...and so it begins...

I'm wondering if I can squeeze one more into 2011. I've been wanting to take my first run at a chair for some time. A Safari chair might be the easiest place to start, basic frame, saddle leather for the seat & backrest. Pretty cool chairs but never seen one with decent lower back support, so perhaps there's room for improvement. Also got talking to a local artist who does some great work with leather...

So this all got me thinking. Using Stool #1 as the foundation, I've done a brutally rough mock-up, some full scale drawings, made a couple templates, and started laying out cuts on a couple slabs of Elm that have been sitting patiently in the shop. For the curved back legs I need to hit rift grain off the bat, so did some scouting around with the block plane, & it looks promising.

Here we go...

The Upgrade

from this:

to this:

Sometimes crossing one of those little things off the 'to do' list can feel like a giant leap forward. oh yeah - no sandpaper was used in building the sandpaper storage cabinet, hand planes only - the sandpaper is just for backup Robert. It's just for backup.

Table #3

It pained me to delve back into rustic. but I guess sometimes it's nice to keep the planks close to the tree without too much interference. I made this for a buddy who wanted something really rustic. although I gave it a little refinement & dressed it up with hand planed surfaces. also nice to work with slabs Dan & I harvested. 'Death Elm' for the table top & 'Shaughnessy Elm' for the legs.

Table #3 WIP

My little soldiers. My dad recently sent me the smoother & jointer. I stripped them down, tuned them up & they're both performers. There's a great article on FWW on flattening the sole, frog, chipbreaker, lever cap etc etc. The smoother is an old UK Stanley; proving to be an absolute gem. The 22" jointer, also made in England is a Record; wonderful to finally have a long plane in the regiment (especially for those workbench flattening sessions). According to some guy's website who's seriously into Record planes, I dated this big guy to 1931-1939 pre WW2! My dad reckons his 'Uncle Wolfie' gave it to him when he started his apprenticeship.

Cleaned up the slab top with the hand planes following the router. I left the bottom rough just wire brushed, hence the wedges. nice to see the chainsaw mark patina; a reminder of the blood sweat & tears milling & hauling & watching these things dry.

Geez I gotta build that F clamp rack.