I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in....

There are 64 countersunk screws in each chair, and every single one of them will need to be plugged. It's a long job, but somebody's got to do it. It's the price I pay, the investment I make, to ensure my chairs are weather-tight. I start by cutting my own oak plugs on the drill press. A little dab of glue on each plug and we fill the hole. Once the glue is dry it's a matter of cutting away the excess plug and paring it flush to the surface with a sharp chisel. Now we're ready for final sanding and a coat of primer. We'll apply two coats of Ben Moore's finest exterior acrylic over the weekend. Then Kay and Jim's chairs will be ready for delivery. Just in time for early spring lounging.

Final Assembly

It's always a good feeling when the pieces all fit! The seat planks require some minor adjustment. Then all will be screwed down tight, countersunk and plugged. The plugs will be cut flush and sanded. Then it will be off to the paint room for a coat of primer and two coats of Ben Moore's high quality exterior acrylic. By then we will have worked up quite a thirst. I can't wait to sit back in our completed Weekender Chair and enjoy the first lemonade of the year.

Island

There's nothing like some "fresh art" to lift your spirits. This is a painting Jordan did on a 36" by 24" piece of hardboard. It's called "Island". Jordan is my alter ego. He puts my left over chair paint to good use. Trouble is he's always getting under foot. I'm trying to get these chairs built but he keeps hogging my shop with his "fresh art".

Making Chair Parts

The last couple of days I have been making chair parts. I sort through my milled oak looking for appropriate sizes to fashion the chair's foundation: legs, arms and braces. The parts are cut using a combination of freehand band saw work and miter saw. The miter saw helps me to cut the many precise angles called for in the design. Once the parts are cut and sanded, I "dry fit" the pieces to make sure everything lines up. So far luck is on my side. We have tight fitting joints all around. Tomorrow we head into the assembly phase.

Milling

Once I've determined how much lumber I'll be needing, I cut the 8' long boards to approximate length and head to the Jointer. This is where the milling operation starts. Our goal is to get our rough oak boards flat, square and uniform in thickness. The Jointer will yield stock that is flat on one face and one edge, and those sides come together at a perfect 90 degree angle. I then run the jointed boards through the planer flat face down. This will give me boards with two flat faces parallel to one another and square to the jointed edge. I will then rip these boards to finished width and clean up the edge on the jointer. Now that I have my oak flat and square, we're ready to make chair parts!

Watch Me Build!

We started a new project last weekend. Two custom chairs for Kay and Jim. I've had many folks ask me about the whole process, so I thought it would be fun to blog as I build. You can come along if you'd like. Kay and Jim wanted me to replicate a set of their favorite Adirondacks. The originals, built by a local carpenter had provided years of service but had started to breakdown.

Inevitably water finds it's way into screw holes and the wood starts to rot. I hope to rectify the problem with improved joinery techniques and by using a fine water-tight hardwood: white oak. The process begins with a plan. I took measurements of all the chair components and recorded the back angle and seat slope. Then it was off to my wood pile to select and mill our boards.

For this project I will be using 5/4 stock, rough sawn and will mill it to a thickness of 1" for the frame components. I have also have 4/4 stock to be milled to 3/4" for the seat and back slats.