(upbeat country music) (drill whirring loudly) - Hi, welcome to "The American Woodshop."

I'm Scott Phillips, and today we're going to make two projects.

One's a ladder back rocking chair.

I'll show you how to convert a good chair into a rocking chair, and then we're getting into the perfect garden bench.

So stay with us!

- [Narrator #1] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by... - [Woodcraft Narrator] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(intense music) - [Narrator] Pro tools.

For tool pros.

(intense music) Rikon tools.

- [Narrator] #2 Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- [Narrator] A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- Today we're going to make a rocking chair for the ages, a nice ladder back, and this is where I found a good chair at an antique shop.

Not an antique, I'll show you how to ID that in a bit.

And also we're going to make the perfect garden bench out of some reclaimed mahogany.

But right now we're working on the chair, and this is the bottom of the chair.

You'll see it sitting up right in a second.

But look at that.

That's a tenon.

This is a tenon cutter.

And don't even think of doing this with a cordless tool.

You need a cord on your drill.

And watch how this works.

You set it on, and the chair has to be clamped to the table, and you sight straight down the drill and the tenon cutter and onto the post.

And you line it up and your brace this to your body.

And whatever you do, be sure to read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products that you use in your wood shop.

Work safely.

And I'm working outside because I love it!

You can hear the planes, the trains, and the birds.

What's not to love?

So watch how you cut this tenon.

(drill whirring) (tool whistling against wood) Now, I'm taking it all the way to a line that I have marked on there.

And that's so this tenon will be cut off with a razor saw to fit into a rocker.

And I need to do the same down here.

(drill whirring) (tool whistling against wood) (drill whirring) (tool whistling against wood) Okay, looking good.

One more.

(drill whirring) (saw scraping against wood) Once I have all the tenons cut, I'm cutting off the extra part of the tenons.

Why do you leave them long like that?

It's easier to get the perfect centered tenon on a long stock than it is a short one.

And the key to all this working is clamping it securely and line it up square to the edge of your work surface.

Now, watch what happens here.

We set that down.

And is there any rocking to that?

No.

So I know the work is perfect.

Now I sat in this and why did I cut that shorter?

You can't have pinch points on your legs right here.

By the time I put the rockers on, that's going to raise that about an inch and a half.

And for me, this height will be perfect and this is going to be my armchair.

Now, I told you I'd show you how to identify a new chair, not an antique chair.

This is called a rush seat weave.

Normally these traditionally were made out of cattails.

They took the flat leaves, wound 'em together, and created this weaving material.

If you look closely at this and you pull it apart, you can see underneath there's a little bit of cardboard.

That's the tell.

They didn't do that on the antiques.

This is nicely done on a craft paper-like rush, and it's a great seat and a great chair.

The ladder back or the slap backs here, they call it ladder back 'cause it's like rungs on a ladder, these are made out of elm.

And if you look at that closely, you can see the ray structure and then these posts are actually maple and these arms are actually poplar, and the finish is just right.

It's not new, it shows wear, I like that.

This chair was made in the '60s, I can tell, just by knowing antiques.

Now, the next thing that I want you to see, I've taken the liberty of forming up a rocker based on a Maloof rocker pattern.

This is probably too long, but this is the identical rocker that you saw me make the Maloof rocker inspired rocker with.

So if it's too long after we get it made, I'll just cut it off with the razor saw that you just saw me use.

Now, I'm going to bring this up.

Up and on.

And that's a pressure fit into the seven eighths inch diameter holes that are drilled, and I'll show you how to drill those in a second.

But...

Boy.

That looks to be just right height for me.

So that's how you'd cut the tenons.

And I'll show you how to drill the other rocker, but we have to cut that out at the band saw.

But before we do that, come over here to see the other piece that we need to cut at the band saw.

(animation whooshing) Driving down the road, I found this by the curb.

The wood was shot, but look at the cast iron!

And I painted that.

That's called Lagoon rust proof paint on that cast iron.

I'll set that out of the way.

And I mocked up some work pieces here.

Originally, the bench was made out of red oak.

Bad choice!

What woods do you want for outdoor use?

Mahogany is excellent.

Naturally, bald cypress, except it's not very strong.

So mahogany is going to hold stainless steel fasteners way better than bald cypress.

Nothing wrong with red wood as long as it's recycled.

I don't like using new redwood.

We can recycle.

But anyways, let me show you how this whole frame now is made.

This was out of pressure treated and that's what I was going to use, but I found some old mahogany that I got for a song.

And that's what you want.

You don't want any new mahogany.

Fast growth doesn't hold up well.

You want the dense old growth.

And you don't want any sap wood on it, any of the woods that will be durable outside.

Another good outdoor wood is white oak.

Now, I'm going to pull this apart and you're going to see something and you'll go, "Oh, that makes sense!"

Right here, these are called dominoes.

And out of the new pieces that we'll mill out, same length as this and same width, but we're going to use mahogany now and we'll do domino cuts for that.

And then on this crest rail that's curved, I'll pull the dominoes out now and lay this pattern out right here.

That looks good, and this will last the rest of my lifetime easily.

When you use a good outdoor oil on this, this should last 30, 40 years.

Anyhow, so I marked the length there and now with a white marker I'm just laying in my cut line, keeping the work piece lined up the right way so I get a proper transfer of the pattern.

Okay, now let's go make a rocker and cut out the crest rail parts.

100% of the cuts now will be made with the band saw.

Here's the key.

You use the right blade for the job.

This is a half inch wide blade, has three teeth per inch, silicon steel.

Take care of the blade and it'll take care of you.

Add plenty of tension to it and be sure to lock this column when you make your cuts.

So this is probably my second favorite tool in the wood shop.

Wood lathe being number one.

Okay, so we're ready to make the cuts.

I've transferred the rocker pattern to a piece of sap wood and heartwood walnut and the grain kind of flows together.

I like that.

If you do a stack, cut two at one time, the curves will be the same, but I'll show you how to true it up when you do individual cuts like this.

Also, we'll cut out the crest rail, a white oak bottom seat brace for the bench, and the two side pieces for the frame assembly around the cast iron.

Okay, so that's locked.

We're ready to make those cuts.

And now just leave the line.

That's important.

So make all those cuts.

Dust collector on.

Here we go!

(band saw whirring) (band saw whirring) (band saw whirring) (band saw whirring) (crank squeaking) When I was a teenager, my father bought this handy little tool.

Paid 100 bucks for it, which was a lot back then, and I still have it, which gets me to the point, sometimes spending a little extra money on good tools, well, it's worth it.

Now, these are two of the rockers, okay?

One that you saw made it to the chair, and the other that we cut out on the bandsaw.

It's very, very close, but not identical.

So to get 'em identical, I use a bit of double-sided tape and press those together with clamps, that holds 'em together securely.

And now what I can do is use a belt sander 50 grit and profile this.

If you've ever seen a rocking chair and it kind of walks around the room, it's because the rockers aren't identical, okay?

So by doing this two together and sanding this, keeping this flat, that's going to make the rocker just rock away.

Watch that cord.

Sand it smooth.

(sander whirring) And keep it moving!

(sander whirring) So you don't get flat spots.

(sander whirring) So now, that should do it.

Oh yeah, that will rock great.

I'll take these out of the vice, and then pull the double-stick tape apart.

And those are identical now!

Got to get rid of these.

You don't want that sticky residue around when you sand.

That looks good.

And now what we can do is drill the holes.

And what we're doing is using a seven eighths inch Brad point bit, spurs in a fine point right there.

Seven eighths of an inch, matching these seven eighths tenons.

And to get the holes just right, you bring it up to the rocker and you lay in lines right on the center with it being six inches back from the tip.

And I just used a square like this to get that point just right.

And now I've got my lines right here that I need to, when I drill it, make sure when I drill the holes that those lines are perpendicular and as long as I drill the bit perpendicular, the holes will be just right.

And that looks good right there.

You'll see what I'm talking about right here.

Here we go.

Right on center.

And be careful of that bit, but it has to be on the center and on the mark.

And that's it right there.

If you're off just a hair, that's okay.

If it's more than a hair, they won't fit.

I'm going to angle this just a bit to get it started where I want it, and now straight up and down.

(drill whirring) And watch that bit.

Okay.

Now I know from experience, right there, that's one inch deep.

That's perfect.

And now I'll adjust this so that I can get a better hold and drill the other hole perpendicular.

Press down nice and tight.

Having this vice bench like this is worth its weight in gold.

So right on that line.

Looks good right there.

And I'll start it.

Now I can keep it square.

(animation whooshing) That looks good right there.

Nice.

Up and on.

(hammer knocking wood) And here we go.

Nice.

So far, so good.

Oh, ho, ho!

How about that?

Looking sweet!

(hammer knocking wood) Now, let's see how we did.

We'll set this down on there.

Pressure fit.

Of course that'll get a little bit of glue down the road, but... That's what you want right there.

It's standing one place as it rocks.

And oh, son of a gun!

I've got myself a new TV chair, how about that?

Well, a new old TV chair.

I like that!

So we'll get on to finishing that in a bit.

But before we do that, let's go put the back of the bench together with the cast iron.

Boy, I love that cast iron.

Now, we're going to use these long dominoes to join the frame together, the crest rail to the base.

And these are the... (tool whirring) Long cuts that you make.

First in one piece, then in the other like so, just lining up the cursor on the machine and then holding the face flat.

(tool whirring) And why are we doing this?

Because once this gets glued in here?

Oh my word, you talk about a strong joint.

And the other thing is it levels everything up.

It's smooth.

So that does get glued.

And there's a little bit of side to side adjustment, and the way you get that is on this cutter, the machine.

See the big slot or the little slot.

If you want it super tight, you do it there.

If you need a little bit of play, you run it there.

It's the little things in life that make a big difference.

Now I'll make the rest of the cuts and then we'll do the glue up and assemble the back of this salvaged beautiful bench.

Of course, we're overdoing it with the mahogany, but it was salvaged.

Here we go.

(tool whirring) All right, having the glue in the mortises only.

I slide the dominoes all the way home.

Start the assembly all the way around, and I want to move out here nice and tight, good tight joints.

Glue's already on the faces and in the mortises.

There's no point in putting it on the domino because it would just, when you press it in, it's going to take that glue right off.

So now this is self squaring, because I just make sure that all the cuts, all the joints are nice and tight.

And I've got just a brief period of time where I can, this is best face down now, and I'm going to...

This is the back.

Before I put any clamps on that, I want to bring the cast iron up, lay it on, center it up.

That looks really good.

Now I can bring the clamps up and that will square everything up, keep it nice and tight, draw that joint tight right there like that.

And as long as my layout marks were true, and I know they are, layout's everything, we'll let that cure out.

While that's curing, let's go work on the seat.

(animation whooshing) Now, I have pre-drilled pilot holes for this bottom seat brace.

All I have to do is line up the holes in the mahogany boards here to those pre-drilled holes and join this whole assembly.

Now, you're about to see we're doing some shortcuts here, and these are brass screws going into pre-drilled holes into that white oak piece that was cut out at the band saw.

Okay, that's there.

Now, let's flip that over so you can see what's going on.

That gives you the curve that you sit in and that supports these boards, make it stiff over the length of it.

Now that that is assembled together, using all the metal parts that we salvaged from the old bench, do not have any sharp edges.

You can take a low-angle block plane and just radius over the front edge where your legs will go and take those shavings off like that.

No router required.

And then once that's done, let's sand it smooth all the way around, and then we'll get a good coat of outdoor oil on this.

(sander whirring) Surface prep is key.

All this has been thoroughly cleaned with a tack cloth.

Let's see what we're dealing with.

This is an outdoor oil on reclaimed mahogany.

And I'm moving out here, that's what you want to do.

And I can tell you, as long as you rejuvenate this every three or four years, this will last decades.

And I just love the- Oh, look at the ribbon!

I love the surprises that wood brings you.

And whatever you do, work in very well ventilated areas, because your health depends on it.

When you're using oil-based anything, there are volatile organic compounds you don't want to breathe.

That's why I love finishing outside.

And if there is a little bit of dust that gets into this, well, that just adds to the character.

Just let it dry and then you can remove it.

I'll hit this with two coats.

Make sure you sand it lightly after the first coat because it's going to raise the grain.

Any finish will do that.

Dry wood is like a sponge.

So that's that piece right there.

I think you'll agree, that was worth saving.

That came from the Brubaker Auction, that mahogany.

Paid a princely sum of $10 for all the mahogany.

It was the Leonard estate.

And then don't need to stain this walnut.

All this same outdoor oil is going to give it a nice color of its own.

Let it be natural, it matches the chair.

That's what that looks like.

But I want you to look at this piece right here.

Oh my word!

This ribbon mahogany!

It's just like, oh my goodness!

Again, from the Brubaker estate.

So keep your eyes open and go to auctions that have wood.

You can buy it pennies on the dollar.

That's what I do and I archive it.

You know, have you ever noticed that there's never really enough time to say all the things you want to say?

Well, this is no exception.

I'm trying to get this fastened in so that we can wrap this up in 26 seconds.

So all I can tell you is all these things that you saw today were old things.

What's the moral of the story?

Every good story has a punchline.

Punchline is don't give up on old things.

Because I think you agree, they're worth saving.

So that's getting screwed in all the way around.

I did that on the very bottom, fastened it up.

And then this rocking chair, well, the proof is it's got a soul.

So, well worth doing.

Well, that's it for this week at "The American Woodshop."

Join us next week for more great ideas.

Sure appreciate your time.

Thank you for being with us.

See ya.

(upbeat music fades) - [Narrator] Since 1928, Woodcraft has been providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(intense music) - [Narrator] Pro tools.

(intense music) For tool pros.

(intense music) Rikon tools.

- [Narrator] Woodcraft Magazine.

Projects, plans, and web links designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon Steel band saw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- [Narrator] A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information about "The American Woodshop," you can watch free episodes 24/7 on our website and you can find us on these social media platforms.

(upbeat country music)