Finis

Here is the finished cherry, butternut and hickory rocker that I have been building. The design and construction had a lot of interesting lessons that I plan to take forward into new work.



Here is where the design of the back began. I used my student Stacy to test out the curve of the spindles, which I cut into a 4 inch thick chunk of pine left over from my timberframing (I will get back to that soon!). By notching the back of a dummy seat and clamping the rig to my shave horse, I was able to adjust both the curvature of the bend and the relationship between the back and the seat. Also, by slipping a wedge under the seat, I was able to adjust the tilt of the chair. It worked out great and I based all of my curves and angles on it.



Here is the bending jig that I used to bend 8 spindles (one extra!). It worked out nicely.




Here are some more images of the finished chair. It is very comfortable. I had a variety of folks sit in it at the Narrowsburg Riverfest on Sunday and got uniformly positive reviews. I plan to delve even further into the physics of rocking and comfort on the next chair. I also played with the spread and splay of the front legs to balance out the large and shapely top.




My next rocker will be all white oak with a butternut seat. I plan to fume the whole finished piece in ammonia to darken the oak. I've done this before on tables and small kitchen pieces and love the results. I am also adjusting the design to make it possible to finish nearly all of the surfaces with a spokeshave, I have seen too much of my old nemesis sandpaper lately. Next week brings a new student into the shop, so I'd better get out there and get my personal fussing overwith!

In the Cycle

Every year, summer promises to be a relaxing series of lazy days, and of course every year, I pack more into each day than is reasonable. There is just so much to do. Between gardening, building projects, firewood prep (winter is always just around the corner) and of course, chair work, there doesn't seem to be enough hours. These days, the shop is a hotbed of activity. After a decision last year to free the shop from orders to allow time for new designs, I am enjoying the process of realizing new pieces. I've had fun trying out some new geometry and thanks to months of development, I am having no problem creating techniques to make it happen. I've been spending a lot of time gathering ideas and influences from the world around me and trying to stretch my comfort both visually and technically.

Here is a rough mock up of the rocker that I am making. I hope to have it finished for a show that I'll be in next weekend. After the show, I will return to my timberframe shed series.




I have been using some interesting data from the Humanscale 1/2/3 book (which is out of print and impossible to find, so let me know if you have one sitting on the shelf!). The few pages that I've seen have been very interesting and in putting the data to the test, I think that I've made my most comfortable rocker to date.



Since leaving city life behind eight years ago, I have become more attuned to the cycles happening all around me. The may be seasonal, natural or of my own making, but whichever, I am increasingly fascinated. Something feels very right when disparate activities feed into each other. Today, I took notice as I was carving a pine seat. I start with my air dried planks. I cut around the knots to get seat blanks, the knotty sections become bending forms. While carving, I set the shavings aside to use for bedding for my chickens, which someday will fertilize and mulch my garden. The larger pieces cut away with the bandsaw (more sawdust mulch) will burn in my syrup rig in the spring (hot quick fires work best). Beyond the potential of recycling and being a more responsible consumer, the real joy of this cycle is the labor saving. Now that I am immersed in the country, everywhere that I look seems to offer an opportunity. I used to wonder how folks used to live without modern conveniences, perhaps my interest in handtools originated in this curiosity. As I give into my interests and let them expand beyond woodworking, I have a real sense of belonging.

Big Furniture

Sometimes while being introduced by friends, they'll refer to me as a carpenter and then rush to say craftsman etc...In truth, the reason that I bristle at being called a carpenter is because I am incapable of building a square, level structure using standard cut boards. It's a skill that I admire and have no claim to. So when I need to construct a shed or building, I immediately turn to timberframing to find myself in comfortable territory, after all, a timber frame is nothing but a large piece of furniture. This year I have set out to build a shed off of the side of my workshop for wood storage and more importantly firewood. The pain of chipping my firewood out of the ice in mid February for the last 8 years is enough to mobilize me on a 90 degree day!

Here are a few of my homemade (or handled) timber framing tools.




But to show once again that I am no luddite, here are the ones that I rely on to get the job done and get me back to my chairmaking. I told myself that I'd sell them as soon as I'd finished my workshop, but there are these little projects that keep popping up!



The real star of the show is the chain mortiser. It takes all of the pain out of hogging out mortises two inches wide and 7 inches deep. Every joint still gets finished off with the slick and corner chisel, but having built a small shed without it, I assure you, it's worth it. The most interesting part of the process is the layout of the joints, because none of the timbers are evenly sized. There is as much as 1/2 inch difference from one beam to the next. This is where an old way of working wood comes to offer a freedom that uniform lumber forgot we needed. I'll detail the process as I raise the building. It may not be chairmaking, but I bet the connections will be pretty clear.