Let's turn this into a chair

[Thumbthumper]

It's getting close to actually being a chair

Finished Cedar plugs on the front legs.

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All the components (minus the seat) have now had the polish smoothed out. I washed a bit of the old dirty polish over the new bits of Cedar to blend the colour.

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I used a chisel, gouge, hand drill, and a brace countersink to make some pocket screw holes.
A lot of rail back chairs just had the seat nailed onto the rails. I considered doing this, but I didn't have enough old period nails.
The other rail back (pictured above) that I have, has original pocket screws.

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Glue up time.
The back is now on the back section. The front legs and rail are together.
Tomorrow I'll glue up the side rails.

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[Wongo]

I find this thread inspirational. Nice work.

[Horsecroft88]

Very impressive work Thumbthumper, and so readily shows how well cedar responds to some TLC.

A quick question and hopefully not a dumb one, out of curiosity, where do you get your hide glue from and just how suitable is it to this sort of work (suspect I know the answer to this). The other and possibly equally dumb question is why to use a hide glue rather than a modern epoxy resin type glue (again I suspect I know the answer to this).

Am sure looking to see the finished product, including how you join the base, given if I understood it you are going to have to join two sections cut down from an old table top.

[Thumbthumper]

Very impressive work Thumbthumper, and so readily shows how well cedar responds to some TLC.

A quick question and hopefully not a dumb one, out of curiosity, where do you get your hide glue from and just how suitable is it to this sort of work (suspect I know the answer to this). The other and possibly equally dumb question is why to use a hide glue rather than a modern epoxy resin type glue (again I suspect I know the answer to this).

Am sure looking to see the finished product, including how you join the base, given if I understood it you are going to have to join two sections cut down from an old table top.

The last batch of hide glue I bought was from this forum's sponsor. I use the pearl type.

HIDE GLUE - Joiners Pearl Glue

Hide glue is fantastic stuff. It's got instant grab if you're sticking glue blocks. You can get old joints apart with heat/water. It can be mixed for some slip if you're veneering. It doesn't mess with finishes. I can be glued to itself. I could go on, but read up about it. Once you use it, you won't go back

I've seen 160 year old furniture with good strong joints that I believe are original. I'm not sure if any of the modern glues would last this long (I suppose only time will tell).
The next person to restore your furniture (in 200 years time) will thank you. The goes the same for the shellac finish.

I'm also a bit of a traditionalist. I use traditional tools/techniques/finishes/hardware and glues. The bandsaw is the only power tool that I use regularly.
I like the whole sympathetic approach.

For the seat, I would prefer to use a single piece, but I don't have a wide enough board that is about 10mm. I do have wide boards 25mm thick, but my bandsaw isn't big enough to re-saw boards that wide. The piece of table top that I had, fitted though the bandsaw, and sawed into two boards about 10mm thick. There will only be one join, and seeing as how they'll be out of the same board, the colour match will be perfect.

I'll start work on the seat, after I finish the glue-up.

[Thumbthumper]

I find this thread inspirational. Nice work.

Thanks Wongo.

I just hope it doesn't push the price of Cedar bits and pieces up

[Horsecroft88]

Thanks for the advice re the glue Thumbthumper, that is really most helpful and timely. I too like traditional methods and finishes, hence sought out such advice 20 something years ago as to how I should finish the joinery in my home, shellac of course being the answer. And I am still using it, and won't use anything else, apart from tung oil on the floor and bench tops etc.

I know it is slow, pedantic, but the finish, feel and look of it is what I love. I so dislike modern plastic finishes. Hence therefore to find out that there is an equivlent choice for glues, is the right choice for me. I will get onto this ASAP.

I understand what you say being a traditionalist with your tools as well; though for house construction/restoration purposes I have to admit to owning both a drop saw and a circular saw, but I wouldn't use them for furniture. Similarly I have an orbital sander, electric drills etc, but again not to be used for furniture restoration projects, well maybe the drill for specific purposes only. I do use a heat gun to get paint off, but thereafter everything is done by hand.

What you say about the seat base sounds fine to me. With one of my two wooden base cedar bar backs it has a one piece base, the other is a two piece joined approximately in the middle. I really like the look of these chairs and they seem to suit both my early houses, as do my other antiques. I am not really a modern furniture person.

[Thumbthumper]

I got the chair frame glued up this morning.

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The old table top has some nice Cedar in it. The face of the seat will be the old top.
Ready made character .

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I worked out a way to avoid the old screw holes.
I roughly cut out a square.

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Jointing the boards.

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And the glue up.

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Next job is to start shaping the seat.

[mattocks]

The chair frame looks great tubthumper.
Can't wait to see it finished

Cheers

Frank

[Thumbthumper]

I've finished shaping the seat base.

Here it is all dirty.

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And after a good scrub with metho.
There's not much original polish in this old table top.

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Next, I'll be screwing down the base, giving the whole chair a polish.

Stand by for the glamour shots soon

[Horsecroft88]

Really looking forward to completion of this seat, as are you I would expect. A real credit to your restoration work to bring this back to life, and it will be a pleasure to both look at and sit on. I enjoy mine.

[Thumbthumper]

Finished !

I still need to give it a buff with some wax, but it's moving into the house tonight.
I ragged on a finish based on about 1 cup shellac, 2 tbsp BLO and 1/2 tbsp pure gum turps. I added the turps because I wanted a lower sheen.

We've come from this ....

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To this ....

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Thanks to all who had a look.
Time to find another project

[Horsecroft88]

A magnificent result and definitely worth while spending the time and some materials on rescuing one more chair from our past. I can well imagine this is a worthy addition to your home. Enjoy the results.

What next ??

My table project similarly is closing in on completion. I ended up filling the crack with a dark cedar putty and re-shellacing the top numerous times. Have just cut it back and wax polished it. Will talk a little more about mine over on my thread.

Look forward to what ever you tackle next. Always learning from others here.

[Christos]

This is very impressive work.

[burraboy]

Lovely job Tt! Good to see someone who doesn't muck about too!

[floody_85]

Wow! That's fantastic. What an amazing job. Congrats