It's always fun to see a project from drawing to completion, and this week with Alan Gensamer, we did just that. The drawing above is scaled so that 3/16" equals 1". Below is the finished piece.
Other than a mishap with drilling the arm (I foolishly veered from the drawing and paid the price of bending another arm!), the piece went very smoothly. Here's Alan getting it all together.
I haven't forgotten the curved stretchers, their drying in their forms. Below is a new (to me) bending method. I was getting some trouble with separation where the turnings narrow and expose endgrain, so I thought that I'd finally found a place to use a strap.
Not only did the strap work nicely controlling the separation (just a little in the center), but it pulled the piece to the form very evenly. My handy Irwin clamp (spreader) put so much force on the piece that the texture of the strap is embedded in the surface of the stretcher!
I've been asked about a million times about using straps in bending, and honestly, I've never found the need. I know that some very tight radii or thick bends could call for a strap, but the "normal" bends in my chairs have always bent just fine. I attribute this mostly to using straight grain white oak and hickory and shaving carefully along the fibers. I'll be knocking this piece together this week (hopefully), but today will be slow, Alan and I put in 7 days and I'm whipped!
6 comments:
Michael in Melbourne .What is the height of the seat from the floor ? I m trying to make a rocking chair at the moment , thanks . Looking forward to when you get to Australia .
Michael,
The front of a standard armchair sits around 17 or 18 inches off the ground, because of the rocking action, a rocker should be shorter. My rockers average from 15 to 16 inches at the front when at rest. Basically, you should keep the intended user in mind.
Let me know if you need more specifics, we're all in this together,
Pete
Thanks Peter , Can you help with the perch seat shaping details ? I'm unable to watch the video on my dial-up internet at home , I can only watch it on the broadband internet at the local library and that's a long way from the shed . The blank is glued up and ready to go (along with the rocker), I think the perch would be good for my ailing back .Thanks for your great help , MiM .
Michael,
What info can I fill in for you?
Hi Peter , the sculpting details with dimensions and edges of seat shaping , measurements where flats and rounds come into play , many thanks .
MiM .
Hi Pete , if I said sections through the seat showing the profile of the edge and the dishing detail at that point , does that make sense ?
MiM
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