A little stiffer than yesterday, we returned to our shaving horses for more work. Finishing up the front posts (see day 1 for how to), shaving one back post, and tapering the rungs were the tasks for the majority of the day. We also managed a quick trip to the Berea College Farm Store for lunch and a stop by the college’s woodcraft, weaving, and broomcraft centers.
On Day 1, Andy explained that due to the use of green wood techniques for this chair, some of the parts for our finished chair had already been worked (the rungs with tenons that needed to be super dried had been drying for about a week already- air dried at first, then later into the kiln). However to not take away from our learning experience, we would still shape all of the parts that would go into this chair. These parts we were making would get saved for other chairs. The back posts had also already been shaped and bent but we did have time for each of us to shave 1 back post to learn the process.
Back post
The back post is octagonal over ~half it’s length with a flat cut into the face and a bend outwards near the top. It’s a neat design that also greatly improves the comfort of the chair over traditional straight ladder backs. The process is straight forward:
- Start by shaving the 2″ x 2″ billet into a 1 5/8″ square blank.
- Layout the taper start lines on the faces using the story stick, and layout the final dimension square on the end grain of the top and bottom of the leg. Decide and mark which side of the leg will have the cutout, it should be one of the tangential faces (this is your Face).
- Cut the taper into the bottom of the leg using the same process as the front post leg (see Day 1).
- Cut the taper on the 3 sides of the upper leg, leave the Face side alone.
- Mark the cutout: draw lines along each radial side from the upper taper start line to the top of the leg. The lines should be at the same depth as the intended final face on the upper post (this was 5/16″ in from the original square blank)
- Shave the cutout face: use a scooping motion with the drawknife about 1/8″ away from the taper start line to create the rounded hollow. Then remove all the material on the Face from the rounded hollow to the top of the post using the drawknife. The Face should be flat from the rounded hollow to the top of the leg post.
- Make the part octagonal: The Face does not have an octagon so be careful to get 5 equal facets on the sides and back of the upper portion of the back post. The back bottom of the post is the same as the others. The front is mostly the same, you just have to watch out that the facets between the front and sides are positioned correctly. The facets should follow the front post such that they “end” where the cutout begins. This is to say, the outside line of the facet between the front and the side, should be unbroken from the bottom to the top (it follows the octagon and the cutout Face). That’s a horrible description but I can’t think of a better way to describe it.
Between shaving the front and back posts, we also got a quick lesson in log selection. Lots of things to look for there but sometimes even if the outside looks great, the inside will end up with unexpected defects that can’t be predicted. Do your best and have fun with it.
The trips to the Farm Store and College craft areas were unexpected treats. The Farm Store had a great selection of delicious food (only cold sandwiches, salads, and wraps today) as well as locally raised produce and meats. After lunch we ventured over to the Berea College Craft Building. Andy gave us a quick tour of the weaving dept, woodcraft dept, and broomcraft dept. Each were fascinating in their own way, highly recommend visiting them if you ever get the chance.
We finished back up at Pine Croft working on back posts, tapering dried rungs, and re-flattening the back slats that had already been steamed, bent, and put in a drying rack.
The slats are over-bent as part of the drying process. After drying for a bit (maybe a day or two?), we re-flattened them by pushing down on the bench until they fit close to a pattern provided by Andy. We marked center on the slats, then left them inside to dry a little more.
Rung tapering
Another straightforward operation with drawknife and now the introduction of a spokeshave. Andy had already cut the 5/8″ x 1″ tenons using a tenon cutter mounted on a lathe. With the tenons already cut, the taper was just a design feature for the rungs. Some opted for round rungs, some octagonal. I like the faceted appearance so I went with the octagons. While the taper is for the appearance, it is crucial that you don’t over-shave them, cutting into the tenon. Screwing up the taper is forgivable, cutting into the tenon, maybe not. The process:
- Mark center on the rung all the way around.
- Mark the rung into thirds between the tenon shoulder and halfway mark.
- Cut tapers using the drawknife first, only cutting the first third and just below the 2/3 mark (the 2/3 mark line should still be there when you finish this step).
- Stop when your taper almost eliminates the tenon shoulder.
- Repeat this step all the way around the rung on both sides.
- Use the spokeshave to remove the final third of material that butts up to the center. You can take light cuts here which can be your finished surface if nice enough.
- The spokeshave should also be used to blend the taper all the way from the center to the tenon shoulder.
- Final result should be a straight taper on each side, starting in the center, ending at the location where the tenon should had been.
Another fun day spent on the shaving horse. By the end, everyone was a little tired but we were having so much fun no one wanted to leave. Day 3 we’ll get to do some more shaving and introduce steam bending as a new skill!