Well we finally got a few coats of finish on our walnut rocker, just in time for our upcoming juried woodworking show tomorrow!!!

After getting the entire chair sanded and buffed to a keen 1200 grit, we then applied the first coat of BLO to the chair, I really like this part of the process, there is a lot of satisfaction in watching the grain come alive.

First some before shots before the finish is applied.

Then the fun begins, the first and following two coats of finish I went with BLO. I think I will stick with BLO on this chair as the final finish as well. Because the chair was sanded and burnished to a fine sheen, the BLO is able to capitalize on that process and appear like a finish coat with it's deep rich semi gloss characteristics it picked up from the sanding process.

I wanted to show the difference between natural wood and finish, so I took a swipe at the headrest and let the wood do all the talking.

Then some following images of the finished chair, I just got done putting the 3rd and final coat of BLO on the chair, it looks patchy and spotty right now as the BLO soaks in after I gave it a preliminary wipe down. But you get the idea of what it will look like by tomorrow. After each coat of BLO you need to revisit the project a couple hours later and wipe any leaching oils from the surface. If you don't, you'll have a spotty surface.

As I type this it is almost time to head out to the shop and visit the chair again and see if any finish is beginning to leach out of the pours of the wood. I'll probably have to wipe it down about 3 or 4 times throughout the day to smooth and buff the finish.

I really like this method of finishing, most of the finishing stage is done up front with the sanding to such a fine grit. The chair is 95 percent finished with the last grit of sanding. All you have to do at this point is just wipe on and wipe off, no runs, no sags, no dust nibs. Another benefit of this style of finishing is the finish is in the wood. There is no layer of finish that appears plastic or fake, it is completely natural.

Thanks for looking folks, and thanks for sharing the ride! Now wish us luck at the show! The last time I was at this particular show I entered with my Cherry Rocker, it took second place, the first place ribbon and prize went to my good friend Russ Filbeck, another chair maker who specializes in the Appalachian Ladder Back Chairs. Well, this year ol Russ can't make it!!!! So it's just little ol me with my little ol chair. There will be some spectacular work at the show, from totem pole carvings to turnings, to boxes to all kinds, with many categories and a couple chances to place in the rankings. Below is an image of Russ and I at that same show, of course he's smiling, he just won first place in the furniture category and best of show! Russ is on the left, just in case yall never seen me before.

His chairs are beautiful though, and they are made almost completely by hand tooling, he works off a shaving horse to build much of his chairs, and he weaves the seats too by hand out of bark strands.

So that's it for now, thanks again for reading!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

That chair turned out really, really nice!

Well done!

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Allen Worsham
Corona, CA

allenworsham@earthlink.net

'Graze in every man's field, but always give your own milk' J. Vernon McGee

“Our greatest fear should not be that we won’t succeed, but that we will succeed at something that doesn’t matter.â€
D.L. Moody

John,

Wow!!!!

Best of luck at the show.

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

It turned out fantastic John, hope you do well at the show. 

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Greg
Site host

http://www.thesawdustfactoryga.com/

Wonderful job on that rocker. Sam would be proud, too.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

OMG!! That's fantastic!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

Beautiful as always. Best of luck at the show..

Don't you have another chair that is close to finish also?

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

Guys, thanks for all the kind comments, I love the build on these.

John, I have one roughed out right now from Claro Walnut, not near finished, but could be if I dedicated about 4 solid weekends to it. I have the bent lams glued up, the head rest is coopered and glued up, the legs and arms are roughed out, and the seat is roughed out too. The glue joints need some fine tuning and I can proceed to glue up.

John Moody said:

Beautiful as always. Best of luck at the show..

Don't you have another chair that is close to finish also?

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Nice job John. Always enjoy seeing these. Best of everything with the show.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

Thanks Wayne! Just got back from dropping it off at the show, I walked around and saw the fantastic work the woodworkers are producing, and there was a nice lathe demo too with a few guys turning bowls. Myself and the whole family are going back tomorrow to see the rest of the great work. It's mothers day and the ladies have agreed we'll do the show tomorrow and a barbecue afterwards. Fun stuff! Thanks again folks for all the kind comments.

Wayne Mahler said:

Nice job John. Always enjoy seeing these. Best of everything with the show.

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Hey John, 

If it's allowed, please take some pictures so we can enjoy it vicariously. 

I'd love to be there, too.

Only as a spectator, though.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I plan to Gene! We'll be there for a few hours tomorrow and I'll get some pics of the fine work, and hopefully some video too of the turners.

Gene Howe said:

Hey John, 

If it's allowed, please take some pictures so we can enjoy it vicariously. 

I'd love to be there, too.

Only as a spectator, though.

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Gene
'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

So John give us an update on the show.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

Thanks John!!!!

I am off to work right now, but just a short one and I'll be back tonight to post pics of the show.

Show was cool, wife and kids and grandma enjoyed the arts and crafts the vendors had on display.

Our chair won First Place in the Furnishings Category! Very exciting.

And a beautiful carving of a Red Tail Hawk won First Place in the carving category and it also won over all Best of Show. I'll post pics of it later as I said, the detail on this Hawk was amazing.

Great folks and great vibes, I have some video of a fellow turning a bowl too!

I'll be back on here tonight after work guys and get those images up!

Thanks for asking John!!!

Late for work!!!! See yall tonight!!!!

John Moody said:

So John give us an update on the show.

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

Our chair won First Place in the Furnishings Category! Very exciting.

Wow John that is great. 1st place is awesome.

Congratulations!

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

In the interest of full disclosure John, I must come clean, my chair was the only piece entered in that category!!! LOL!!

But it was fun nevertheless. I have a beautiful Blue Ribbon and a bit of prize earnings for my troubles, I felt kind of bad walking away from the show with the prize earnings seeing I was the only one in the furnishing category. But once LOML got her hands on the check, I did not have much to say about it!

John Moody said:

Our chair won First Place in the Furnishings Category! Very exciting.


Wow John that is great. 1st place is awesome.

Congratulations!

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John Moody
Site Administrator


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

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

John,

"Our chair won First Place in the Furnishings Category! Very exciting!",

 

Fantastic!

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Very nice John.  Regardless of the entries you would have won hands down.

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Thanks for the great wishes and comments guy, and thanks Ron, that is very kind of you to say that!

I have a couple sources for Black Acacia that I love to do another chair from.

The roughed out Claro Walnut chair I have now waiting in the wings has some issues, I went in and test fit the parts together to make sure it all still fits together nicely but it doesn't, I got warp, contraction, and more, the moisture content was pretty high when I cut it out, and now I am paying for it. It's not a throw away, I'll just have to improvise is all. Good thing is did it all now before it got into someones home!!!

Oh, did I mention we are keeping this latest chair! We have a new piece of furniture in our home!

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker
Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops and Wounded Warriors Project

John,

Now there's the real prize.

"Oh, did I mention we are keeping this latest chair! We have a new piece of furniture in our home!"

 

Now you've got your place to sit, and rock when you get old and grey like me.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host