Wood-fired!

Alumni chair - shaping the stretcher joints

My design for a chair for the Chairs of the Alumni exhibition has ’sculpted’ joints where the stretchers intersect the legs and where the middle cross stretcher intersects the two side stretchers.

I’ve just completed the two joints where the stretchers meet. This progress post shows how these were made. However, as always seems to be the case, the most interesting stages are when you forget to pick up the camera - so you might have to join the dots yourselves.

1. Mortices are cut in the middle of the two side stretchers to receive the tenons from the cross stretcher.

2. The elements are rounded in a modified router lathe leaving ample blocks of material for making the joints. (I will describe the router lathe and the process in a later post.)

This pic shows the two side stretchers in the middle and the cross stretcher that joins them at the front of the picture.

3. The tenons cannot be cut before this stage because the router lather requires mounting holes to be centred at each end. The tenons are cut to fit the mortices and then tested and tuned.

The joints can then be fitted and glued. I have no pic of the gluing setup I’m afraid but effort was made to ensure the whole structure was flat and the elements were square.

Cramping pressure was applied across the whole structure using custom-made clamping blocks that fitted the curve of the elements. Additional clamps were used to ensure the flange on each side of the joint was firmly pressed against the side stretcher.

4. The excess material is carved, filed and sanded away leaving a smooth transition between the elements.

In the next installment I will show how the legs are shaped and then glued to this stretcher assembly.

2 comments August 16th, 2009

Alumni chair update

Well it was a long time ago that I promised to keep you up-to-date with my progress towards a chair for the Chairs of the Alumni exhibition. No updates (other than this general one) fortunately doesn’t mean no progress - although as always I wish I was further along the adventure.

The above image shows the current state of my design. This is a CG rendering that I hope gives a reasonable idea of what the chair will look like. At this stage I’m thinking of building it from Tasmanian blackwood so it will be a touch lighter in tone (at least initially) and slightly less warm in colour. The generously wide seat will be woven in a dark blue nylon mono-filament.

I use 3D modelling and rendering quite a bit as an additional tool for resolving designs. While it can sometimes be misleading about overall proportion and scale, it is always useful for visualising different woods and design details.

When making a completely new chair design however you always need to create a sturdy mock-up and get multiple people to sit in it to check and adjust the dimensions and angles for comfort and usability. The position and angle of the back rest in relation to the seat is usually the critical investigation. This rough prototype in pine was done very early in the design process. The seat is woven from the same blue nylon as the final chair will be.

You might notice in the renderings that each joint of the substructure has a smooth transition between the elements. This is shaped after glue-up. Extra wood is left on each element where it joins another so that this transition can be created. I’m currently working out systems for accurately turning the cylinders of the stretchers between these blocks of extra wood.

9 comments June 21st, 2009

Chook carpentry

Like many makers of ‘fine furniture’ I find it a challenge to build low-precision structures. Hacking out a garden bench with an adze is one thing but as soon as a joint is involved I can’t resist finely paring the shoulders perfectly square or tuning the tenons to a suction fit. Even when working with salvaged pallet timber I find myself matching the grain and picking the best side to show.

This project was a ‘quick’ job to build a temporary chook shelter. We are expanding our flock from 4 to 7 and wanted to accommodate the new young ones¹ separately until they are accepted by the existing chooks. It needed to be waterproof (in case it ever rains here again) and rat-proof. The new chooks have a separate run during the day so the pen only needs to house them overnight.
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1. the new three are Rhode Is reds - collectively known as the ‘roadies’, the dark coloured one is called ‘tarmac’. The rest are yet to be named. [↩]

4 comments May 2nd, 2009

Of pies and pasties

I’ve already established my love of savory pies. I also have a permanent hunger for the well-made pasty. I grew up in Adelaide which is not only the home of the famous pie floater but also the best pasties in the world¹.

Pasties (or tiddy oggies) are said to have originated in Cornwall as food for tin miners. They spread to various parts of the world as Cornish miners migrated to new mining areas in the 19th Century. A part of this diaspora found itself in South Australia when in 1861 copper traces were seen trailing out of a wombat hole in the north of Yorke Peninsula. The area became known as the copper coast and as “Little Cornwall”. Presumably this is why the pasty is on an equal footing with the Aussie meat pie in South Australia whereas it is just a (poorly made) footnote to fast pastries in the rest of Australia.

For most of the 33 years since I left SA I have been searching for a pasty that can come close to a decent SA pasty such as those made by the Balfours bakery.

I’ve tried pasties in London, Windsor and Winchester in the UK (never got to Cornwall unfortunately). The best of these was made by the West Cornwall Pasty Co. I still have 2 of their paper napkins 6 years on. I told you I am keen on pasties!

I try a pasty at every bakery I pass in the hope that one day I’ll find a local supplier that comes close to the grade. Here are my thoughts on how a pasty should deliver:
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1. Possible controversial statement [↩]

37 comments April 19th, 2009

Kaffir revealed!

The answer to What is it? Part 4 is Kaffir Lime (Citrus hystrix).

My neighbour has a beautiful kaffir lime tree growing in a pot near her front door. Knowing I’m a keen cook she generously suggested I take as many fruit and leaves as I want. So the weekend curry had to be Thai (red beef curry with peanuts). The zest and juice of these wonderfully knobbled (almost brain-like) fruit provide lots of astringent zing. The characteristic double-jointed leaves¹ are also used widely in Thai and other south-east asian cuisines. They have a fresh, sour taste.

No pics of the curry I’m afraid.

1. actually only one half is the leaf proper, the other is a flattened petiole [↩]

5 comments March 28th, 2009