A new cushion for the Easy Rider Low back

The big puffy seat cushion was donated to the high back Easy Rider, so I had a low profile cushion made for the low back. It's all about proportion.

I also took the opportunity to make a super thin backrest cushion just to see. A shame to cover up all that goodness, but it sure is comfy.

Chair #4 - Easy Rider Version 1

It's time to devote some time to sitting. Please be patient as I sip on a couple whiskey's in the name of product testing. The Easy Rider certainly has some pleasing lines, but I'm going to need to tweak a few things before it can provide perfectly smooth long distance cruising. I got greedy and made the seat cushion too thick for starters, and the seat probably needs to be lowered in general. I've heard that seat height is one of the most important parts of a chairs geometry, so should have devoted more time to it during planning. With a bit of luck I'll be able to make some decisions and get version 2 into production before too long. Unless the Rocker rears it's head again...

Bringing it home.

Back in the shop after recovering from a severe mountain biking relapse. This time I ended up in Moab, UT, a place infamous for fueling the addiction.

Once I got my head straightened out, I plunged into the many glue ups and seat frame. I thought I'd take a run at stretching the Jute webbing myself, might be a skill that comes in handy. I made up a crude webbing stretcher tool, that my neighbor remarked looks more like a 'wife correcting' tool, but it served it's purpose. The chair has been handed over to the upholsterer who will install some fabric over the webbing and also make up the seat cushion.

And of course the the router place came in handy for cleaning up the stopped rabbets after roughing them out on the router table.

Time for a little shop time

Legs and arms are glued-up and final shaped, sanded and pre-finished. As are the rest of the parts, except waiting on the sub-assembly glue-ups to kick off. Thought I'd turn my attention to the seat frame for the upholstery webbing. Here it is getting roughed out. Throwing in a little more walnut to balance the walnut pinstripes in the crest rail.

Some Spindles

After making patterns and a couple mockups, adjusting patterns, it was time to get cranking.

Further Sitting by the Mortiser

It did occur to me that I could also get a mortising gimp. Each gimp with their own dedicated task. but that's taking it too far. I can easily cut the mortises myself. In fact I have become one with the mortiser during project Easy Rider, really enjoyed firing these in, and the machine has been purring like a kitten.

And here's how the rails dry fit into position between the front & back stretcher, these bad boys will receive some kind of shaping treatment of course. Glueing up will be another matter, but very happy with the fit. Best day in the shop ever. I had to stage a small celebration.

Get the Gimp

Can't say how much time passed sitting, staring at the chair dry fit in this position, before the epiphany struck me. I was contemplating the seemingly impossible strategy for putting in two rails between the front & back stretchers. Never before had something so difficult been attempted in the history of bunkhaus. All kinds of angled joinery...on both ends... That's when it hit me. I needed a dedicated angle-finding gimp. A gimp with a predisposition for detailed work, that I could bring out when this type of situation arose. If only my shop had a basement...

In the meantime, all this thinking about gimps prompted my second epiphany; the bevel I had made on the top of the front stretcher would make the perfect starting point, a solid foundation upon which to build. Yes, this is how the angle-finding gimp would do it. To find the compound angle for the curved rear, first the horizontal angle, using the highly technical method of drawing a line on my bench:

Then the vertical angle, using the equally technical method of clamping the stock to the foundation, the bevel on the front rail. The angle on the front of the rail would be the foundation bevel angle, of course.

Then it was a matter of precisely cutting the test piece to length. I started by cutting the rear compound angle on a test piece, and making the front angled cut on a trial & error basis, using crazy glue to stick small pieces of wood back on to the test piece whenever I got too greedy.

Cut the rear on the live stock and transfer the length from the test piece, being careful to use consistent corners of measurement.

Sides, Back and Front

Time to start blending the legs into the armrests. Shaped the leg interface closer to the arm before glueing up the two chair sides. Then onto the front and back stretchers. Some shots of the back stretcher, concave side on the bandsaw first as usual.

And layout and drilling of the spindle mortises. Yes, the Easy Rider will need some sexy spindles, 7 to be precise. Dividers are the way to go for spindle mortise layout. This is one of my dad's old dividers that I always enjoy using.

Lamination

The crest rail takes shape. Once I've sliced the laminations, I like to hand plane each face before they go into the form, to give that seamless look. Started running out of Western Maple, hard to believe, so threw in some Walnut pin stripes, that's just the way we roll with the Easy Rider. I kept ripping this thing down, got carried away in heat of the moment and probably went a bit too far, but we'll run with it and find out. Also my first venture into cross cutting curved pieces to length on the table saw, but it turned out to be reasonably straight forward with a spacer and some judicious lining up to layout.