Vidar Returns

The snow fell and fell all winter long and no mid winter melts this year. But, the snow from last week, pictured above, is melting fast today. The new season is finally on its way. A good time to retool for the next project.

The bearings on the jointer had begun to make some noise, so with the swapping of the knives also came the changing of the bearings.

Next, came the new urethane bandsaw tires. Last time I used the bandsaw, the upper tire flew off the wheel and very quickly landed on the table. I had a bit of a start, but no damage. The new tires had to be custom sized for this old Grizzly saw that has 16 3/4" diameter wheels. Strange, but true. First, the new tire is heated in soapy 130° water.

The tire is then stretched over the wheel while still warm and wet. No adhesive.

The last piece of equipment to get worked on was the surface planer. Just a simple knife swap and I'm ready to get started.

I've been asked by a good friend and fellow woodworker to make another reproduction of Vidar's Chair. This chair is a lot of fun to make, plus, it gives me a chance to reuse the templates I made with my first Vidar's chair in 2012. Luckily, I was able to find them!

I focused my search for wood on the local area. Ultimately, we decided on some white oak planks that I found. Below, I'm beginning with the most important part of this particular chair, the crest rail. The plank is just under 2" thick, so I'll be using this flatsawn section that will provide a nice grain orientation. More on that later.

Much of the material I have is quarter sawn, so it will be challenging to get the rift cuts needed for most of the parts. Here they are, fresh out the planks. From one and a quarter planks, come 18 sticks.

The crest rail requires special milling, so I prepared it with some blocking glued to both faces. I'll get back to this one in a few weeks.

Next, are the rear legs.

There is an interesting curve in the grain over the length of these parts, causing me to still be undecided as to which will be the left leg and which will be the right. Right now, it feels like a toss-up.

I rotated the parts in the plank to optimize the grain direction.

Many more parts to rotate, so I'd better get back to the milling.

Hej då!

Craig