Nothing funny happened to me today, so I figured I'd post some pics I took Sunday.
If you've ever wondered what I do for fun while I'm waiting for my Enzyte to arrive in the mail, wonder no more. I turn firewood into things you sit on. Here's one I have almost finished:
The back bow and spindles are split out of an oak log, the seat is pine and the legs are turned from maple that I dig out of the wood pile. Here's a few more pics:
Finished spindles. These are carved by hand, and they suck the life out of you. Nine more to go. Ugh.
Here's one in progress, along side of the tools you use to make them:
This is a bending form for the back. You steam the straight piece of oak for a half hour, then wrap it around this form. You have 30 seconds to take it out of the steamer and wrap it around the form before it hardens again.
Here's one all done:
OK. Class is over. Back to your regularly scheduled blog.
I love the chair.
ReplyDeleteoooo...don't cut yourself in half with that...um...blade thingy.
ReplyDeletevery nice! color me super impressed!
Gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteWow, it's beautiful! Guys who build stuff are COOL.
ReplyDeleteI agree with jacq. I also like guys who are good with their hands.
ReplyDeleteI just like a good ass holder.
ReplyDelete*giggling*
ReplyDeletecool chair. i expecially like the multi-colored set. i've seen the steaming process on tv and i liked watching that, but i bet it could burn your hands pretty darn a lot.
yeah, the green one is odd man out. I still need to make one more continuous arm chair in black, and then the green one goes somewhere else....
ReplyDeleteit's weird you say everything is split out of oak but the seat and the legs. What else is there really?
ReplyDeleteOn that particular type of chair, just the back bow and the spindles. If it had been a comb-back, or modified sack back chair, it would be the back bow, spindles, arm rests and headrest.
ReplyDeleteStill, you are correct in that it is a badly worded sentence. Picky bastard! :) I fixed it for you. Well, actually I fixed it for me, but now we'll both sleep at night.
i like the mixed colored chairs! make a blue one and a red one...if not, i'll take the greenie.
ReplyDeleteReally lovely. Do you use a spokeshave thing for the
ReplyDeletespindle bits?
fifi - yep. A couple different ones.
ReplyDeleteAwesome. I wish I had talent.
ReplyDeleteNo offense, but I think those chairs run about $77 at Lowe's, compared to the $3853 you spent in time and supplies. Nice craftmanship, though! (Natural stain, while harkening to the Pennsylvania Dutch, would have been prettier in my opinion. Unless you painted with red, then stained over it with black and rubbed it to the point of red showing through at corners etc. Friends of mine did that to an old dining set, and it's hot. I'm just sayin'.)
ReplyDeleteSteph, They were never traditionally stained. That was a relatively "modern" option. They were painted with milk paint. The difference between my chair and the one at Lowes? Mine will still be in one piece in a hundred years and theirs will be loose and falling apart in about 6 months to a year. A lot of them were painted multiple times over the years. I do actually provide that finish option when I sell them.
ReplyDeleteSorry, Johnny, wrong subject for me to be sarcastic about. I'm actually a huge advocate of carpentry/hand-crafting - my dad's really talented. We (i.e. I held the pieces and tools) made a complicated a$$ headboard for my bed and stained it black - totally awesome. You sound like you approach everything you do with much zeal and detailed research - carpentry, music, writing. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteOh, don't be sorry. Just don't get me started on talking about traditionally made furniture or I'll never shut my trap. :)
ReplyDeleteHehehe. I hear you - I grew up in Germany and Austria where their sh#$ don't stank, so I'm all about certified trades, tradition, and quality versus our sad excuses for Wal-Mart crap. *_* Speaking of WalMart, you might enjoy this post - http://stephbobb.blogspot.com/2005/05/ripped.html
ReplyDeleteNice chairs. Where do you sell them? I think I have an idea, but please elaborate on what's wrong with traditionally manufactured furniture?
ReplyDeleteIs that a spinning wheel in the background to the left of the table? Do you mean to tell me that you make all the furniture and your wife makes all your clothes from raw cotton and wool you've sheared from your own sheep?
ReplyDeleteForget Johnny Virgil. Ezra Yoder might have been a more appropriate pseudonym. You're Amish and you work in IT. Weird. ;)
Very cool craftsmanship, though.
Thanks Steve. It's what I do to unwind....
ReplyDeleteMy wife does spin, and knit and crochet. We don't own any sheep though, and other than a couple of sweaters and a hat and scarf or two, that's all the clothes she's made me.