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Very, VERY nice work! (I'm in process on one now!)
Is that the 8/4 or the 10/4 plans?
"The things I make may be for others, but how I make them is for me." -Tony Konovaloff
"Have nothing in your house which you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." - William Morris
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kompera said:
Very, VERY nice work! (I'm in process on one now!)
Is that the 8/4 or the 10/4 plans?
Most of the lumber in this chair was 9/4 but some might have been a little thicker. I was unaware that there were different plans, are there? Ken
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Beautiful chair. Does Hal teach a class or have DVDs or both? Did you do either?
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Another beautiful chair, Ken. For those who have never sat in one of these, it is VERY comfortable. The chair Ken had at the Lewiston Art Festival, and sold, was appreciated by several people in the brief time I was at his booth. Everyone commented in how comfortable it was.
Ken, how far did you sand before doing the grain raising step? Rob Millard once advised me to sand to at least 325 grit before grain raising, and since I've done that it's been almost a non issue. You are absolutely right about how dye adds not only color but a lot of depth to the grain that you can't get any other way. I've used it on walnut and everyone who sees one of those pieces comments about how fantastic the grain looks. So it's worth the trouble. You know, you can use Transtinit in pure DNA which will give you a lot less grain raising issues than water.
John
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Great chair Ken. One of these days when I have time I plan on building a sculpted rocker. The color came out really nice. It is pretty close to what natural old growth mahogany looks like. If you want to skip the dye step this is what most of the stuff I have looks like natural. You can darken it up a little with some glazing. If you find yourself down in my neck of the woods you will have to drop by and we can see if we can dig out enought for you another chair. 
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jussi said:
Beautiful chair. Does Hal teach a class or have DVDs or both? Did you do either?
I don't think that Hal teaches a class as such. He does advertise that he will work with you for 7 days for you to build your own chair. I think you pay the same price for that as he charges for a chair he builds. I think he takes one person at a time so you would have his complete attention. He has a 3 video set that shows him building a chair. He also has a 250+ page book with lots of pics describing the build. And last, he sells full scale paper patterns for you to make patterns in MDF or plywood of the legs, arms, transitions, etc as well as a plywood pattern for correct placement of the holes for the back supports in the seat. The sculpting of the chair is done freehand so there is still plenty of latitude for individualizing your chair. I have the videos, book and patterns. The video gives you an overall feel for the chair but the book and patterns are the most useful things he sells. Ken
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jteneyck said:
Another beautiful chair, Ken. For those who have never sat in one of these, it is VERY comfortable. The chair Ken had at the Lewiston Art Festival, and sold, was appreciated by several people in the brief time I was at his booth. Everyone commented in how comfortable it was.
Ken, how far did you sand before doing the grain raising step? Rob Millard once advised me to sand to at least 325 grit before grain raising, and since I've done that it's been almost a non issue. You are absolutely right about how dye adds not only color but a lot of depth to the grain that you can't get any other way. I've used it on walnut and everyone who sees one of those pieces comments about how fantastic the grain looks. So it's worth the trouble. You know, you can use Transtinit in pure DNA which will give you a lot less grain raising issues than water.
John
Thanks John. I sanded to 600 grit before raising the grain. I think one issue with these chairs is that there is a lot of end grain exposed in the joinery and every gradation between end grain and plain grain. After raising the grain, I sanded lightly with 600 grit but the finished chair is not as smooth as it was before raising the grain. The transtint dye I have did not give me the exact color I was looking for when I mixed it into a 50/50 mixture of denatured alcohol and lacqeur thinner. I was in too much of a hurry to order other colors and it is possible that there are transtint dyes that would be perfect. Ken
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Thanks, Dave. It has been awhile since I saw you. I hope you are enjoying your new shop even though getting a new shop up and running is a drag. I just pulled out some of the curly maple I got from you when I built the urn for my FIL's cremains. Ken
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Ken Vick said:
[blockquote]jteneyck said:
Another beautiful chair, Ken. For those who have never sat in one of these, it is VERY comfortable. The chair Ken had at the Lewiston Art Festival, and sold, was appreciated by several people in the brief time I was at his booth. Everyone commented in how comfortable it was.
Ken, how far did you sand before doing the grain raising step? Rob Millard once advised me to sand to at least 325 grit before grain raising, and since I've done that it's been almost a non issue. You are absolutely right about how dye adds not only color but a lot of depth to the grain that you can't get any other way. I've used it on walnut and everyone who sees one of those pieces comments about how fantastic the grain looks. So it's worth the trouble. You know, you can use Transtinit in pure DNA which will give you a lot less grain raising issues than water.
John
Thanks John. I sanded to 600 grit before raising the grain. I think one issue with these chairs is that there is a lot of end grain exposed in the joinery and every gradation between end grain and plain grain. After raising the grain, I sanded lightly with 600 grit but the finished chair is not as smooth as it was before raising the grain. The transtint dye I have did not give me the exact color I was looking for when I mixed it into a 50/50 mixture of denatured alcohol and lacqeur thinner. I was in too much of a hurry to order other colors and it is possible that there are transtint dyes that would be perfect. Ken
[/blockquote] Oh, my bad; I misunderstood your 50/50 mixture. I thought half of it was water but I see, now, that it was not. So that's a little strange why you had any grain raising, unless maybe your DNA sucked up some water if it wasn't a new can. I don't have much to offer as a solution other than to perhaps try raising the grain 2 or 3 times before applying the dye, or switching to an oil soluble dye. Or you could do as Dave D. suggested and buy a bunch of his gorgeous mahogany. Of course, I've got some red mulberry and black walnut drying for you two. Both a poor second to that mahogany, but if you make one from the red mulberry it might be the only rocker ever made from that wood. John
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Ken Vick said:
[blockquote]kompera said:
Very, VERY nice work! (I'm in process on one now!)
Is that the 8/4 or the 10/4 plans?
Most of the lumber in this chair was 9/4 but some might have been a little thicker. I was unaware that there were different plans, are there? Ken
[/blockquote] EDIT: Thinking of Charles Brock, carry on.
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