BB_Chair

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

1/9

1. Check all parts and lay them out2. Detail the seat3. Assemble the stretcher4. Assemble the undercarriage

(stretcher and legs)

5. Fit undercarriage to seat6. Detail the bow7. Assemble the back

ASSEMBLY OF THE

Bow Back Windsor Chair

www. ClassicDesigns .comc 2004 Classic Designs by Matthew BurakO

A BowB LegsC Side StretchersD Medial StretcherE SeatF Spindle Set

A

B

C

D

E

F

1. Check All Parts and LayThem OutFamiliarize yourself with the par ts. Getthem oriented around your work table sothat little confusion exists about whats aright vs. a left; a front vs. a rear, etc.

PARTSLIST

General Sequence of Assembly

GENERAL TIPSRemove excess glue. Your work in thefinishing stage will be more successful if you are vigilant about cleaning excessglue. Keep a cup of warm water nearby.Use a toothbrush and the warm water tothoroughly wash away extra glue andhard-to-see residue. Use a clean, dry rag to finish the clean-up and dry the wood.

Dry fit all parts to get comfortable withthe assembly process. Use reference or

witness marks when you dry-fit theparts. It will make your final alignmentupon glue-up much faster.

Finishing is a project in itself. Anywoodworking project can be enhancedor diminished by the level of work thatgoes into the finishing. A good finishtakes time to apply, so allow for thisin the project cycle.

C LASSIC D ESIGNSby MATTHEW BURAK

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

2/9

The seat blank has been prepared (sawn, machinescorped and bored). Now, finish detailing the seat byusing a scorp, block plane, or spoke shave to givethe final shape to the seat. For those more comfort-able with power equipment, power sanders andgrinders can be used. Smooth away the tool marksleft by the machine shaping of the seat blank.

2

You can give the seat more refinement by shaping the thickness back to the line drawn on the bottom.Start with a draw knife for the rough-in and finish upwith a spokeshave.

For the top do the rough-in with a scorp and the fin-ish surfacing using a curved plane and spokeshave.

2. Detail the Seat The seat is the foundation of the chair.Start your assembly here.

CLASSIC DESIGNS BY MATTHEW BURAK www. ClassicDesigns .com

hand plane,

block plane,

hammeror mallet,

spokeshaves,

scorp,

drawknife,

fish-tail

gouge,

chisels,

scratch

beader

Hand tools you may want

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

3/9

3CLASSIC DESIGNS BY MATTHEW BURAK www. ClassicDesigns .com

3. Assemble Stretcher.

Apply glue to the stretcher mortises of the backlegs. Put the legs lightly into their correct seatmortises. Legs are marked F front and B back.

Coat the reartenons of thestretcher with glue.

Insert the stretcherassembly into theback legs, align thestretcher and tapfirmly into place.

4. Assemble the Undercarriage.

Insert the two frontlegs, adding glue tothe proper stretcher

tenon and leg mor-tise as you go. To dothis you will need to

bend up the sidestretchers to allow

the leg to slide past.

Use a block of scrap wood to drive the partstogether for a good fit.

Apply glue to mating surfaces. Gently pushparts into place. Checkthat side stretchers arein the same plane bylaying the assembly flaton workbench. Drivehome the assembly

using scrap wood toprotect the surfacesfrom marring.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

4/9

Cut off surplustenons. For a pristinelook, cut them off close to the seat andsand flush. For anantique look, leavethe tenons up 1/16

to 1/8 and gentlyremove sharp edgesusing a fish-tail gouge,low-angle spokeshaveand sandpaper.

Hint: Always cut with the chisel toward the center of the tenon to guard against chip out.

Remove the undercar-riage assembly fromthe seat, apply glue tothe leg tenons andseat mortises.

Moving from leg toleg, restart the tenonsinto the seat mortises.Tap the legs firmly intothe seat mortises asyou go around, untilthe tenon shoulders

are firmly up against the seat bottom. Do not over-drive, or the seat may split.


5. Fit Undercarriage in Seat.Flip the assembly rightside up. Step back tomake sure your align-ment is correct. Cutprojecting leg tenonsdown to 3/8 or 1/2proud of seat. Openup the kerf in the pro-truding leg tenonswith a chisel. Applyglue to wedges anddrive into tenon kerfsto secure leg/seat

joint.

Level the seat using a straight edge placed acrossthe flats on the seat. Shim under the legs to achievethe equal measurements from the bench top to theright & left sides of your straight edge.

To set the seat height, measure the distance frombench top to the high point in the front of the seat.

You need to removeenough from the frontlegs so this measure-ment becomes 18".

Cut a marking block thatis of equal thickness tothe amount the legsneed to be shortened.Undercut this block soyou can easilyscribe aroundthe front legsmarking themfor shortening.Cut legs off where marked.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

5/9


With the front legs cut to their final lengths, hang

the back legs over the edge of the bench. Prop theback of the seat with a stick so that the top of theseat is 17 1/2 above the bench top. Cut the legsflush with and parallel with the bench top.

With the undercarriageglued up and dry, andbefore insertion of theupper spindles begin torestrict the space, detailthe areas at the tops of the legs where they pro-trude through the seat.

Chamfer the ends of thelegs where they meet the

floor to guard againstchip-out.

6. Detail the Bow

Use a spokeshave to clean up the saw marks and

shape along the length of the bow. Country chairshave bows that are round in cross section. Morehigh style chairs have bows that feature a D-shapecross section. Shape your bow accordingly. Also, seesidebar below about detailing the face of the bow.

BOW OPTIONSMany historic Windsors have decorative profiling onthe front face of the bow. The traditional way of craft-ing this detailhas been to cutit in with ascratch-beadcutter. This givesthe finishedchair the uniquecharacteristicsthat only handtooling creates.

To make ascratch bead,simply grind orfile the profileyou want into a

piece of a cabi-net scraper orold band saw blade. Secure the cutter between twoblocks of wood that have a right angle corner to act asthe fence. The beauty of this tool is that it will allowyou to stop your profile short of the hand blocks (12from the finished tip of the continuous arm bow and1 short of the seat on the side chair bow). Set up cor-rectly you can achieve very quick results with this tool.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

6/9

Shape the bow ends to a 3/4 dia. round tenon.


Hint: Use a 3/4box end wrench as a quick, accu-

rate sizing gauge for the round tenon.

Hint: Sight through pre-drilled bow holes towardspindle mortises in seat to make sure bow is facing correct way.

Set the height at thetop edge of the bow at

about 22 1/4 abovethe flat of the seat.

Wind and push centerspindle up into bow.

Then wind it down intocorrect seat mortise.

Use a framing square to gauge bow for balance-center spindle should be perpendicular to seat deck,bow height near 22 1/4.

Make a reference line on each side of the bow, bothwhere it goes into and comes out of the seat. Thiswill make it easy to reposition the bow in the bal-anced position upon glue-up.

7. Assemble the Back

Dry-fit bow intomortises in seat.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

7/9

Add glue to bow tenons and seat mortises. Reinstallbow to reference lines. Note board lying acrossstretcher to catch excess glue drips.

Mark line inthrough center of

bow tenon, andperpendicular to

seat grain.

Remove bow andspindle from

seat.

Kerf bow tenon along the reference mark. Stopbefore blade intersects reference mark relating tothe top of the seat.


Wedge bow, clean off glue and cut off excess.

Cut excess bow tenons back to within 3/8 of seatbottom for more effective wedging.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

8/9


Add glue to center spindle itstwo mortises and reinstall.Clean glue, cut the spindleoff about 3/8 proud of thebow. Chisel a crack into eachspindle (shown left). Orientthe crack perpendicular tothe centerline of the bow, toavoid splitting the bow.

Glue wedge and tap into thekerf to expand the tip andsecure the spindle in thebow.

Cut the excess back flushwith the top of the bow, orleave it a little proud if youwill be finishing for anantique look.

Pre-fit remaining eight spindles using the following routine: Twist the spindle far up into bow hole. Bendspindle at its middle while swinging butt end of spindle over edge of seat and into hole. Wind spin-dle down into the seat hole to pre-fit/size the hole.Remove spindle, add glue and replace using thesame technique.

As you did with thecenter spindle,chisel a crack intoeach spindle, glueand wedge.

Cut off projection to desired height - flush for a con-temporary look, more irregular for an heirloom look.

Hint: Before drivingwedges into the

spindle tips, chiselthem shorter, thicker

and narrower,shown right.

7/27/2019 BB_Chair

9/9

9

Break something? Heres help!Get replacement parts for your Windsor Chair Kit below.

C LASSIC D ESIGNSby MATTHEW BURAK

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

A

B

C

D

E

F

SPINDLES - PIPESTEM

SP25-P 25 1/4 Pipestem Spindle 2.50 ea




SP12-P 12 Pipestem Spindle 1.50 ea

KEY ITEM PART NO. PRICE

A Continuous Arm Bow CAB-D 73.00 ea

B Front Leg CL1-06 9.90 eaB Back Leg CL1-18 9.90 eaC Side Stretcher CSS-D 8.40 eaD Medial Stretcher CAM 7.50 eaE Seat CABL 125.00 eaG Handblock CAHB 2.80 eaH Arm Support CAS 7.25 ea

Wedge Kit CWGK 2.10 kit

SPINDLES - SMOOTH

SP25 25 1/4 Smooth Spindle 2.50 ea




SP12 12 Smooth Spindle 1.50 ea

Bow Back Chair KitContinuous Arm Chair Kit

Order online at www.ClassicDesigns.com or call toll-free 1.800.843.7405

KEY ITEM PART NO. PRICEA Bow Back Bow BBB-D 30.00 eaB Front Leg CL1-11 9.90 eaB Back Leg CL1-18 9.90 eaC Side Stretcher CSS-D 8.40 eaD Medial Stretcher BBM 7.50 eaE Seat BBBL 123.00 ea

Wedge Kit CWGK 2.10 kit

WINDSOR CHAIR KIT SPARE PARTS

CLASSIC DESIGNS BY MATTHEW BURAK www. ClassicDesigns .com

BB_Chair

Documents

Transcript of BB_Chair