Claro Walnut Rocker Seat

[John Morris]

Been working on a Claro Walnut rocker this morning. I have my seat shaped and sanded to 220. Working my way through the grits on my way up to 800. I'll have the seat and bottom sanded to finish, then later I'll need to shape the rest of the seat once I get the legs measured and mounted. 

Love the smell of Walnut in the morning!

 

[lew]

Beautiful!

 

Mighty nice looking joinery, too!

[John Morris]

57 minutes ago, lew said:

Beautiful!

 

Mighty nice looking joinery, too!

Thanks Lew, making some grand progress today. Should be gluing up my rocker lams later today.

[Chips N Dust]

That is absolutly beautiful! I love the grain claro walnut displays.  Seen it used in gun stocks a lot 

[Stick486]

That is absolutely beautiful! and then some...

what method did you use to shape the seat and why are you heading to 800 grit...

[Stick486]

[Fred W. Hargis Jr]

Well done, John. The grain on that piece is spectacular.

[Steve Krumanaker]

Beautiful wood and you did it proud. Really nice craftsmanship there.

 

Steve

[John Morris]

Thanks all! I'll be doing some hit and run posts here with photos from my shop, and I'll get on later and answer questions and give feedback 

Marking reference points to further shape the seat.

 

These marks are made at both rear leg to seat joint locations and an elegant line will connect the locations to further shape the seat.

 

[John Morris]

Used my string bow to connect the notches.

 

[John Morris]

I don't use templates for the seat layout, I already have some built into the project. In this case I use a back rest lam that I already made for this chair, and it works beautifully for the outside seat lines.

 

The backrest generates a beautiful line. It's just one more way for the lines of the chair to flow into each other. In a way, the backrest is now speaking to the seat 

[HandyDan]

Gorgeous John.  The grain is over the top nice!

[John Morris]

Now, how sexy is that.

[John Morris]

2 hours ago, Stick486 said:

That is absolutely beautiful! and then some...

what method did you use to shape the seat and why are you heading to 800 grit...

Stick, not only do I take it to 800, but I'll go 1200 Abralon for the final buffing before the oil varnish is wiped on. The idea is to "buff or burnish" the wood before the finish is applied, the chair actually looks and feels finished before the finish is even applied. It's quite spectacular the fine, glassy automotive finish these chairs have.

 

EDIT: I used power all the way for the scooping out of the seat on this rocker, a side angle grinder with a Kutzall wheel.

[Stick486]

@John Morris..

w/ that fine of sanding will the finish even penetrate into the wood...

 

[John Morris]

11 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

@John Morris..

w/ that fine of sanding will the finish even penetrate into the wood...

 

Oh yes it does, and man does it pop! Since I learned this way in finishing, I use it for many projects. The end result is an in the wood finish, that does not look plastic, and the feel is incredible.

[Stick486]

52 minutes ago, John Morris said:

Oh yes it does, and man does it pop! Since I learned this way in finishing, I use it for many projects. The end result is an in the wood finish, that does not look plastic, and the feel is incredible.

well that' goes against all I've been taught or have learned,,,

in short...

over sand and you may seal the wood so much that it will not take a finish.

End-grains get additional sanding to control the absorption of stain. one or two grits finer than than where you stopped on the straight grain..

soft wood like pine and alder.. start w/ 120 and go no finer than 220 for water base finish ans 180 for oil base....

hard woods like maple and oak... start 120 and finish w/ 180 for water base and 150 for oil base...

if you want extreme finish do your hyper fine sanding between coats..

[John Morris]

13 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

well that' goes against all I've been taught or have learned,,,

in short...

over sand and you may seal the wood so much that it will not take a finish.

End-grains get additional sanding to control the absorption of stain. one or two grits finer than than where you stopped on the straight grain..

soft wood like pine and alder.. start w/ 120 and go no finer than 220 for water base finish ans 180 for oil base....

hard woods like maple and oak... start 120 and finish w/ 180 for water base and 150 for oil base...

if you want extreme finish do your hyper fine sanding between coats..

Ya I get it Stick, that is the conventional finishing schedule. I never sand beyond 180 or 220 when doing flat work such as cabinets, since I am spraying or brushing on a finish, and I sand between coats.

 

But this is not a traditional finish. You typically would not spray or brush a finish on these chairs, or any other type of work like this. 90 percent of the finishing process is in the sanding, 800 may be overkill, but I would never go less than 500, then 1000 Abralon. Sanding is so intensive on these "money" chairs that it's insane. I have to use a rake light to make sure all the fine scratches or blemishes are gone, before I wipe on the first coat of finish.

 

I just did a quick search on sanding rockers, and I came up with this by chair builder extraordinaire Charles Brock. Here is a quote:

 

Quote

You must utilize all the grits once you start. (24, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180, 220, 320, 400, Then the 3M pads (red, gray, white) taking it to 1000 grit (if you are sanding a ring porous wood like walnut). Do not skip around. It's important to know what grit with which to start and when to stop. I start with the most effective grit that accomplishes the above. It also has to be the highest grit (by number that will do the job). You can't effectively sand a project like this with 24 grit scratches all over it with 100 grit paper! So you must start aggressively with at least 40 or 60 grit paper by hand or with power. I usually use the higher grits like 180 + to provide softening.

Source: Charles Brock

 

Stick, this is a different kind of woodworking, where the idea is to have a finish, but it should not look like there is a finish. You don't' really want to know there is a finish on these chairs, you want to see the wood, the beauty of the grain and the color, but you don't want to see a finish.

This is why the sanding is so intensive, I'll have about 20 hours plus sanding the chair, and and 60 hours assembly. That's a lot of sanding in relation to the actual build of the chair.

[Stick486]

okay...

I think I'm up to speed...

I'm open...

[John Morris]

2 minutes ago, Stick486 said:

okay...

I think I'm up to speed...

I'm open...

Oh ya, one more funny thing, the actual finish? Takes 20 minutes. Three times. For a total of an hour, wipe on, let set for 15 minutes, wipe off, let dry, repeat. Then wax. Funny, after all that work, the finish is the least amount of time.

And it is the most satisfying part of this work, when it comes to these chairs, I love to finish, all that work just comes to life. When it comes to flat work, cabinets and such, I don't like finishing, it's too much like work.