woodwork

One Dozen Rustic Rockers

Below are photos from the past week and one-half, building a dozen rocking chairs with a friend of mine for the Bighorn River Lodge in Montana.  The lumber is from a centenarian barn destroyed by a tornado last year.

Just one has the back for photography, they stack much better for shipping w/o.

dovetailed lower cross brace

mass-production

etching the zinc from the hardware

finishing

Brother Stool

Below are some pictures of the second three legged stool of post oak.  They are a pair but with differences.  The rungs on this newest stool are in a “T” rather than forming a triangle  connecting  leg to leg as in the first.  Also, the legs in this stool are a bit more cantankerous.

The legs dry fit with rungs.

Reaming for the legs.

The seat.  I counted over 100 annual rings in this seat.

Fully assembled, and awaiting finishing touches.

Both stools together.  Here you can see the difference in the rung layout, the “T” on one and the triangle on the other.

 

Cutting in Butterflies

Last week I cut in three walnut butterflies into the cedar table top under way in my shop.

Below are a few photos from the process.  After shaping the walnut butterflies, they are scribed individually into the top, then the bulk of the waste is removed with a 1/4 ” straight bit in a router, and finally pared with a chisel to the scribed lines.

placing a butterfly

dad’s old craftsman

removing waste

all cleaned up,  ready for glue

The will of a 3-legged stool

The stool declared loudly by snapping every black walnut rung I made- that it must be white oak throughout.  OK, says I, you win.

Still much work to be done, however, as of yet the  most complete sense of a stool that has pretty much dictated itself, and made me sweat in the process, and I still have to build his hopefully less mercurial brother.

Below:  shaping the underside of the seat.