All's Well that Ends Well

Hey all. My apologies for being so lazy with my posts. BUT, thanks to my lovely wife bustin' my chops to get something done, I'm back....!

The title of this post says it all about the latter portion of my windsor chair class. I spent the better part of last weekend finishing it up. This was the second 3-day weekend (out of 2), with the expectation that I would be able to actually complete it. Luckily for me, I actually did, but not without some drama and a few near disasters...

I should have known that problems would arise when glue-up began. My first ever chair glue-up was no exception. It started out well, with turning tenons on a lathe. My first mistake was using too much of my prior woodworking knowledge as a basis. Rule #1 - CHAIRS ARE DIFFERENT. The sooner you accept this, the better off you'll be. So, with that in mind, I started assembling the legs & stretchers. This is shown on the right in the first photo (with Ferris making it look way too easy). Mine didn't go so well.

When I attempted to glue up the base assembly, I learned that I had made the tenons too fat, which didn't give me near enough time to make adjustments before the glue set up (Reference Rule #1 above). What happened next almost made my cry. When twisting the legs and stretchers to line them up, I heard a loud CRACK! The side stretchers both sheared right off . The 'lining' on this black cloud was that the legs were saved.

The rest of the class went much better. And I actually finished a day early. This took a colossal effort on Sunday (at the shop until 9 PM). I saw first hand what makes these chairs so strong. Every major arm, leg, and spindle piece is a wedged, through tenon joint. When done properly, it makes the parts near impossible to take apart. Below is an example of some of these wedges. It's a shot of the top bow where the spindles get secured. I just love the way the uncut wedges look like a bad Coolio-style hairdo. I deem this photo "Bad Chair Day". Bad pun, but I thought it was funny...

The whole process was quite enlightenening and very satisfying. Up until it was actually done, I had SERIOUS doubts about whether I could actually make a chair. Now I know I can, which is a really cool feeling. The last photo is the graduation shot with me & my chair, freshly painted and looking spiffy. The other chair is the one my instructor made. I must admit, mine didn't turn out too bad...Hooray!

The next thing I'm planning along these lines are a couple of stools with hand-turned legs. I want to do the proverbial "crawl-before-I-walk" thing in my shop since I won't have an instructor correcting my mistakes at every turn. I hope to start on those in the next few weeks.

It's a good beer day

I've recently got back into homebrewing. I made my first few batches in college, but they didn't turn out that great because I really had no idea what I was doing. Luckily for me (and most of my friends), good beer isn't a necessity in college, so it served its purpose. Nowadays, I'm far more interested in drinking GOOD beer. So to make beers actually worth drinking, I'm finding it takes a little more preparation and care during the brewing process.

We bottled the latest batch today. It's a hazelnut porter, made with a standard porter kit from MoreBeer.com. Now we buy supplies locally from Party Creations in Red Hook, NY. Bruce & Gloria run a great store, and have all the supplies and expertise brewers need to make great beer. My fellow brewer Russ is a big fan of hazelnut porters so we decided to try our hand at one. We added hazelnut liquer right before bottling to give it the added flavor. A taste from the bottling bucket was positive, with a nice smoky flavor from the smoked malt we added to the recipe. It'll be ready in a week or two, after some carbonation is made in the bottles. I'll write up more when we get a real taste.

Our next set of brews are a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone and a Bellhaven Scottish Ale clone. Both of these are personal favorites and I can't wait to get them both in the fermenter.

One last note...I have to give a Super Bowl shout-out to my hometown Bears! They just beat up on the Saints 39-14 to get back to the SB after 21 years. Go Bears!!!

Windsor Chair Class #1

Well, for those of you of frequently visit the Porch, Beth mentioned the chair class I got for Christmas. It's set up as (2) 3-day weekend blocks with the end result being a completed Sackback Windsor chair that I take home with me. The basic prototype is shown here. It must be stated that the class I chose is in the 1700's - 1800's tradition, which is handmade with all hand tools. The only exception being the turnings, which are provided by the instructors. If I survive the class and still have the patience required to make more of these things, I'll probably tackle some turnings on my own later on too. Now back to the chair...

The class is structured so that the instructors, Ferris & Maureen Rugar, make chairs alongside the student. I'm given a thorough demonstration, then it's my turn to have at it. Day 1 started by learning how to make spindles by hand using a rather large drawknife and a spokeshave. Each one starts out as a 3/4" square blank, and ends up (about 30 minutes later) as a round, tapered spindle. The photo here is a "before & after." I managed to get better as I trudged through making 7 of these puppies, although a few are rather ugly. The other Day 1 activity was BENDING!! Taking normal strips of green oak and turning them into elegant, rounded shapes like the bow (upper arch) and the arm (middle section) on the model chair. Bending is pretty straightforward, but you have to have the right equipment, which means a steam box (pic #1) , a form (pic #2), and tools to keep you from burning the crap out of your hands and face. With a little help from the instructors, I managed to avoid harm and get my bends done right. I'm definitely going to build a steam box for home bending. As you can see from the photo, it's pretty low-tech, but the results are great.

Day 2 was all about shaping the seat. It starts as a flat, rectangular hunk of pine and eventually becomes a very comfortable place for your bottom to hang out. Now it takes a remarkable amount of work and MANY very cool tools to get you there, but it's all worth it. Here's a few shot of me adzing and scorping. I couldn't make up these tool names... By the end of the day, I had the makings of a seat, but my arms and shoulders were pretty sore.

Day 3 was my introduction to drilling holes the old fashioned way, with a bit brace and spoon bits. For a modern woodworker who uses a cordless drill about as often as I use a pen, I wasn't looking forward to this. However, this part held true with the other "traditional woodworking" lessons I'd been taught up to this point. Once you see what's inolved and actually do it, it's not so bad. In fact, it's relaxing not hearing any power tools in a shop. This whole experience has me re-thinking my shop, with more focus on hand tools and hand work. I'm not a purist, and there will always be power tools in my shop. However, there are some things that should be done manually. This class has given me far more confidence to do just that.

That drilling photo isn't a mistake. I was instructed to use either my forehead or chin to apply downward pressure on the brace. It looks (and feels) weird, but it works. The second photo was the end-point for Day 3. I now have a seat with 4 balanced chair legs installed. I have to wait 2 more weeks to finish my chair. Much more on those experiences later.

We're off and running...

Well, after months of prodding from my wife, I finally got off my keister and set up my own blog. This way, SHE can write all she wants about knitting (which will be ALOT), and I can share some of my own stuff. I've got much to catch up on so their will be plenty of posts in the near future. However, since I've still got my bloggin' training wheels on, no point in hurtin' myself right outta the gate...