String Inlay on Lolling Chair arm support?

[awleonard]

I'm considering bhilding a couple of lolling chairs.  One thing I have sen that I like is a bit of sring inlay on the legs and the front arm support.  As I pondered this, I started wondering if there is a trick to installing the inlay on a face that is concave?  Basically it appers that you have to bend the inlay around the wider section where you normally bend it the other way.  Any tips? 

Also, most of the designs I have seen have a 90° corner where the arm and the arm support meet.  I have seen a few that hae an arm that extends further than the support.  I like the idea of extending the arm for comfort.  No sharp corner to rest your arm on and no sharp corner when you use the arm to push up.  Just thinking out loud here really. 

I happened to see Norm build a chair on day as I was in between projects and my wife has been looking at adding a couple of chairs to the great room, so I thought this might be a good project.  I just happened to have a couple of really big pieces of 12/4 mahogany that I bought years ago when a wood dealer moved to a smaller home.  I've been saving it. 

Thanks and Happy Holidays to all,


Tony

[CBWW]

If you cut your string inlay 1/16 by 1/16 you should not have any problems.  I have done a few chairs where the front of the arm is inlayed and it curves around on the top or end of the horizontal arm section in a tight radius. 

Pete Aleksa
www.cherrybrookwoodworks.com

[awleonard]

Thanks Pete.  I'll probably do some practice work before I try it on my mahogany.  I have the DVD's that Steve Latta produced, so that will help. 

Glanced at your website and your work is beautiful!  Your lolling chair is really nice.  I bought my wife the DVD of Craft in America (PBS series) season 2 and they did a segment on Bennet Street.  I'd love to go through the program.  Part of the problem of being a weekend warrior is that we don't take the time to practice/focus on the fundamentals.  Too focused on "building something!" 

Thanks for the help.  I'm sure I'll have more questions if/when I start these chairs.

Tony

[frangallo]

Pete,
What did you finish the Sheraton table with?
F

[CBWW]

Ill use water based dyes and or alcohol based and the top coat is whatever the client wants, usually shellac or lacquer or something more durable(rarely) I do explain the pluses/minuses of each finish and let them choose.   

[Jeff L Headley]

Once you get your stringing to size rub it against a heated rounded surface to bend it. A pipe with a flame a small soldering iron. Works for me. Be careful not to burn yourself speaking from experience.

[albreed]

Tony- I don't think you'll be needing that 12/4 for the lolling chair- save it for some cabriole legs! I've got one on my website that I did for the Gardiner-Pingree house at the PEM in Salem-Al

[awleonard]

Yeah, I do hate to slice into that stash.  That was my original intent - to save it for leg stock.  I have a couple of pieces about 7" x 8' or so.  I have only used a small piece of it and it was nice wood.  Trouble is, it is really hard to find mahogany these days.  That found is usually outside my budget.  I may look at some mahogany substitutes.  There is one source around here that sometimes has thicker stock (here being Memphis, TN).  I'm not that concerned about the material being "correct."  Heck, I've seen poplar dressed up that would fool any non-woodworker type...and we have plenty of that around here!  Actually, now that I think about it, I built a settee many years ago and stained the show part of the poplar legs and they look pretty good.  Sorry if this kind of talk is sacrilege to many here! Of course staining would pose a problem if I decide to add the stringing.  Hmmmm...

Thanks for the inlay tips.  I've never done any, so I appreciate the advice.  I have seen several different methods of creating the groove.  Scratch stock, Steve Latta's tools at LN, etc.  May try the scratch stock or make a tool similar to Steve's and see what I like best. 

Thanks for the reference to your chair  Allan.  I like the treatment at the base of the arm support.  That is a little unique to others I have looked at.  How about comfort of these chairs?  We're spoiled these days with everything being overstuffed and super comfy.  Perhaps that is part of our obesity problem?  Don't want them too comfy (so that guests don't overtsay their welcome!), but I would like to be able to sit in one long enough for a good conversation or a good magazine read. 

Thanks,

Tony

[albreed]

Tony- They're pretty comfortable, although I usually don't get to sit in my chairs because they go to the uoholsterer's after me and then on to the owner..
I would make the chair out of birch and stain it to look like mah. That's what they did pretty often in the period and it's hard to tell. Birch has a very similar grain structure to mahogany and takes a  red-brown stain nicely. Poplar is, well, yucky. But that's my personal bias... . so you can ignore that.-Al

[awleonard]

Thanks.  We do have alot of birch around here too.  Haven't seen any lately, but I haven't been looking.  Actually, I started woodworking via a Woodworking 101 class at our local university and we used birch to build a small Shaker table.   The instructor had gotten a real good deal on 1000 bdft or so (it was a very big stack!). 

Anyway, thanks for the input and I'll be back to ask more if/when I get started.  I've built one settee of my own design and a side chair in a class, I am not quite a rookie at making chairs - meaning a few more before I'll move UP to rookie status.  The angles are a bit to digest.  We built a nice chair in the class, but we didn't learn HOW to make a chair.  My settee was simple and all the lines were vertical, so I just made a jig to cut the cheeks.  Nice thing about using birch or poplar is that I can afford to make mistakes!

Tony

[albreed]

Tony- The nice thing about a lolling chair is that the back from the seat up is a separate frame that's notched into the seat rails and scarfed to the rear legs, which just go about 10" or so above the seat. That way the primary wood is only used below the seat and the back is probably stronger for it.-Al

[CBWW]

The joint that Al talks about is shown on my website if you are interested.  Go to www.cherrybrookwoodworks.com  under "articles" click on Antiques and Fine Art magazine.  You can see how the Portsmouth Lolling chair goes together.   

[awleonard]

Actually, I had seen your chair page by searching Google I think.  Nice work!  I like the serpentine front.  makes it look less boxy. 

So, how did you cut the angled tenons for the side rails?  I have several ideas that would all work, but I' like to hear from a pro.  I made a jig for the TS when I made a settee that held the rail at the corect angle.  That worked ok as far as I can recall (that was many years ago).  Then I thought it might be easier to rough cut the cheeks on the tenon jig and then cut the shoulders by hand (scribe and then chisel them in). 

Tony

[CBWW]

awleonard-  I use the shaper to cut the majority of my tenons.   

[Jeff L Headley]

Use a mortiser and set your legs on an angled cradle. I haven't seen a cross grain  angled tennon on an original that I can think of other than those I have repaired and have forgotten. My brain isn't what it ever was and I guess it will not ever again be what it never was. Just something for someone else to think about!