Anyway, the arm sticks are flush with the arm and most of the glue ooze is gone (bet I still find a bit somewhere...) so it's on to the comb. I cut one piece for that way back in April to aid me in posing my design question, when the consensus was I'd have to make it taller. But I thought I'd try it as-is first, just in case. So I got a rough idea of th required angle, set up the bevel and went at it with a 1/2" dowel bit. You may be wondering where the brace is in this shot:
It's up here... Verily, the extension does make sighting accurate angles easier. 'Course I had my hand over my head to bear on the pad, but it was a lot more comfy than it probably looked.
Anyway, with the holes bored I tried another go of the slimline comb.
TPTBs said "too thin" too, so off to the bandsaw to cut the second part from an adjacent area of board, then out with the jack and plane the mating surfaces of the two pieces to fit. Seems like an age since I used a bench plane, probably because it is... Did my best to line the pieces up but that PU glue is horribly slippery.
A quick clean up of the inner curve to get an idea of whether the join's going to look okay, and here it is. Ignore the way the whole thing looks lop-sided; it's ot really. Well not that much anyway... Of course the comb still has to get shaped and properly finished, but does it look okay to you?
"Of course I could have bored you all about the 12" Disston No.5 back saw I got..."
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wouldn't care and would have been bored out of my mind...
I don't suppose you wanna draw the profile on the comb, eh? I have a hard time seeing it other than a block of wood.
Also, do these chair's combs intended to meet a portion of the head/neck area? Top of shoulders?
Strikes me the thickness should be thinner than the corresponding area on the arm rest, but assume it will get shaped thinner?
See. Open this up to blog readers and I'll reveal my ignorance.
Take care, Mike
Mike, it won't have a profile as such - Welsh Stick Chairs tend to have pretty plain, square combs. Erm, bit like a block of wood really... Nah, just kidding :~) There are a few on Google images if you search for "Welsh stick chair". It'll end up tapering towards the top though, which should thin it down front to back a good deal, as well as getting thinned down just with the cleaning up of the glue joint. I'm assuming I'll get a better feel for the final shape as I go on.
ReplyDeleteI hope.
It's interesting that you feel it should be thinner than the arm/back - so far I've been firmly told it should be the same. I think it definitely needs to be a bit thinner than it is - I did allow a bit of spare in case planing the joining faces proved awkward.
As for where it should come, head, neck or what, heaven only knows. I'm a bit hampered by not knowing where the recipient's head/neck will come anyway.
Ach well, all good stuff and making me think about all the factors, which is a Good Thing. Keep it coming :~)
I looked on Google as you suggested. There seemed to be many versions, but the better ones seem to keep it light and simple. I find your first version with the slimline comb more pleasing as it retains a better balance to the chair as a whole. Likewise it may be better slightly thinner.
ReplyDeleteWhatever it still looks splendid.
Don
Don, yeah, lightness seems to be the key. I hope I've achieved that now, while still retaining the necessary strength, but see what you think :~)
ReplyDelete