4 PREPARING THE MORTISES 1 Marking the mortises The first step in making the back is to lay out the mortises for the slats on the posts. Clamp the two pieces of square post stock side-by-side on a work surface. Mark a centerline down the length of each post and use this as a guide […]
Category: BUILDING CHAIRS
ASSEMBLING THE. SEAT AND LEGS
1 Installing the legs in the seat Place the seat upside-down on a clearance board narrower than the gap between the mortises for the back legs. Insert the leg in its mortises and tap it with a dead-blow hammer until the tenon is wedged tightly in place. Repeat for the remaining legs (above). [3] 3 […]
PREPARING THE SEAT AND LEGS
MARKING AND BORING POST AND LEG MORTISES 1 Laying out the seat and the mortise outlines Lay the seat blank face-up on a work surface, mark the center of two adjacent sides and use a carpenter’s square to extend the lines to the opposite sides of the blank, bisecting the center of the seat blank. […]
ANATOMY OF A SLAB.-AND-STICK CHAIR
Peg (page 63) Secures the slats in the post mortises. Like the wedges, the pegs are made of a contrasting hardwood for visual appeal Slat mortise (page 61) Pouted with mortising hit while post is still square Slat (page 63) Usually spaced an equal distance from adjoining slats. The curve should fit […]
SLAB-AND-STICK CHAIRS
The Windsor chair, with its independent back and leg assemblies anchored to a solid seat, and the post-and-rail chair—or simple stick chair— in which the back is an extension of the rear legs, have long been favorites with woodworkers. Windsors are noted for both comfort and elegance, but they arc a challenge to build. Most […]
. ASSEMBLING THE CHAIR
GLUING UP THE FRONT AND BACK ASSEMBLIES Spreading the glue A frame chair is assembled in two steps: First, the back and front leg assemblies are glued up separately, as shown above and on page 48, then the leg assemblies are joined with the side seat rails (page 49). Start by test-fitting the chair components—the […]
FRAME CHAIR JOINERYj
___________________________________ s : CUTTING STANDARD BLIND TENONS 1 Sawing the tenon cheeks You can cut standard blind tenons in the rails quickly and accurately on your table saw with a commercial tenoning jig. The model above slides in the miter slot. Outline the tenons on the ends of the rails, using your seat template (page […]
ANATOMY OF A FRAME CHAIR
Pear leg (page 23) Cut from a single length of solid stock. Shaped to suit the shape of users back and balance the chair visually, top ends may be chamfered for decorative effect. Section of rear leg above seat sometimes referred to as a stile Side seat rail (page 33) Supports the seat. Angled inward […]
A GALLERY OF CHAIR STYLES
_________________________________________________ t Apart from the common thread of providing seating and a set of legs to support the seat, chairs can be as different as the craftsmen who build them and the people for whom they are made. The history of chair design is one of individual innovation blended with the technology and tastes prevailing […]
SELECTING AND ORDERING WOOD
CALCULATING BOARD FEET Ordering lumber by the board foot The “board foot’’ is a unit of measurement used to calculate the volume of a given amount of stock. It is commonly used with hardwood lumber. As shown in the illustration at right, the standard board foot is equivalent to a piece that is 1 inch […]