is here enjoying a tractor ride.  Now those things have some comfortable seats.

 Speaking of which, the quest for the comfortable seat continues.  Here's a pic of a sack-back seat that by all right should not be comfortable.  The deepest part is too far back, only about 4 1/2 in. from the back edge.  The prevailing wisdom is the the deepest part should be 6 1/2 in.  from the back edge,  and spread out 3 1/2 in. across the middle.  In other words, you measure in 6 1/2 from the back edge,  and then drill a hole about 15/16 in. deep, 1 3/4 in. from either side of the center line.  That marks the deepest part of the "bowl".

 But here you can see the deepest part is two inches to far back, around 4 1/2 in. .  And it's deep too, about 1 3/8 in.  Not really sure what happened here, but there it is.  The funny thing is it is very comfortable.  It supports your back and bottom, and everyone who sits in it says oh, that's nice.
That's the thing about chairs, you just never know how they are going to sit until they are done, which can be very exciting or a disappointing letdown.

 Below you can see the whole seat.  The flanks are cut down so they don't dig into the backs of your legs.

 Above you can see a Rod Back chair.  They were first introduced about 1880 in Philadelphia and were quickly accepted as less expensive seating.  The bamboo turnings were in response to the public interest in the Orient.  On later rod backs, the top back was a flat board on which decorative painting was done to add visual interest.  All of this was due to the rising popularity of Sheraton "fancy" chairs.  Ahh, economic pressure.  The Rodback unfortunately marked the end of 150 years of what had been primarily hand built chairs.  Most later rod backs were factory made, and one can see shortcuts that were taken.  For instance, on most the legs did not go thru the seat, they merely went into machine drilled holes that stopped short of the top.  In many ways this marked the beginning of the decline of the Windsor as a chair.

At any rate, here's a small green rodback with another very comfortable seat.  The deep part is right about 6 1/2 in., so that's "right",  and the deepest part is about 1 in., which is deep for a rod back.  They typically had very shallow scooping to cut costs and time.  But this one very comfortable.  One school of thought is that a deep seat feels great initially, but the longer you sit the more uncomfortable it becomes.  I not sure I buy into this, think tractor seats.  I find a deepish seat, about 1 inch just about right.

 Here's a good look at how deep and wide the scooping is and this chair is comfy!

This pic shows another seat that is not as comfortable as the green one, but is still comfortable.  The deepest part is about 5 in. from the back edge, and about as deep, but it just doesn't sit as well.  One thing is the scooping is flatter from front to back, maybe that has something to do with it. 

 Here's the latest seat, legged up and seat done.  This one is pretty much by the book, deep part about an inch deep, is 6 3/4 from the back,  and the bowl all runs to the deep part.  You can see I use a marble to find the deepest part, my daughters idea.   I'll have to get back to you on how it sits.  I did drop the front arris down about 3/16 of an inch so as to give legs more room.

 I am happy with the edge treatment on this seat.  I cut the bottom back to give the seat a sharp edge which I like,  and the cove on the side came out nice.  Practice makes perfect I guess.

 So in summary, deep part 6 1/2 in.  from the back edge, 1 inch deep, 3 1/2 in. apart, sort of.

Couple shots of the show, nice barn!  The owner asked me when I was getting my stuff out, and I said out, I'm moving in!  Thanks to Andrea, Miriam and Terry Gregg for having me and thanks to all the people who stopped by my booth. 

Things (Chairs) Fall Apart

 If you build furniture and especially chairs, at some point you will be asked to fix something.  It's not a matter of if, but rather when.  In this case an old, heavily built pine chair collapsed.  The tenon into the seat snapped off and down she came, breaking off another couple tenons in the process.  Things fall apart, the center cannot hold. 

 In this case, I was lucky in that they were clean breaks, no long jagged splits.  Of course the question is whether or not the fix is worth it must be considered.  I leave that up to the them, but usually the piece has far more sentimental value than monetary, but at any rate, every fix is different and often the hardest decision is where to draw the line.  This chair was actually in pretty good shape, and with such clean breaks I proceeded as follows.
First off, I cut the leg off, and using the lathe and a drill chuck, I drilled out the hole and inserted a 5/8 maple tenon into the hole; this becomes a new tenon.  I use epoxy for most repairs like this one where to original glue was PVA, carpenters glue.  I should say here that for all it's good properties, carpenters glue will not bond to itself once it has cured.  It has to be scraped completely off to wood, and reapplied.  This is why I use epoxy.    Be sure to abrade the surfaces with 40 or 60 grit sandpaper, and make sure the fit is kinda loose, not sloppy, but not tight.  Also, thicken the epoxy with sawdust or a product sold by West System, silica dust.

  Like I said, I like West,  and they have a great boat repair manual you can get thru Lee Valley.  I use the high density filler.  Be sure to wear a dust mask, it is silica and can damage your lungs.  I mix it to about peanut butter thickness, maybe a touch thinner than that.

 Here you can see (hopefully) the epoxy smeared into the hole (mortise).  Put plenty in there, you don't want a starved joint.  And try to abrade as much as possible.

 This is where the leg goes into the seat.  Again, plenty of glue on the tenon and in the hole.  Since this is a blind hole ( it doesn't go thru the seat) when you drive the leg in, you will get hydraulic pressure sufficient to prevent proper seating of the leg.  So I drill a small hole that intersects the leg hole.  You can see the tip of the awl in the hole.

 And when the leg is hammered or clamped into the hole, you can see the excess glue coming out the relief hole-- this way the leg will go into the seat all the way.  If you don't drill the relief hole, the leg will sort of go into the hole, and when the clamp is taken off, the leg will move back out of the hole.  This can be very frustrating if you don't understand and know the solution.

Here is the chair with the repaired undercarriage.  I did clamp it up; the legs to the seat and a couple clamps on the stretchers for good measure.  The epoxy I use takes awhile to cure but it does work very well.

 This Sack Back below has a lot of great qualities.  The hands are great,  I will try them on a C-arm.  The turnings are lovely and the overall proportions are very nice.  For a factory chair it is a really nice chair.  The paper on the underside of the seat states it's based on a chair from Monticello.  Unfortunately, the seat has split right in half.  I've had this chair for awhile now, and while I like the chair, it will be a tough fix.  I could just epoxy the split and hope for the best, but I'm not sure how long that would last.  Tough call.  Things fall apart, the center cannot hold.  In this case, literally.

First Show

Here are some images of projects that I have finished up lately or had new photos taken.  I found a new photographer and she is great, a real sense of color and making a shot work without making it look contrived, so thanks for that.

I haven't posted in a while, but I had a show downstate at Point Lookout in Lincolnville, which went really well.  I met a bunch of super nice people who had nothing but great things to say about the furniture.  I hope they had a good show as well, and I'd like to say thanks to all of them for all the positive comments about the furniture.  This was my first show away from home, and judging fro the wonderful experience, I will be doing more.  

These shots are actually from Wintergreen Arts up here in Presque Isle, not from the show I did downstate.  First show and I forget the camera.  I contacted the show photographer but haven't heard from him yet, hopefully I'll get some photos.  My new photographer put together a slide show of the Wintergreen show which I am going to attempt to link here.  If this doesn't work, check back tomorrow. Wintergreen Slide Show here.  Some really nice photos, thanks Connie.

Another thanks goes out to Ed and Christine at the  Mount Battie Motel in Lincolnville.  Super nice people, great breakfast, reasonable rates, what more could you want.  Also, if your in the mid coast area check out the Thomaston Cafe, my favorite restaurant, great food...you gotta try the crabcakes.

Lastly, another thanks to the attendees of the show who had such nice things to say about my furniture.  Being almost entirely self taught, it's hard sometimes to tell if my work is really good, or if people are just being nice.  The feedback was genuinely positive, so thanks and I hope to hear from all of you soon.