5 hours ago, DuckSoup said:

 Thanks John, that clears things up.

You bet!

The last entry for this chair. I finished the chair last weekend and I am finally getting some images up of weaving the Woof, the Warp is done which is the back to front, and the Woof is the side to side.

In image below the chair is upside down and we start the weave at the back chair post. About 3" is left wild to tuck under the Woof strands and a tack is set, and we start by wrapping it up and over the topside of the chair.

 

 

Once the bottom is secured in place we just simply take the whole role and tuck it under every other Warp piece to create a checkerboard pattern. It's really that easy.

 

 

My last chair I did I calculated the amount of tape I would need for the Woof and cut the roll down to minimize the size of the roll and make it easier to push it through the Warp. But this time I got lazy, I just wanted to get going and see some progress.

 

 

As you can see the first Woof is woven at the back of the seat. Now it's just an "over and under" job till the chair is done.

 

 

Once I completed about a quarter of the Woof, the big roll started to get difficult to push through as the space was getting tighter so I did some calculations and unraveled off the roll what I would need to complete the Woof. The size of the roll is now cut in half, and it looks like I have enough for a matching foot stool too.

 

 

As I weave the Woof in, I also use my shuttle as a tool to push the Woof in place as I go. Not too hard of a push, this is not a loom where tightness of strands of thread are desired, if you push too hard you can compact the fabric tape and it becomes skinny.

 

 

It's coming along.

 

 

Over and under, over and under.

 

 

It's gets to the point where even the small roll becomes hard to push through the Warp, so now I have to switch to my home made shuttle. The tape is wrapped through the slot in the shuttle, then I use some scotch tape to secure the fabric tape onto itself.

 

 

The shuttle is a joy to use, specially after dealing with pushing and pulling that roll through.

 

 

As is in Shaker tradition, a little note is created, and tucked into the chair seat for a future generation to discover when they have to replace the old and worn tattered seat fabric. The idea is they will undo the old fabric, and find this little note that is something of a brief time capsule. Imagine a hundred years or so into the future how neat it would be to find something from the original builder and some fun facts about the time period in which the builder made the chair.

 

Folks, while reading my time capsule letter, please don't make anything political out of it, it's not. I understand our current president invokes emotions of all types, it's a fact that he is President, and thus that fact is entered on paper in my time capsule note. I respect the office and commander in chief regardless who is in office, why? Because the people voted that person in, and I hold in high regard and respect the will and power of the people. Nuff said about that.

 

 

The note is then tucked into the last remaining cavity area of the chair before I close it up with the final Woofs.

 

 

Then the final few passes are made.

 

 

Oh no! Wha Hoppened! My calculation was wrong for the amount I needed to finish the chair when I cut the roll down. So, as is done frequently in this work, the tape has to be sewn to another in order to extend the length and finish the seat. Fortunately Mom taught me how to sew a little bit when I was a just a little kid. While my sewing skills are lacking these days, I did remember how to secure two pieces of fabric together and loop the thread into a secure knot. It doesn't have to be pretty, just strong. The fabric tape is cut back to a point that the mend will be under a Warp.

 

 

There we go, all secured.

 

 

The mend is on the bottom of the chair, and under a Warp.

 

 

For the last few passes, the shuttle can no longer be used and a screwdriver is used to push the Woof through the Warp. The image below is the bottom of the chair, at the last pass, and the tape is tacked to the bottom side rung, and the remainder of the tape is simply tucked under the rest of the seat.

 

 

The last thing I did for my chair was to wax it. Preferably I like to wax the chair before I weave the seat in, as to not accidentally get any wax on the seat fabric. But the day I started to weave the seat, our local hardware store was closed and I had to get some #0000 wool, I struck out, but wanting to get the job done, I modified the steps and weaved the seat first, and I figured I'll just have to be very careful with the seat when I wax the chair.

 

The final touch of many wood projects should be the wax. If you are not applying wax, you are missing out on the upper level of finishing. Firstly, for me anyway it gives me time to reflect on the project, and I enjoy touching every part of what I created, I really love this part of the project, the final rub down. It's relaxing, it smells good, and the result is a silky smooth feel for anyone who touches the work.

And most importantly, if you are using a fine abrasive with the wax, such as #0000 wool, you are also getting rid of any dust nibs, and the finish is evened out. Even with a wipe on finish like I use on my chairs, streaks and blemishes can be left behind and if you rake light across the work surface, it's very obvious. The wax levels all that out, it brings a very even sheen to the entire project.

 

For this chair I used a neutral color wax, since the wood species I used is light, I used a light wax. For darker woods, cherry, walnut etc, I will use a dark wax such as Liberons Black Bison. I have used Johnsons Paste in the past, and I found it to be temperamental, and at times destructive to the finish, it dries too hard and too quickly, and buffing it off the surface is time consuming and sometimes leaves streaks. So I switched to the very soft pasty waxes such as Liberons and Howard. Howard I found at the local big box, Liberons I have to order online.

 

I probably don't have to go into detail to wax a finish, that is why I have not, just put a liberal amount on the wool, wipe with the grain, and in a few minutes buff off with a soft cotton fabric or your choice of softness type fabric.

 

So that's it folks, the seat is done, the chair is done, and yesterday my kids took some glamour shots of the the chair and I'll get those posted later.

 

 

Last item, as you can figure out, while weaving the chair seat, the chair has to be flipped over and over and over many times, it's not very efficient, and there is more chance for damage to the chair by accidentally bumping it on something or a scratch. The Shakers figured this out a long time ago, and came up with a way to mount the chair in a bench vise, and the chair rotates as you weave the seat in.

There is a really wonderful image of a very old Shaker woman using one of these, if I can find it I'll post it up here.

 

Here is an image of the bench vise. Before I weave my next chair seat, I'll make on of these. Attached to this post is the PDF plan provided by the fine folks of Woodworkers Journal.

 

 

 

Shaker-Weaving-Vice-Drawings.pdf

 Nice work John. Should serve you well for many years to come. How about a pic of the whole completed chair.

22 hours ago, DuckSoup said:

 Nice work John. Should serve you well for many years to come. How about a pic of the whole completed chair.

Thanks Cal! I was playing with my new photography lighting, my daughter took these pictures, they turned out ok, she wants to sharpen the images, some are out of focus, we are just now learning how to shoot my work in a photography way.

Click on the link below for chair viewing. It came out pretty good I think.

 

1 hour ago, John Morris said:

Thanks Cal! I was playing with my new photography lighting, my daughter took these pictures, they turned out ok, she wants to sharpen the images, some are out of focus, we are just now learning how to shoot my work in a photography way.

Click on the link below for chair viewing. It came out pretty good I think.

 

Explore

ROLDANYMORRIS.COM

John " you done good" on your or your daughters photos but I would recommend you delete what you do not want to show or put the best in a separate folder  folder to allow quick retrieval of the best shots or you will be scratching your head every time you want to post it. Another thing that helps is to change the name of the photo such as "chair arm 5.jpeg" or "chair 5 right.jpeg" then you can easily select the right view you want displayed.

54 minutes ago, Gerald said:

John " you done good" on your or your daughters photos but I would recommend you delete what you do not want to show or put the best in a separate folder  folder to allow quick retrieval of the best shots or you will be scratching your head every time you want to post it. Another thing that helps is to change the name of the photo such as "chair arm 5.jpeg" or "chair 5 right.jpeg" then you can easily select the right view you want displayed.

Thanks Gerald!!!. Ya that website is only a file storage area that I created down and dirty. It's not my showcase website. My daughter used it to upload those images from her camera from where she was. 

When I showcase the few images I'll use, they'll be renamed appropriately and loaded into the actual website where I'll put my work up.

Hey, not bad for the first time shooting images like this right??!!

Superior work, there, John.  Thanks for the tour and education.  I remember as a child that folks would cane the bottoms of old ladder back and rocking chairs with strips of inner tube.  And, that round under your legs could get a bit painful.  I have enjoyed this and the related threads regarding this chair.  And, you have taught all of us so much about how to make and care for these chairs. Thank you.

Since I am not a turner,there is no way I could do this. If I were  turner, there is still no way I could do this.  Beautifully done John. I really admire your work.

14 hours ago, FlGatorwood said:

I have enjoyed this and the related threads regarding this chair.  And, you have taught all of us so much about how to make and care for these chairs. Thank you.

Very happy about that Steven, glad you like the follow along, believe me I had as much fun building it!

14 hours ago, Al B said:

Since I am not a turner,there is no way I could do this. If I were  turner, there is still no way I could do this.  Beautifully done John. I really admire your work.

Aww shucks Al, if you were a turner you could most certainly do this! I am not a turner and I am doing it!

A gorgeous piece for sure John.  I would have a hard time parting company with it.

And I agree with @FlGatorwood, many thanks for the education.

That's sure a purdy chair, John. Ya done good, buddy. Many thanks for the ride along. The photos are excellent, too.

26 minutes ago, Cal said:

A gorgeous piece for sure John.  I would have a hard time parting company with it.

And I agree with @FlGatorwood, many thanks for the education.

I do have a hard time parting Cal, but it's going to a great cause. Thanks for the compliments!

Thank you John for the ride viewing your rocker.  Truly a piece of art.   Danl

Nice weave!  Beautifully done and looks great.

Dan and Dan thank you guys!

Yeah that one would probably make me think twice about leaving the house.