Shaping bottom and back of a chair

[patriarch]

Leonard Lopez wrote in news:2k0acbF16c0iuU1@uni- berlin.de:

What you 'should' use really depends on the design of the chair, and your 'religion' with regards to what constitutes a 'proper tool'.

Unless you are asking permission of the group to purchase another couple of tools (granted, by the way, without your having to ask), try using what you have on some scrap, and seeing if you like the results.

White Oak and Cypress are very different woods and respond somewhat differently to cutting and grinding tools.

I needed to do some shaping on a hard maple part for a project last month, and was running out of time for using the 4-in-1 hand rasp approach. A 36 grit disc chucked in the 4 inch low angle electric grinder allowed me to get the job done pretty quickly. Was it kosher? Who cares? This isn't really a religion, in spite of some of the arguments that carry on here.

Give it a try with your 6" ROS. See how you like it. Work safely.

Patriarch, who finds that shaping wooden hand plane bodies with a grinder is a liberating experience.

[Leonard Lopez]

I am about to start a small project making chairs for the deck. I expect to use either white oak or cypress. What tool do I need to "hollow out" the seat and back? Can I just use my 6 inch ROS with a rough paper for this wood, or do I need some type of grinder ( and spoke shave)?

Len

[Brian]

I've always wanted to try it the way they do it at the Windsor Institute, with a gutter adz, scorp, travisher, spokeshave and compass plane. Look 'em up online. They have alot of info available.

Brian.

[David E. Penner]

Len

I've done a number of chairs, stools, and one bench. I've used an angle grinder with a carbide cutting wheel (Arbortech--you can buy it at Woodcraft, Lee Valley, etc; it's the one with 3 replaceable carbide teeth) to rough out the seat. Very fast and easy. I then use spokeshaves and sanders to smooth.

david

[Leonard Lopez]

The last time I did some of this was 10 years ago. I was also working with maple and needed to rent a grinder after failing with a rasp. I think my question today is, "Will I need a grinder every time I get into this situation?" If so, I might as well buy one now and save myself the occasional trip to the rental store. If there is a good chance that I can sand out a Cypress seat without a grinder, I will not buy a grinder.

Len

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patriarch < wrote:

[J T]

Thu, Jun 24, 2004, 10:30am (EDT-3) [e-mail] (Leonard=A0Lopez) I am about to start What tool do I need to "hollow out" the seat and back?

For kids' chairs, I don't bother. Usually a kid isn't going to sit in one long enough to get uncomfortable anyway.

For bit peoples' chairs, I don't bother. If it's gonna be sat in that long, I prefer a cushion to sit on. Along with one for the back. With the cushion, doesn't matter if it's hollowed out, or not.

Actually, I figure the hollowing is just for purty anyway, cushions make more sense, which is why they make them. But, it's your project, so it's up to you.

JOAT Use your brain - it's the small things that count.

- Bazooka Joe

[Andy Dingley]

That's the expensive Arbortech. Their single-piece steel disk is much cheaper. Either is more pleasant to use than a disk with chainsaw chain wrapped around it.

Disks are good for roughing, especially in elm. But for real satisfaction, finish it by hand. A scorp or curved drawknife is for roughing it, then a travisher, a thing like a curved wooden spokeshave, is used for finishing. Either of these is a great introduction to smithing and simple edged-tool making.