Tuesday, June 7, 2016

2nd Annual June Chair Build Progress - Day Seven

It appears the first week of the internationally renowned June Chair Build is done. Here is the progress that I know of so far.

First, mine:
Nice zebrano chair blanks. I must be crazy.
To get ready for this build, I had to glue up a couple of chair blanks. So far I haven't done anything else, other than bring up a nice 8/4 walnut board I forgot I had for the rest of the chair parts.

There are a couple issues that might actually prevent me from finishing these chairs this month, though. One is a personal issue that I'll be ready to share soon. Nothing bad, in fact, something very, very good! The other reason is The Frau thinks about the last piece of furniture we need right now is another weird chair or two. She is insistent that I build a little console table out of the remainder of the zebrano before I do anything else. Maybe I can slap together that table at the same time as building these chairs.

All part of the fun and the challenge of the June Chair Build!

I plan to make a couple of side chairs, one of which actually might become an arm chair. I really don't want to do too much planning, I'll let the wood guide me similar to how last year's build went. Only, I have a better idea of what to do with leg splay this time.

Jeremy seems to be going at this build with gusto! Here is a still shot from a video he had on Instagram.
Jeremy's model.
He was looking for some feedback on his design. Instagram is great for requests like this, there are some real thoughtful opinions that were posted. We'll have to see if he listens. :o)

Next up, Aymeric is building his version of this Erich Dieckmann chair:
Aymeric learned Sketchup just for this project!
It will be fun to watch him build this chair! He has some nice 8/4 walnut he is processing by hand. I bet that will be the most work of the whole project!

And last, I got a note from Ray yesterday along with a photo:

Brian,
I have made the trek to my favorite lumber mill in Indiana in search of the perfect material for my build. I found it!  It's half way back and 3/4 of the way from the top of the stack in the photo.

A fine piece of rift sawn 6/4 hard maple 12' long. My chair is going to be a huge departure from what I normally do. It is a chair I have been wanting to make for quite awhile.

I will send more when I have it. Hope all is well with you and your family.

Cheers,
Ray
Ray's stick is in there somewhere.
Keep up the good work, guys! June 31st will be here before you know it!

Send me a photo of your June Chair, or post it on Instagram with the hashtag, #junechairbuild and I will share it on this blog.

13 comments:

  1. Are there size requirements for the June chair build? Because I technically have already made a chair...

    I'm taking to heart a few of the comments, and hope to have hex chair markII ready tonight, not sure I'm going crazy splayed in the front, might try to remove the Mickey Mouse ears, but if the idea I have isn't any better, I 'll keep them as a "hidden Mickey" (My house loves Disney) though might scale them back a bit.

    I'm still trying to resolve my glued & charred dilema, because I don't have a 18+" wide seat blank, and really want to burn this thing, I guess if I can't then I will have to milk paint, but part of the appeal of this chair is being able to trial the charred finish on a chair.

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    1. Wow, by tonight you'll have built TWO chairs, and I've hardly started!

      What's the dilemma with the charring?

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    2. Never mind, I see. Try your test with something as thick as your seat blank. Or, char everything except the seat. The contrast might be cool.

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    3. Another instagram account watersandacland recently reported no issue when charring with Titebond III (Which I haven't charred, but should fare the same as other PVA). Also @etherfarm noted no delamination when charring a factory glue-lam handrail on a recent table he made.

      I've evaluated CA glue which held, but lost considerable strength. CA should be the glue with the highest heat resistance. I need to try epoxy still (and maybe some industrial glues like titebond "imperial" though I'm ont sure about availability)

      I'm wondering if my method (the daedworks way) is the root cause for the failure. It involves scouring with scotchbright and melting in wax while the piece is hot/warm. I'm wondering if the parafin wax I'm using is attacking/weakening the glue line alllowing a crack to start.

      Another method I'm considering is to use an unglued T&G joint (probably with an alignment dowel during seat shaping and glue up after charring.

      This seems like a lot of effort & explanation, but this chair is intended to be a test bed for Maloovian stools that I'd like to finish this way, in part to reduce the finishing regimine requirements, and also because red oak (which I have in spades) looks so cool when finished this way.

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    4. What if you used hide glue, which reactivates with heat and moisture, but used some alignment dowels or biscuits when you glue up? After charring you could clamp it up again and perhaps it would stay together?

      Just thinking out loud.

      Alternatively, you could just go find a bigger piece of wood. :o)

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  2. Looks like everyone is having fun with their chairs (as it should be). I can't wait to see yours take form, Brian.

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    1. Thanks, Dyami. I think I should stock up on ibuprofen before carving the seat, though.

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  3. Hi Brian - I think that it's practical you pick June as the chair-building month. last year June had about 50 days in it. Perhaps that phenomenon repeats. :-)
    Cheers. John

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  4. Well I have not forgotten and still plans to build my first chair this Junish.
    I think that as my first one I should keep it simple and perhaps build a 8 way power adjustable shop chair with built in WiFi, beer holder and heated seat. Humm I wonder if I could use my passenger seat from my Lincoln as a start... :-)
    I could just splay in 4 legs and be done Tada!
    Alright, I think I will stick to a simple shop stool :-)

    Bob, the eternal optimist thinking I can fit that in...

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    1. The shop stool sounds fine, but please make sure to post pictures if you do the WiFi Beer chair from your Lincoln! Every shop needs one of those!

      And, I like the term, "Junish." Maybe I should rename the chair build with that.

      Maybe not. I think it would probably turn into, "This-year-ish."

      :o)

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  5. Thanks for the post Brian! Are Jonas and Olav joining us?

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    1. I don't think so. However, there are plans for the second Danish Chair Building Extravaganza later in the year!

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