1. Introduction
An overview and goals of the Side Chair Build series | Read more…
2. Logs and Lumber
Evaluate a log’s suitability for chair wood | Mill a log for the best grain orientation for each chair part | Mill for the most efficient use of each board | Read more…
3. Milling Blank Parts, Part 1 — Rear Legs
Choosing a rift sawn board for the rear legs | Layout the rear leg blanks | Mill the rear leg blanks | Read more…
4. Milling Blank Parts, Part 2 — Slats, Front Legs, and Rungs
Choosing a quarter sawn board for slats | Layout and mill a slat blank | Layout and mill the front leg and rung blanks | Read more…
5. Preparing the Rear Legs for Bending
Understanding ideal grain orientation for the rear leg blanks | Transforming a rough milled rear leg blank to a final blank ready for steam bending | Read more…
6. Steam Bending, Part 1 — A Simple Steam Bending Set-up
Steam generation | Steam box | Rear leg bending form | Sources for steam bending supplies | Read more…
7. Steam Bending, Part 2 — Bending the Rear Legs
Using the steamers | Steam time | Moisture content for steam bent parts | Why use a bending strap | Bend the rear legs | Dry the rear legs | Read more…
8. Prepare Slats for Steam Bending
Transform a rough, quarter sawn slat blank into individual slat blanks ready for steam bending | Read more…
9. Bending the Slats
Dimensions for the slat bending form and slat drying form | Bend the slats | Dry the slats | Source of supply for the slat bending strap | Read more…
10. Post Bend Shaping — Rear Legs, Part 1
Evaluating each leg for flatness | Joint on side flat | Thickness the legs to final dimension | Trimming the curved rear legs to length | Read more…
11. Post Bend Shaping — Rear Legs, Part 2
Final milling steps prior to slat mortising | Relief cut | Taper | Read more…
12. Chair Design, Part 1
Two views of the side chair | Read more…
13. Slat Mortising, Part 1 — Layout
Issues in laying out the slat mortises | Improved method of laying out the slat mortises | Read more…
14. Slat Mortising, Part 2 — Building a Slat Mortising Jig
Layout the template | Build the slat mortising jig | Read more…
15. Slat Mortising, Part 3 — Cutting Slat Mortises
Align the leg in the slat mortising jig | Cut the slat mortises with a router | Read more…
16. Fitting Slats, Part 1 — Build a Holding and Measuring Jig
Get the holding jig measurements and angles from known dimensions of the rear legs and rungs | Build the holding jig | Build the measuring jig | Read more…
17. Fitting Slats, Part 2 — Layout the Slat Profiles
How to use the holding and measuring jigs | Transfer dimensions from the measuring jig to the slat blank | Layout the slat profile | Saw out the finished slat blank | Read more…
18. Fitting Slats, Part 3 — Fitting the Slat Tenons
Precise hand-fitting of a slat tenon to it’s mortise | Read more…
19. Fitting Slats, Part 4 — Dry Fit the Rear Panel Assembly
Fit each slat tenon to it’s mortise | Evaluate the relationship of the components of the rear panel assembly | Adjust slats for a perfect rear panel | Dry fit the rear panel assembly | Read more…
20. Hand Shaping, Part 1: Tools
Drawknives, spokeshaves, card scrapers, and the shaving horse | Read more…
21. Hand Shaping, Part 2: Front Legs
Shape the front legs using a drawknife, spokeshave and scraper | Read more…
22. Hand Shaping, Part 3: Rear Legs
Shape the rear legs using a drawknife, spokeshave and scraper | Read more…
23. Hand Shaping, Part 4: Slats
Final shaping of the slats using a round bottom spokeshave | Read more…
24. Turning, Part 1
Tools and custom accessories used for turning rungs | Read more…
25. Turning, Part 2
Milling rung stock and turning rungs | Read more…
26. A Good joint
Five steps to making a joint that will stand up to the stresses of everyday use | Read more…
27. Rung Mortising Part 1: Front rungs in the front legs
Use rise and rung to determine drilling angles, build a drilling jig, and drill the front rung mortises | Read more…
28. Rung mortising part 2: rear rungs in the rear legs
Determine drilling angles, modify the drilling jig, adjust the position of the rear legs in the jig to account for their rotation in the chair, and drill the rear rung mortises | Read more…