Just got an order for a Bow-arm Morris Chair and a large Mirror. The customer wants them in QSWO with the stain Stickley calls Onandoga...medium brown with some red in it.
I'll be using a new steam box for this project. I made it out of foil-backed foam insulation board. From what I read, it takes very little time to get hot inside and it sure is light! The steam generator is a two gallon 'stock pot" with a hose adapter glued to a hole in the lid.
I can't get 10/4 QSWO from my supplier to make the legs, so I'll have to go with 8/4. I don't like the 'quadralinear' technique for legs having through tenons. It makes the tenon look just like it is...cobbled together. These will have one joint down the middle of post, but grain will be matched so it will look pleasing.
My technique is to glue 1/8 in quarter-sawn pieces to the two plain-sawn faces.
The leg now has the beautiful qs on all faces, and the tenon is natural.
Another feature of my furniture is the book-matching of parts. Arms resawn from same board, legs -- especially for the front faces of legs book-matched . I also like to carefully pick out the front and side boards for the seat box, since they will get a lot of attention.
Wood's on order, so check back for updates as the project ripens.
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Oh my! the oak is spectacular-- lots of flake and very interesting patterns. I can hardly wait to resaw this.
I resawed a 6 foot length 8/4 . The two slabs were about 1/16 different in thickness, so I had several runs through the planer to get them flat and equal thickness ... of course I have to use the sawn-side up, so it is either planer or sander anyway..
All the leg mortises were hogged out with a 7/16 drill in a jig on the drill press and then finished square with the 1/2 in bit in the mortising machine. Tenon shoulders cut on the radial saw and faces cut running over the table saw, using a little jig I made just for the occasion.
All the clean out and final fitting of joints took just a couple of hours, made the curves on seat-box and top back slat the same 36 in radius. I will attempt to bend the arms to a 36" radius as well. The consistancy should be pleasing to the eye.
Bending the 72" board for the arm went quick and easy with my wife handling the nose clamp and my belly taking the board down to the form. It took about an hour to get temperature up to 180 degrees , then I put the board in for exactly one hour. Leaving clamped for 24 hours.
update ... dry fit complete.
Upholstery ordered, cutting arm mortices. I could set up a router jig to make the morices, but I want to be sure there is an exact transfer of any minor angle differences in the square leg tenons. At two inches, any mistake will magnify. The image that follows here, shows the arm mortice almost done. Very important with oak to scribe the cross-grain line with a knife--or you will guarantee tear out.
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Arts and Crafts style Mirror
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This is a big one. 65 inches wide and 42 inches tall. All QSWO.
The customer has some left-over 4x4 Motawi Art tiles from his fireplace project, and would like me to place them in the mirror frame. The tiles retail for 27 dollars each...so you can imagine my joy when I dropped them on the shop floor - concrete, naturally. I tried to glue them back, but it was no use.... I sent off and order for the replacements, and $170 later, we're ready to go again.
Ready for tile panel.
Almost done. I'll transport without mirrors, and install them on-site. Just some wax now and a good buffing.
I'll follow up with a shot of the installation.
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