Well this week has been more chairs. No sooner was the first one delivered than the neighbor requested a second one. It sure would have been easier to make 2 at the same time. But the forethought of creating the angle drilling jig paid off!! There are a total of 24 holes drilled to make this chair and all but 4 of them were at compound angles!

The most time consuming part of this build was turning the small back spindles. They were just thin enough and long enough to require the use of the steady rest. Setup and turn one end, tear down and move the tool rest. Setup and turn the other end.

Although there were only 4 of this size, it took almost 3 hours to make them.

Of course, they still needed sanding when this picture was taken.

Dry fit time, all the parts ready for the test-

 The 4 legs on the rite side are the new coffee table legs to raise it high enough to become a work/study table. They needed a final sanding, stained and Poly'ed.

The finished chair and its tiny model used for the pattern.

As I mentioned, when I first started, the scaled up version seems to have lost some of the delicate appearance of the little chair. The larger chair seems "heavy" to me. I finished this chair on Sunday and the second one today. 

The chairs are made from Poplar as they were going to get painted. The seat height is about 14".

Thanks for coming along on this chair building adventure. It wasn't all lathe work but I hope you enjoyed it.

Safe Turning!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

Lew, that is very impressive, I love that chair!!!!! Although I do see some of the clunkiness about it that you may not like.

Perhaps try using a regular spindle size for the end spindles or even a graceful smooth tapered spindle for the end spindles, that would be a nice contrast to the ornate spindles that make up the rest of the back rest.

Also, how about trying your hand sculpting that seat a tad. Just dish out the areas where the bottom cheeks of a person would rest, and carry the center line out to the front edge. I do like it as is, but you had mentioned a "heavy" chair and those are just some of the ways to slim it down and get it back to that nice delicate appearance of the smaller chair.

You could also dish out that back head rest, scoop it out thin at the center of the headrest and blend it to the thicker ends of the headrest. That chair is just screaming for some sculpting! I see it as a wonderful blank canvas to try your hand at sculpting. Who knows, you may just end up developing your own style of sculpted chair unique to you and your shop!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

I think the big chair looks great. Heck, I beefy so I like a beefy chair. But really I like it. It looks really good. I also like your steady rest. I have got to sit down and make one of those for my lathe.

Excellent work.

Will there be a three and four?

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

Thanks for the suggestions, John. I can really see, now, that all the spindles could have been thinned down a bit and not affected the chair's strength and yet improved the appearance. I thought about sculpting the seat, too. I know that would have made a difference.

IF I ever make another chair, I'll be able to incorporate these ideas. Especially now that I have a better idea about the process. Heck, next time I might even have a set of plans!!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

Thanks, John!

Will there be a three and four? 

This neighbor currently has only 2 children, so probably my stint as a chair maker is done- at least for a while!

John Moody said:

I think the big chair looks great. Heck, I beefy so I like a beefy chair. But really I like it. It looks really good. I also like your steady rest. I have got to sit down and make one of those for my lathe.

Excellent work.

Will there be a three and four?

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John Moody
Site Administrator


John Moody Woodworks
http://www.johnmoodywoodworks.com

The only other thing that I could suggest if you do anymore chairs, is to instead of scooping out the back, actually bending it slightly like the original chair is. How to go about bending it though and keeping it bent would require wetting and letting it dry while bent, and I don't know that it would be possible or feasible for you.

Lewis Kauffman said:

Thanks, John!

Will there be a three and four? 

This neighbor currently has only 2 children, so probably my stint as a chair maker is done- at least for a while!

John Moody said:

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!