DCBE - I'm Dreaming of a White Safari

I finally finished the second Safari Chair that I began while at the Danish Chair Building Extravaganza a little more than a month ago.

White safari chair in elm and white leather.

I am pleased with the result of this chair so far. I say so far, because there are still just a few little tweaks that need doing in order for me to say it's completely done, but it looks done.

Another glamor shot.

On the surface, this looks like a plain old safari chair with not too much in the way of crazy new ideas. At least there was no burning of wood...

hairy cowhides...

or crazy twisted sticks.

This one is a little less weird.

Still looks pretty normal.

There were, however, a few things I had not previously tried. For example, most of the belts on this chair I fixed with rapid rivets, rather than copper rivets, which I've always used in the past.

Looks good from here.

I used them because there was just a little less banging with hammers required to install them. While that was true, I found that the tiny cupped setting tools that are required to set them either marred one side of the leather, or did not set properly in such thick  (10 oz.) leather. My only option when they didn't set fully was to set one side on a flat surface, rather than the cupped one, which deformed and flattened one side of the rivet.

Ultimately, one of the belts on the thigh strap completely failed when I tried to tighten it, so I replaced those rivets with copper ones. The rest seem to be holding for now.

Not being happy with how they turned out, I chose to go with traditional copper rivets on the show part of the back, but found you can also get brass rivets.

I think brass rivets look good with this white leather.

The brass rivets seem to work just like the copper ones. Only time will tell if they hold up, but I have no reason to think they won't.

To give my neighbors a bit of a break on Saturday evening, I only set the brass washers, I still have to clip the rivet post and set them with an awful lot more banging. I suppose I'll try to do that when most of the building is at work.

One problem I had was once again I punched holes for these rivets in a bit of a hurry, which resulted in the back being a bit too narrow. I've made this mistake once before, and apparently did not learn from my mistake. You can see a gap in the above picture between the leg and the wooden back piece. That is due to the leather being too short. That's the only way it will fit. I might have to insert some kind of spacers there, but the chair works the way it is.

Another problem I found too late is the seat piece has a big slice right in the middle.

Big slice, about 2 1/2" long.

The slice doesn't go all the way through, and is purely cosmetic. I haven't completely decided how to best deal with it. I think I can get some glue in there which will stabilize it and prevent it from fraying in the long run. Surprisingly, this cut isn't too easy to see unless you are looking for it. As an alternative, I have some more leather I can use to replace this panel. Perhaps I should also replace the back piece. I'll have to think about that.

Something really cool on this chair are the cup washers I've used. Alex gave me these cup washers, which are solid because they were milled. The cup washers I've used before all were stamped from thinner sheet metal.

Bad-ass cup washers.

While the stamped ones look fine, these ones are nicer.

Thanks, Alex!

The big difference on this chair compared to the other chairs I've made is something a bit more structural. On this chair, instead of using my Veritas 12 degree tapered reamer, I used the six degree reamer that I've used on my staked furniture.

Six degree taper. The end of the dowel exits in a hole about 3/4".

I was amazed at the difference. I would say if you already have a 12 degree tapered reamer, use that. If you are looking to buy a new one, go with the six degrees. I got mine from Elia Bizzarri.

One big difference is the six degree tool is extremely accurate. It is possible to dial the mortises in to a degree of accuracy that surpasses the accuracy of the tenons. It was no problem to get all eight mortises 100% perfect. I've never been perfect with any other chair I've made. This accuracy isn't strictly necessary, as the chair seems to be able to work just fine with some small deviations.

The fact that these mortises are straight result in a chair that is extremely stable. It doesn't squeak, or rock in any way. As a bonus, the chair stands perfectly stable with none of the leather attached. This makes it much simpler during construction and assembly.

These parts stood like this for several weeks in my office without falling apart.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with how the chair turned out. Unfortunately, the Frau isn't crazy about the color combination, so I might have to make another one for the living room, and this one can stay right here in my office.

At home in my office.

Before that, however, I think I need a Dutch Tool Chest...

Danish Chair Building Extravaganza - Epilogue

I've been back to Spain for a couple weeks, and have had some time to reflect on what happened during that awesome week of chair building in Denmark.

Jonas, Brian and Alex on the last day.

But first, let me catch you up. Day 5 turned out not to be the last day, like we were supposed to. Alex and I talked Jonas into letting us stay one more night, so we could cram in a bit more woodworking the morning before we drove off.

Here I am slathering BLO on my elm chair parts.

Alex was a bit slower, but to be fair he built two chairs in tandem. He had never built a Roorkee chair before, and actually had quite a few firsts, including first time turning on a lathe and first time working leather. That being said, he came up with a pair of the finest Roorkees I've ever seen.

Alex's chairs approaching completion. One elm, one sycamore.

I started an elm version after I completed the sycamore one.

I think I could have gotten a bit farthur, but I wound up re-doing a stretcher, as one of them disintegrated in the mortise. I posted this pic before, but just to jar your memory:

Rotten stretcher.

We made a giant mistake when milling the wood. The ends of the sycamore board we were using were gray in color. I figured that was just on the surface, but it was gray all the way through. That was my first sign, but I figured it would be OK.

This particular stretcher happened to be running fore and aft, and the broken part was in the back again. Funnily enough, the chair still sat even when the part was broken like in the picture. I thought it had a funny lean when I was watching some of the others sit in it.

If you look closely at the above picture, there was enough of the tapered tenon in the hole that the chair still held up. I only noticed this when I disassembled the chair.

The gray colored wood turned out to be rotten. It was about the consistency of a wine cork. There was no strength left in it.

The fix was easy, I just milled another stretcher and was back in business. It did take a while, though, as I didn't have a spare stretcher octagonalized.

Moving on - I tried something else for the elm chair. Up until now we all had used the Veritas tapered reamer (12 degrees taper) and tenon cutter for all of the chairs. Having examined the original Klint chair (I'll have to do a whole additional post on that chair) we borrowed, it looked like those tenons were less of a taper than the 12 degrees we used. Why not try a six degree taper, since I have a six degree tapered reamer here?

Using my six degree reamer.

This is what it looks like when the taper is done being reamed.

This was amazing. This reamer is much more accurate to use. It is possible to check for square after every half turn (or less, if you wish)!

Stretchers with six degree tapers.

Assembled joint.

The design of the Roorkee allows for the joints to be a little sloppy. It will still sit and hold together if everything isn't perfect. The leather keeps everything from falling apart.

But...

Using the six degree tool allowed for an insane level of accuracy so each joint was perfect. Plus, I think the six degrees holds a little tighter.

This means that the wooden bits stay together on their own as in this photo:

My elm chair and the saw benches already in use.

In fact, the chair has been sitting in my office waiting for leather since I got back without falling apart. I'm curious as to what difference this will make in how the chair sits, if any.

Alex and I stayed up until after two in the morning working on our chairs that Friday. When I got up Saturday, Alex was already in the shop. "This isn't a chair building vacation," he he explained, "it's an extravaganza!"

From top to bottom, the original Klint, Jonas' bench from two years ago, his Roubo stool, his Safari chair, and mine in black.

Jonas and Mrs. Mulesaw were busy Saturday morning, but let us have our way in the shop. We finished up about noon and made our way back to Germany.

We stopped in Kiel to visit Pedder and have a cup of coffee. Pedder was kind enough to show us his shop.

Pedder in his shop.

Pedder's shop, just like mine, is in a Kellerraum in the basement of his apartment building. His shop isn't a whole lot bigger than mine, but he has it set up a little smarter, I think. One thing I really liked was his light which can be seen in the above picture. I might have to get one like it someday.

Pedder's saw vice.

He has a really cool saw vice. It is like many other's, but it has ebony inlaid in the jaws to aid in a contrasting background when filing saw teeth.

A perfect idea!

We left Pedder's after a short visit, and spent the night at my in-laws.

Alex and the Schwiegereltern.

When I got home, I put a final coat of paste wax on the sycamore chair.

Glamor shot.

I then packed it up and mailed it to my brother.

I figured out a way to pack up the legs to take less room.

Here is another shot with the belts undone.

While I was home in Munich, I tried out the brass screw Jonas made for my No. 12.

You can see the old one was bent.

I don't know how he did it, but it is a perfect match. He turned it on board his ship without the original to look at.

Perfect fit.

After two days, I boarded a plane back to Spain. I booked 50 kilos of luggage, and wound up taking 60!

Here's why.

Alex finished up his chairs the day he got back.

Alex enjoying one of his new chairs.

I had a little work to assemble my saw benches that I brought in my checked luggage (along with the elm Safari chair, and enough wood and leather for two more chairs).

I glued the legs up, and since each bench had one elm leg and three ash, I figured I would put an elm wedge in the ash legs, and a sycamore wedge in the elm legs.

OCD therapy.

I also constructed a precision instrument for marking the legs for cutting.

The finest of construction.

After that, it was just a matter of cutting to the line...

Using one saw bench to make the other.

Action shot.

Ready for finish.

I really like them.

They will have to pull double duty in our apartment, so they will need some kind of finish. I decided to just put a coat of boiled linseed oil on them.

Finished staked saw benches.

I was going to write a bunch about what I learned from each of the other woodworkers here, but I might save that for later. Let me just say that if you ever get a chance to work with other woodworkers, whether it be a cooperative build like this, or a class, the projects you take home are just a bonus compared to what you really get watching the others work.

Once again, a big thanks to Jonas and Mette for being such kind hosts.

DCBE, Day 1

Unfortunately, I am blogging this week from my iPad, which sucks. My plan to deal with the limitations is to give a very brief commentary, followed by a bunch of un-captioned photos. When I get back to Spain, I'll do a proper write up.

(One of my goals for this blog has always been not to apopogize, so sorry about that.)

Alex picked me up in Munich early yesterday, and we made it about half way before his car broke down. ADAC was kind enough to hook us up with a loaner until his car is fixed, so we finally got here after 19 hours.

Today was fantastic. Alex, Jonas and I decided to build Roorkee chairs, and Pedder got here and is building a M&T stool. Olav is unfortunately stuck in France, but hopes to be here in a day or two.

We milled a ton of spalted sycamore today, and tomorrow we will mill a little more elm for Roorkees.

I also will build a pair of staked saw benches from an old elm plank I found in Jonas' barn.

We have a buttload of leather. Enough for at least six chairs, maybe more. All different stuff. I also have some #8 duck canvas that would make nice chairs, but I dropped it in the mud while extracting my suitcase from the back of the ADAC car last night. Oops.

Enjoy some photos, you'll love tomorrow.