My first solo Windsor chair... er, stool...

Fantastic!

Steve Kubien

>Nice work Scott. I especially like the foot rest. A couple of questions...

How did you shape the seat? Adze? Inshave? Travisher? All or combination oof the above?

Do the legs feature tapered tenons or straight? If tapered, did you do that on the lathe or with shaves, and how did taper the mortises?

Which brand of milk paint did you use and where did you get it?

Ok, more than a couple of questions. Man, I gotta get that seat blank glued up and get going on my Welsh stick chair. I think your post is the kick in the a** I needed. Thanks for posting.

Steve Kubien

Re: My first solo Windsor chair... er, stool...

Tom in Tipp

>That should be a great addition to your shop. Nice job on this project.

Tom

VERY nice!

Bob Hackett(Mainely,Bob)

>Only one thing wrong with that stool.

How are you gonna keep up with requests for more after visitors see it?

I especially like the turnings and the finish,so much nicer to have layered color and still show the grain because of the ash.

MB

Re: My first solo Windsor chair... er, stool...

Jim Shaver - Oakville, Ontario

>Hi Scott,

This is a marvelous stool, wonderful work indeed!!

Take care,

Jim

I like it!

Joe Rogers, Northern Virginia

>

Sweeeeet.....

Vic Parisian

>

Very nice

Jim in Burlington On

>

Re: Fantastic!

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>Thanks, Steve.

How did you shape the seat? Adze? Inshave? Travisher? All or combination oof the above?

All of the above. Adzed with the seat in the leg vise, followed by scorp and my travisher (first run-through with it - worked great!), followed by scrapers and a little sanding.

Do the legs feature tapered tenons or straight? If tapered, did you do that on the lathe or with shaves, and how did you taper the mortises?

The leg tenons are tapered, formed on the lathe. I dried them in hot sand for about 8-10 hours, then touched them up on the lathe again. The mortises were tapered with one of those Dunbar "smart reamers" on loan from Greg Betit. I'll be making a tapered rounder soon, though. Seems like it'd be much quicker/easier/more accurate to dry the tenons then tweak them with a rounder.

Which brand of milk paint did you use and where did you get it?

I used Real Milk Paint, bought direct from the guy in Quakertown. I like the Old Fashioned company's Barn Red, but I like the rest of the colors from Real Milk Paint. I really wanted to use the turquoise on this, too.

Scott

small critique

Dean Lapinel

>First...I love the chair! Nice balance end inviting.

While the photo may be the culprit there appears to be some irregularity in the contour of the seat. If the rest of the chair didn't have such a refined look this wouldn't matter.

If you make another, try using the small luthier ibex planes (with toothed blades) to help shape those gradual curves then scrape smooth. I think you will like that look.

Beautiful!!!!!

Skip in Falls Church

>

Dunbar's smart reamer?

Steve Kubien

>Can you elaborate on what this "smart reamer" is? Intel processor inside? Little picture of Einstein etched on the outside? Seriously, is this a production tool or something you make up yourself?

As far as tapering the tenons, keep your eyes peeled for the 9/16" and 5/8" dowel formers/tenon formers from Lee Valley. They are the same as their other dowel makers (see link below) and they match the taper of their soon-to-be reamer.

Robin, was I allowed to say that?

Regards,

Steve Kubien

Very nice Scott!

Scott Burr in Ben Lomond CA

>Turned out real good Scott! I like the color too. Looks like a comfy seat for long shaving sessions.

Now, where's mine? Ya know the one in curly maple...;^)

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer? *LINK*

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>No, not my design. Comes with a 9/16" pilot on the end. Drill a 9/16" hole, and the reamer feeds into it. Still need to make adjustments, though.

Good news about the LV tools. Wish I knew a time frame... ;^)


Scroll down to see da "Smart" reamer

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

ThomD

>"Reaming is a high skill job and the tool can go out of control. Not any more"

Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,

Stop the pain!!

They only sell that to the folks who have gone to the course. Very thoughtful of them. I wouldn't use one for all the tea in China. The great thing about Fred's reamers is they are steerable, this just looks like gimmick.

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

ThomD

>"Robin, was I allowed to say that?"

Not from what you told me :0)

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>The good thing is that the pilot is removable. I used it for a while, then removed it. Didn't really notice a difference.

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>BTW, as far as I can tell, this is patterned after the Emhoff reamer, just with the screw-in pilot added. Marketing, baby.

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

ThomD

>Exactly, and I suppose before I get all sweaty about the outrage, it isn't a bad thing to have a pilot bearing for those occasions when you don't want to steer it. I was just gasping because the whole beauty of that tool is that you can correct angles and don't have to be perfect, as I'm sure you know. But if you had already drilled the hole perfectly having a reamer that just tagged along would be a fine thing.

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

dave caudill

>I agree with your comment Tom. We always talk about the skills involved in woodworking and using hand tools. Yet often the conversations go to the no mistake, never sharpen, foolproof, self centering, never miss, etc, etc. Sorry but as the saying goes if it gets to be that easy everyone will be doing it.

Thank goodness there are some things that they haven't taken the fun out of.

I too have been to the Windsor Institute and had a great time and would recommend it. However they are defintitely trying to appeal to a larger crowd, i.e. Windosor Chairs for Dummies. I applaud Mike and his crew for making it available and trying to get more folks into the sport but at what cost to the craft. They are a marketing machine and do it well and chairmaking there has changed to allow for this.

Dave

Re: Dunbar's smart reamer?

ThomD

>I have all his books, or at least four of them I think. Not against what they are doing. Fred's reamer is already pretty much for dumies. Since you have had the experience, Dave, have they dumbed down the result, or just the tools?

Actually I am reminded of some interview I read where he was describing why they don't do some reasonably simple technique, and he had a gruesome story about how some persons nearly flayed themselves. Who knows, maybe there is some way to wreck yourself with a hand reamer. Poeple are creative.

At what cost to the craft?

Greg B�tit, Crown Point

>I don't think that a staff of professional woodworkers who are constantly looking for easier ways of making chairs is costing the craft too much. Keep in mind that no one really knows how they did it 200 years ago. As if 200 years ago there was one way of doing it! The craft is alive and thriving due to the Windsor Institute, and also due to the fact that there is a cadre of active WI taught chair makers out there, both profession and amateur. Consider what the Windsor Institute has to offer, and take from there what you find useful. If you find a better way, use it. Please don't forget to share it with the rest of us!

Greg

Thanks, everyone!

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>

Which Ibex planes?

Scott in Douglassville, PA

>Hi, Dean -

I appreciate your input. I agree with you - there's some roughness in the seat that I'd like to work out of subsequent chairs. Question on the Ibex plane, though - which size are you talking about? Seems the little ones wouldn't be practical. I like the idea of a compass-type toothing plane before scraping, though.

Scott

I was creative...once

Steve Kubien

>I managed to get a reamer caught somewhere it wasn't meant to be. Not fun. But, the Dr. gave me some cream and that cleared it right up. Now I've learned to stay away from those sorts of establishments.

Steve Kubien - oh where is my coffee cup?