Welsh Chair Build Along

[Scoony]

I have been wanting to build a Welsh Stick chair. To date, I have built a wWindsor comb-back, Maloof rocker, Moravian milk stools (4), Windsor stools (2).

I want to make a set for the kitchen table, and have decided on a hybrid Welsh chair and the staked chair from Anarchist Designs Book.  The legs are Welsh style and I am shaving the spindles rather then making them hexagonal. I will most likely add in cross members for the under carriage. I have maple blanks prepared adn will turn them before making the final decision.  In pictures I have seen, looks like the cross members go through the legs. 

Any thoughts on through tenons  on legs for chairs?

For this chair, I decided to go with straight tenons rather then tapering them.  

The back rest is from a piece that I rived for a comb-back. I only needed to shorten it a bit. It is tapered in cross section which I feel will be a nice detail. 

Also have to thank KW Adams for the help he has provided and the help that this forum has provided over the years.

The compas plane is home made and works better then any other tool for hogging out waste. Like a scrub plane for scooping out wood. 

[kwadams]

Looking great, John, thanks for showing the progress.

I have used through tenons (wedged) for the stretchers and besides the cool factor, I'm not sure it was worth the effort to get it right. In fact, I seemed to recall that it may actually be less desireble from a stretcher compression standpoint, but I am tired tonight so may not be thinking right! You can also argue that stretchers aren't even necessary for a Welsh stick chair. And I've seen pics of John Brown chairs with through tenons (and NO stretchers at all)...so I think it's all good with this style of chair...go for it!!

Is that a 2-piece seat, not sure from the pics? Looks nice. And great compass plane! I actually sold mine and go straight to the travisher after the inshave work, although I did enjoy using that plane (it was a Crown plane). What adze do you use? I have used a Kestrel adze for years and recently switched to the Pete Galbert designed version built by Tim Manney.

Please show continued progress and finished chair. Are you planning to paint it?

Take care,
Kevin

[Scoony]

The seat is three pieces glued up poplar.  The maple I got last year from a local saw mill as fresh cut green 8/4 maple. It was beautifully straight grained and is a dream to work with. Hope I can get them to cut me some more like it. 

That adze was one I got on ebay from a maker that forges them from hammer heads. I have tired using it on several seats and tried it again tonight, but not sure that I really like using it. I think a wider cutter head would be much better. This would be better suited for bowls.  For some reason, the scorp was acting funny with the poplar grain and I was getting weird tear out. I am going to have to spend some time sharpening these tools up before doing the final shaping.

I do plan on painting, but not sure of color yet.

[Ken P]

Would you mind sharing some details on the compass plane?  Such as the radius of the bottom lengthwise, and does it have a radius side to side. And does the blade have a radius?  Length and width?  Thanks for sharing your build.

Ken

[Scoony]

Here are some more shots of the compass plane. Nothing fancy. I even think that I never heat treated the iron. I shaped the radius, ground the bevel, sharpened and put it to use. Actually holds a good edge. The plane is 6" long and the iron is 1 3/4" wide. For the radius, I am not really sure. I just took it to the belt/disk sander and really don't remember exactly how I did it. The mouth was too big, so I had to add in a piece of maple to close it up.  

It ain't pretty, but it works like a scrub plane taking nice thick fritto-chip shavings to hollow out a seat. I may remake this with some beech I have on hand and actually heat treat the blade someday. 

[Scoony]

I got the chair legged up and leveled off.  I did not have any prepared hide glue on hand and instead of cooking up a batch, I used extended open time Titebond which seemed to work just fine. All Tenons are through and wedged.  

I have a steam box, but will probably use the turkey pan method since the back rest is small and I will not have to drag everything out of the shed. 

The scrap seat cut-off came in handy as a gauge for the tenons after I bore a few holes in it. 

[AgGEM]

I am enjoying this build.
Keep 'em coming!
Ag

[kwadams]

That inshave is a different shape than mine (I have Barr's version), so a sharpening may help. Although poplar can be weird to work sometimes, esp when you consider how plain it is. I find it just gets fuzzy at times no matter how sharp my tools. I traded some tools for some great 2" elm (3 piece glue ups) and also picked up some wide butternut a while back that makes a beautiful seat (oiled).

Thanks again for sharing.

Kevin

[Scoony]

Steam bent the crest using the turkey pan method. Worked the charm, and was super easy. I used a aluminum steam pan and will be able to reuse it a few times.

I should have thought out the clamping method as I will have to let this sit for a few days to ensure it sets up. I will not be able to use that end of the bench while I wait.  It will give me time to work on some bourbon barrel bars that are in progress.

Notice the cross section of the crest. This was a piece that I had shaped for a crest for a windsor comb back. I think the wedge shape will be a nice detail over a squared crest. 

[kwadams]

Looking good, Scoony, can't wait to see those back spindles in place with the crest. Do you use brace and bit for spindle holes or a cordless drill? What about for the undercarriage stretchers?

Thanks again.
Kevin