Front Assembly

My chair making journey continues with preparations for the front leg assembly. Since the front and back legs are curved, the four angles on the side seat rails and side stretchers are all different. It took a bit of adjustment to get the angles and lengths just right. Below, with the side parts all preliminarily fitted to the front and back legs, it's time to prepare the front assembly.

The first step is to get an accurate measurement of the distance between the front legs. I did this with a story stick cut to just barely fit between the legs. I transferred this measurement to the front seat rail and stretcher and cut the shoulders on the table saw.

Next, the tenons were cut to size on the band saw.

The tenons were then fitted by hand to the mortises in the legs and test fitted before moving on.

Once the joinery was fitted, it was time to shape the parts just like I did with the back assembly.

When it comes time to wrap the seat with Danish cord, these notches, cut with a triangular file, will keep the cord from sliding sideways along the curved seat rails.

Again, this glue-up was done in two stages and kept flat and in alignment on the table saw surface.

The coming week will be busy with shaping and gluing of the sides to the front and back leg assemblies. After that, it's just the crest rail and arms.

Hej då!

Craig 

Craig Johnson is a fiscal year 2012 recipient of an Artist Initiative grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

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