Morris Chair Update

[durango dude]

I picked plans -
Am blending the New Yankee Morris chair (bought plans) with the Fine Woodworking chair.

I'm going with straight arms - but might go with a bow back.

Also took my rough sawn oak to a friend that has a monster Crescent/Rockwell planer ----- Half hour later, everything is planed and sanded. Man - gotta love the smell of freshly planed oak!

Now need to start cutting and gluing the wood for the chair legs (only part that requires doubling up).

Also taking a few board feet to a second shop for re-sawing (the bow backs are re-sawed, then bent, then glued).

[chopnhack]

Cool, now the work begins!

[Black wallnut]

Need pics!

[BigguyZ]

Very cool, but I agree- we want pics!

A morris chais is one of the first projects I want to do once I finish getting my shop in order.

[durango dude]

Lol!

Blessed is he who believes without seeing.

Patience, guys --- all I've done is buy wood, had the rough cut oak milled, and pick a plan.

Here's the GOAL

[chopnhack]

oh boy, does that look comfy!!! Are you using quarter sawn oak? The chair in the picture is showing a lot of rays flecks...

[durango dude]

The Morris chair is wall-to-wall mortise and tenon joints. Figured I should try my hand on this using scrap wood.

Spent the evening practicing on scrap poplar and pine.

I abandoned the pine fairly quick (making 1/4" tenons with 3/4 inch wood, pine it blew out easily - and tore out, too). The poplar is much easier to work with. Am guessing the Oak will be even better.

Observations ----

Making tenons
Jointer --- bad idea for tenons. Tear out and safety issues. (need to remove the blade guard).

Combination band saw and table saw method --- much better!
I ordered a new 1/2" 4TPI Skip tooth blade (Olson). The band saw cuts should get better. Meanwhile, figured how to compensate for the pull/drift my current blade has.

In a nutshell - use the band saw to cut the initial cuts for the tenon - and use the BT to finish the cuts off (cross cut).

Safety note - don't use rip fence when cross-cutting the tenons. Your saw will turn the waste into projectiles. Although they're small - they can really fly fast. You can use a stop block on your miter for small lengths. That would be the preferred way to saw off your tenons quickly and consistently.

For cleaning up tenons -
Block plane --- not very good for cleaning up tenons.
Shoulder Plane (borrowed old Stanley #92 from friend) --- man I'm hooked.
Anyone here want to lend me a Lie Neilsen Rabbet Block Plane?

Making Mortises
Router ---- right now, I only have a straight bit (as compared to spiral). My router is fixed base. Have tried a couple of mortises with this setup -- just does not work very well. It's hard to cut a clean mortise when you work blind. A jig might make things better.

Chisels ---- I have a basic Wood River Chisel Set (plastic handle - came out just before Christmas). They are okay for cleaning a mortise - but they're slow if you do the entire mortise with them. I think a different set of chisels would work better.

Forstner Bit approach ----- best results, so far. Some tear out - but suspect there would be less with oak. Thanks Charles Neil!

I cut 12 different mortise and tenon pairs. (a few repeats to fix seriously messed up attempts) Practice doesn't make perfect - but it certainly improves things. I'm fairly comfortable with the process. Key to success with the chair will be careful layout.

I've been cutting through tenons. Will try a dozen stubby tenons this weekend.

[gsmittle]

Making tenons
Jointer --- bad idea for tenons. Tear out and safety issues. (need to remove the blade guard).

Yep. You might have better results with oak, but why risk it?

Safety note - [snip] You can use a stop block on your miter for small lengths. That would be the preferred way to saw off your tenons quickly and consistently.

You could also use a stop block on your rip fence. Just make sure the end is a couple of inches toward the blade from the fence and positioned well before the blade. Butt the wood up to the block, then crosscut. Nahm used this method all the time.

Making Mortises
Router ---- right now, I only have a straight bit (as compared to spiral). My router is fixed base. Have tried a couple of mortises with this setup -- just does not work very well. It's hard to cut a clean mortise when you work blind. A jig might make things better.

Definitely need a jig and a spiral upcut bit. Check NYW or the mags for several different jig examples.

Chisels ---- I have a basic Wood River Chisel Set (plastic handle - came out just before Christmas). They are okay for cleaning a mortise - but they're slow if you do the entire mortise with them. I think a different set of chisels would work better.

Bench chisels aren't made for chopping mortises. Just make sure they're as sharp as you can get them and don't try to chisel off too much of the mortise wall at a time. I find hand pressure works if the slice is thin enough, and you'd be surprised how quickly you can clean up a mortise.

Forstner Bit approach ----- best results, so far. Some tear out - but suspect there would be less with oak. Thanks Charles Neil!

What about trying loose tenons? Of course, then you have twice as many mortises to do. HTH

g.

[durango dude]

Great weekend.......

My project plans call for 2.25 x 2.25 inch legs --- so I cut 8 lengths of 1.125 for laminating. Was totally psyched when I lined the 8 lengths up on my layout table ---- they matched! (could not have even scored 2 matches with my old blade)

When I went to HD to pick up wood glue (Titebond III if it matters to you) --- I found a Diablo 1/4" spiral upcut bit in the "clearance" end cap (I always check the end caps!) Grabbed the bit and experimented with it some for mortises. The spiral bit cuts considerably better than my straight bit. It can handle deeper cuts quicker. Conclusion - a spiral bit can cut a cleaner mortise than a drill-based forstner bit. Question is ---- are my hands steady enough?

NIce thing about the Forstner bit is that it's on a drill press with a fence. If I put a bushing on the router - I can't really see what I'm doing. Here's what I'm thinking --- rough cut the mortises with the drill press -- finish them with the router sans a bushing.

Tell me what you think -----

Thinking I might make a mortise jig out of some 2x4 lengths --- something that confines the router. My mortises will be 5/8". My bit is 1/4" (2/8"). So the jig would be 3/8" wider than the base of the router plate. I think I'd also cut 2x2 pass-through sections into the 2x4s ----- so the only thing I'd need to worry about is the height of the cut.

[durango dude]

Mortise jig is done!

My router base is 7" round.

I have a 1/4" bit - and I want a 1/2" mortise.

That means that my bit needs to move 1/4" inch.

I took a piece of 1x4 ---- and created 2 pieces that were 7.25" wide.

The legs on my furniture are 2.25" x 2.25" --- so I cut a 2.25" square into the middle of each 1x4.

The 1x4s are the ends of my jig ---- they're designed to straddle the legs of my furniture. They're the most important part of the jig.

I fastened 1 foot lengths of 3/4" MDF to both sides of the 1x4 ends --- and voila --- I have a routing jig.

Nothing fancy --- just something that is a little more steady than my hands.

Will glue up the legs (laminated wood) tonight - then will try out the jig - most likely next weekend.

I don't have a lot to take photos of, yet ---- but am really enjoying this work.

[gsmittle]

Are you using a guide bushing with your jig? One of Bill Hylton's books describes how to figure the offset for the bushing and bit. I don't do math very well at all, so I get #2 son (the nerdy one) to figure it out for me.

As long as the piece is in the right place, you don't have to see what you're doing.

g.

[durango dude]

I'm pretty good with math - although only half as good at geometry!

My router base plate is flat (no bushing).

I'm controlling the cut by controlling the travel of the base, rather than travel of a bushing. That might not be as precise as a commercial mortising jig --- guess we'll see!

[durango dude]

weekend update ----

glued up laminated legs and cut them all down to size.
(figured out how to use stops to make all the cuts equal)

Then cut the four side rails and front stretcher.

Hardest part --- getting the four side rails exactly the same length - and spot-on straight (easier said than done).

I cut one side a tad bit (1/16") too short - so reduced all the other sides to match the shortest one. Try to cut 1/16" off your wood! (with a 1/8" kerf).

I could have compensated for the differences by changing the tenon depth - but opted to line everything up.

Arts/Crafts design looks deceptively simple ---- but with all those straight lines - you've got to get everything spot-on ---- or you start to see gaps and shadows.

Took a few pics --- will post them when I find my mini USB cable.

[durango dude]

PROGRESS!!!!

Man - it feels great when you put stuff together, and everything fits!!!!

From the side:



From the top (can you find my mistake - and tell me how I worked around it?)
Hint - it was a measuring mistake.


From the side, again - but close up

[BadeMillsap]

Looks great! I never look for mistakes in other people's work... I generally don't have to "look" for them in mine, they shout at me!

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