Ash Rocker

Re: Ash Rocker

David Weaver

gorgeous chair, jack. has a real human look to it without giving up crispness.

Re: Ash Rocker

Bruce McCrory

Now you can watch TV, and have a chair to sit in for that purpose, too. It looks nice!

Re: Ash Rocker

Bruce, a MN Galoot

You do really nice work, Jack!

Re: Ash Rocker

Curt Putnam

Very Impressive! Did you custom size it to your own specs or is it generically sized?

Re: Ash Rocker

Jack Guzman from Maine

I went with the specs so perfectly laid out by Curtis. I won't attempt modifications until I get the process down pat. This is a complicated chair build.

Re: Ash Rocker

Hank Knight

Jack,

It looks to me like you have the process down pat. That's a lovely chair!

Hank

Re: Ash Rocker

Joe shelton

Terrific, Jack! You rack the spindles up like that for the kiln?

Re: Ash Rocker

Kevin Adams

Beautiful work, as always, Jack. We are so lucky to have someone so generous as Curtis to share his work, plans, and techniques with us. Have you decided on a color yet?

Kevin

Re: Ash Rocker

Jack Guzman from Maine

Yes. That rack is for bending the spindles. After steaming I bent them in the rack,then placed the rack in the kiln.

Re: Ash Rocker

Jack Guzman from Maine

Still thinking on how to finish.

Re: Ash Rocker and a question

Derek Cohen (in Perth, Australia)

Jack, I aspire to build chairs like you! Curtis' work is sublime, and you have done his design justice ... oh boy, have you ever!

I do have a question about the curved back. Everything is rived, which I expect, but there appears to be quite some run out at one end. Does this affect the strength at all? With the spindles flexing, does this impart extra tension to this area?

Regards from Perth

Derek (building Wharton Esherick-inspired stools at this time)

Re: Ash Rocker

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Curtis lives a short drive from me. If you ever come visit him stop by. He has given several club programs for us which are always well done and informative. He and Boggs are contemporaries that both excel in their chair trade but took greatly different paths, yet wound up in the same geographic area. Boggs makes tables now.

I find the back of the rocker especially attractive, but likely difficult to get right. Having numerous "identical" hand shaped complex forms side by side is a daunting challenge until one has made dozens. Your's look right to my eye, first try.

I would not have guessed it a Curtis design though. It is quite a departure from his roots. I have not talked with him in a couple of years, but at that time he said he was exploring other designs. He had a stunning Windsor on display that was a departure from classic, but not as great a departure as the rocker.

I grew up with "Boston Rockers" which have a simple scooped seat. With this background the seat ridge in your chair comes as a surprise. I am trying to formulate a question that gets at why the ridge- benefits, comfort, design element, universal fit, etc?

Another question. Cherry seems a surprising choice for the rocker. What led you to cherry here rather than more wear resistant ash, maple or white oak?

Cherish the ash. Apparently the ash borer has not got to you yet. Everywhere else the ash are extinct. It would be nice to not disguise it when the chair is finished. Soon people will forget what it looked like. Maybe paint the seat and leave the ash natural? It requires a non-yellowing finish.

Re: Ash Rocker and a question

Philip F Duffy

Well Done, "down Maine"!! Ash makes wonderful Windsor chairs of all styles. P.

Re: Ash Rocker

Jack Guzman from Maine

I used the cherry because I had a piece that was not needed elsewhere. I didn't want to wait for the ash. I rived some ash for rockers and have it drying in the kiln.If it doesn't warp too much it will replace the cherry for rockers.

Re: Ash Rocker and a question

Jack Guzman from Maine

Derek,I suspect you are referring to the crest in the second picture. I rived that piece from the green log following the grain. The grain is alot straighter than it appears in the picture. That crest is pretty thick and there is very little stress put on that part of the chair.

I count 40 joints!

Jim Matthews

How on Earth didja get all of those joints to line up and still have something so sharp?

Kudos

Re: I count 40 joints!

Jack Guzman from Maine

Assembly wasn't too bad except for one step. I glued the spindles into the seat,then glued the two posts to the crest. After putting glue in all the mortises and

on the tenons I inserted the posts into the chair. Getting all the spindles to line up and enter the proper mortises in the crest was a half hour nightmare. At one point I had to reglue all the mortises with fresh glue(liquid hide) but I finally got them all together. I had to do some serious hammering with a rubber mallet to get it all to seat. The glue had started to stiffen. Next one of these I am going to try to find a better way.

The solution for seizing joints

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

Both yellow and hide glue have low shear strength well past the cure where they have developed high impact strength. This property is a consequence of both glues being polymers. Steady pressure, like from a clamp or clamp like device, will move a joint that resists bashing.

A helper to apply glue also aids these multi-joint assemblies.

Re: The solution for seizing joints

TomD

I don't have much difficulty repeating shapes, but it can take a while to get them right in the first place. I made this side table adapted from a design in FWW. The leg is basically straight, and then it drops down a step, and is basically straight again. That kinda thing has to be really perfect to make you cry, or it just looks like a dowel. The first shot pleased me, but it could be improved. The next three were perfect. I could have gone back on the first, but it had been cut free from the support wood, so I just used it. Not proud of that decision, but unlike a chair it hides in the shadows under the table and against the sofa. I may have been influenced by the fact it was simple drawing table for my 2 year old. Though it was well enough made to work as a side table.

Come to think of it, maybe I should take after it with a spokeshave.

The advantage to the shape is it looked shaker enough to get by, but can be placed right up against a molding without holding the table out from the wall, so I copied it.

Re: The solution for seizing joints

Jack Guzman from Maine

I actually knew that it was easier to pull a joint together than pound it but in the hurry to get the joints together before it was too late the mallet was the first thing I thought of. I should have had a clamp handy but it never occurred to me I would have so much trouble lining everything up.

A clamp at hand is insurance

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

I glue entire case pieces together at one time. Sometimes dozens of joints. What makes this approach possible is a wife skilled at applying glue, and pre-adjusted clamps at the ready to be employed at the first sign of trouble, or in the end to snug that last fraction of an inch. On-lookers take note. Slidy joints can seize, or more likely not fully seat. Be prepared with a clamp should mallet bashing hint at failure.

The last piece I glued up was done under lower than typical humidity conditions. I narrowly avoided trouble from the glue drying faster than I was accustomed to.