(upbeat music) - Look at this beautiful, tall chair.

It's today's project on The American Woodshop.

So, won't you join us?

- [Narrator] The American Woodshop with Scott Phillips is brought to you by.

(light upbeat music) - Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(upbeat music) - Pro Tools for tool pros.

(intense upbeat music) Rikon tools.

- 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.

(upbeat music) - 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.

- Here's a tale of wood.

Cherry crest rail, walnut legs on the back, Cuban mahogany on the front, hard maple, Honduran mahogany stretcher, maple slat.

Bird's-eye, you got to love it.

Now let's go build this in the American Woodshop.

Here are six perfect maple seat boards, but for those to work we have a lot of bandsaw cutting to do.

Look at this piece right here.

This will be the backbone of the chair.

This is one of the two back legs, and then I made a template for this, traced it out on a piece of reclaimed barn wood, sapwood and all, and we'll cut that out on the bandsaw using a heavy duty blade.

This curve right here, you can see is the back chair rest.

This is what your back will go in to.

So it has to be curved cut and to make those cuts I just made a bow jig with a surveying string and a white marker.

Made it so it's five eighths of an inch, and full length is 18 across, like that.

You make that out of an eighth inch piece of white Oak that has a lot of strength to it and it's adjustable.

Move to that notch to create different curves.

So, we'll cut that out on the bandsaw.

And then the leg assembly.

This is the key to the chair right here.

What's going on is I have two mahogany legs here, and if you look at this top rail, as it's called, it's an inch and an eighth thick, it's four degrees, four degrees right there.

You don't have to get out the angle jig, because you can go to the miter saw.

And at the miter saw, you just cut those two angles, make them complimentary, and then we will domino these in left and right.

And then cut out a graceful curve using the bow jig.

So really we, and then the legs get tapered as well.

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

Work safely.

Safety glasses, these are, hearing protection, and when I'm doing anything really dusty N95 dust mask.

Over here on the bandsaw, this is a heavy duty blade.

It's one inch thick, three TPI, silicon steel, and what I can do is turn on dust collection and sculpt away the parts, now that you've seen the white layout lines on.

Bring it up to speed, (machine vibrating) and make those cuts.

Let's start on the leg first, right here.

Make sure everything's locked and you've got good tension on the blade.

The wider the blade, the easier it is to follow your cut line for straight work like this.

(machine vibrating) This is always fun.

I'm just going to cut right off.

(saw blade whirring) All right, one more little trim cut here.

We need a flat spot, right there.

(machine cutting) And now I can rip that down using the rip fence, but I have a few more curve cuts to make first.

(machine vibrating and hissing) Now, this is crest rail right here.

Beautiful grain pattern on that.

And that's how the bandsaw cuts those curves.

Now, I'm using the rip fence on the bandsaw, parallel to the flat of the blade.

And this is called a tapering jig.

It's set at one and a quarter degrees right now, locked in place, and there's a foot that this goes up against, this inch and a half square.

That's 32 inches long.

So you look at it, that's tapered, that's tapered, and I'll joint that smooth with a hand plane in just a second.

But, let's make this cut, and the other thing I want to do is lower the bearing guide assembly.

That gives me more control, but this is a guard too.

So I'll make those cuts, get that tapered and then, we'll put together some parts with the domino.

(saw blade whirring) (wood rubbing) Straight from the bandsaw, I'm using the number seven plane to smooth out those rough cuts.

And so, I want you to look at this.

This will be the, as you're looking at it, the right which would be this side, leg and the tapers in here and it's on the back as well.

But these two outside edges are nice and straight, and that's how you wanna keep it.

I've taken the left leg.

So you'd face right here.

So, that's the left leg, and I have it set up on the bench so I can use this.

Now, watch this, do not do this at home.

(machine vibrating) See that cutter?

I have that set up to make a cut right here.

It's on dust collection, going to make a cut and you're going to see how this works.

I've got it located the right place, and you want heavy duty, the big dominoes.

These are called loose tenons.

I'll make this cut and you'll see what's going on.

(cutter whirring) Push until it stops.

Turn it off.

And now, what we can do is see the key to this entire chair.

(wood cluttering) You see that right there?

We're going to get these to fit perfectly, and it helps if you knock it down a little bit with sand paper.

(sand paper scrubbing) Some 80 grit, because these do swell.

These are hardwood, and when you put modern glue on this, it's unbelievably strong.

(hammer hitting) So that's solid.

So that's on the left-hand side.

One part of the joint.

I'm going to cut this off with a razor saw to go in to this front rail like that.

It's going to be buried deep in this inch and an eight thick, hard maple piece right here.

So I'll get set up to make that cut.

You'll see it on the end right here.

By the way, there's that curve that I cut out on the bandsaw.

But before I did that, I mitered those two outside angles at four degrees at the miter saw.

So, I'll set this up.

(machine vibrating) It's all about tenons and mortises, the slots and this loose solid hardwood sliding tenon goes in and holds it nice and tight.

And then, same thing on the other side, right side, everything's index.

So we do the next step and this is key because, honestly, once you get the front right, it sets up the angles for everything else.

So now, I'm taking this matching thickness stretcher, some people call it a rail, and I'm putting it under the legs and everything's drawn tight together selecting the tiger maple grain of this.

And that's nice and tight right there, and using a black marker, dark marker, index at the right place, I lay in the lines and remember on the inside, those are tapered now, the legs.

So that changes that four degree angle slightly, over to the miter saw, I'll trim that off, make the domino cuts here, here, there, and there and join it altogether.

(machine vibrating) So, the moment of truth.

Did we make those cuts at the miter saw the right way?

So all the angles line up with the tapers, and let's drive this home and see the fit.

(hammer hitting) Remember, this is all loose fit right now, (hammer hitting) and there's no daylight.

That's perfect.

So now, you're looking at how we build out the rest of the chair.

Over to the bandsaw to curve this on the posts.

No glue yet, to match the seat, so it lays in and then we'll cut out the back stretchers to join the back legs.

Here's how the back leg shaped up, and the way I made those identical.

I used double-sided tape, joined them together, lining up the rough edges, and then I used a jointer plane, or you could use a belt sander to make them uniform and sand them to perfection.

And look at this.

This is a flat, two and a quarter long, and this is where the seat rails go.

But you can see that I did some domino cuts on this face and one down here on the inside stretcher and right about now, you're confused.

You go, I don't understand.

Now, watch what happens.

I use that hard maple rail right there, that's square cut.

So that leg assembly down here, is square.

And then this is the seat area right here.

And there's a left, that goes right there.

And there's a right, that goes right there.

Okay.

And then the front legs come up and marry to that.

There's a notch.

All connects together.

It's very easy to do.

Now I'll get this perfected.

I'll use a microplane to cut the angle down about five degrees on this back edge here, so the seat boards create a saddle when we lay those in there.

But it's time for a road trip.

Time to head to Suzy's shop to see a wonderful rocking horse plan.

Check this out.

This is our very own rocking horse design.

You need two of these three quarter inch thick pieces.

Now Suzy, what in the world are you doing?

- I'm cutting the other side out.

Of course.

- Tell us how you're doing that.

- Well, I've got it stabilized on the bench with the clamps and everything for safety here by the door.

So most of the dust will go out, but I've got a dust mask, safety glasses.

- And the pattern is traced out.

There's a left side, right side.

You want the best grain out.

So, she selected the patterns the right way.

And then, once she gets it cut out, we'll get onto staining it and finishing it with a good outdoor oil.

(machine vibrating) - And then you just follow the line and that's it.

Just take your time and try not to get that blade in a bind.

This is a good straight cut pretty much, so I don't have to worry too much about that.

(machine vibrating) Just keep going and it'll be cut out in no time at all.

I'm using a water-based finish.

The cedar color I really like.

It's really going to bring out that zebra finish in this, it's water-based, and just brush it in.

And I've got some gloves over - Go for it.

- there for you - Right - hand me the gloves.

- Yes ma'am.

- Please.

- But we really only need the gloves when we start to wipe this out.

- Right.

- So to get the right grain penetration into the darker wood here, so it gives us that zebra look, you let us soak in for about five minutes.

Now it's raining here on the metal roof, which I think you can probably hear, which means this water-based finish is going to dry a little bit slower than normal.

So we might let it soak in a bit longer.

So she'll get that brushed out and then we'll wipe it down to see the grain.

And once that's done, we'll let that dry 24 hours and it's exterior semi-gloss top coat.

Water-based again.

And that will be good for outside.

- And make sure you get the edges.

You really wanna seal these edges because that's going to be what's going to be in contact with the ground.

So don't forget those edges.

- Right.

And this is exterior grade three quarter inch thick BC plywood.

The B gives us this wild grain pattern.

The C is just kind of a muted flat, no grain.

You want the grain.

Best grain out.

So we'll get that done.

- Yeah, look at that.

- Beautiful.

- Start out, cutting out a horse and you end up with a zebra.

(Scott laughing) - Okay.

Now, she'll get all the finish work done.

And then I'll put it together back at the American woodshop.

Nicely done.

Good work, Suzy.

Glad you got your barn to work in.

- Yeah, me too, man.

- Suzy does great work.

And this is proof right here.

The rocking horse and the finish is perfect.

That's my secret weapon.

She does all the finishing on the American Woodshop for the most part.

Okay.

Now look at this.

The eye is this heavy duty construction or structural fastener.

And people go, oh those aren't strong.

I beg to differ.

These are rated at 1100 pounds of torque pressure.

These will never fail.

And then I want to point out the dowel rod that goes through here.

See this at inch and a quarter.

And the key to this is using that type of forstner bit, inch and a quarter, to inset that dowel rod a quarter of an inch in this three quarter inch plywood.

And then, well, here you go.

Here's the test drive.

The seat, two by 10 Southern yellow pine dried.

And then this is built to last.

The cool thing about it is, hey, it brings out the kid in you.

I accept no responsibility whatsoever if you use this inside, this is an outside toy.

Okay.

And then the other thing is on the ends 24 inch long, three inch wide red Oak bumpers.

That's a safety deal.

That stops it from rocking over.

So, you can have a ball on these.

Make one for every child you have in your life, and you will be their favorite.

Well, that's the rocking horse.

Now let's go finish the chair.

I love this plan.

And for more details on this checkout Facebook, okay.

On the American Woodshop site.

Now tenon here, tenon there with the dominoes in place and watch how these all come up and, oops, should lock together.

Everything will line up perfectly, (hitting chair) because that's just the way it is right here.

(hammering noise) Some assembly required as it were.

Okay.

So, that looks really cool right there.

And the bottom, this is the dry fit.

And see these legs?

For those woodworkers that know this is Cuban mahogany.

A friend of mine, George Reed, gave me enough to make four legs like this out of very rare wood.

And I cherish this and take care of this and this will be a special place in our home.

So, now on the very bottom here's another piece of mahogany, Honduran mahogany, that comes up and it gets screwed in place to make this whole assembly rigid.

Again, everything gets glued.

This is just a dry fit.

Okay.

But, this is key.

See this piece right here?

It notches in these rails.

Let's get that in there.

Like so, and the curve here has to match the curve of the side rail.

So the seat boards will lay flat on that.

And to do that, we're going to go to the bandsaw and I'm going to use a three-eighths inch blade and notch this out.

I'll lower that down ever so slightly.

But before I do that, I need to cut the graceful curve that I used to bow jig that you saw earlier to form to create that curve of the seat.

So, dust collection on, (machine starting) and let's make those cuts.

(machine cutting) Now, when you back out of a cut, use the brake on your band saw to bring that blade to a stop.

That's why I like those breaks.

(machine vibrating) You save a lot of time.

And now, it's the easiest way to notch it Again, to a stop, back out, and now, I'll do nibbling cut to square that off.

(machine cutting) Don't be taking your fingers in there by that scrap.

Push it out of the way safely, and then remove it.

(machine vibrating) On to assembly.

(machine vibrating) Look at that.

Okay.

And that is all a perfect fit.

And what we're doing now is called the glue up.

Which means, after we did the dry fit we know all the joints are perfect.

And this is the key, oops, mess, Scott to getting a good glue up.

You use the right glue for the job.

Something that doesn't set too quickly and you use an acid brush to brush out the glue in the joint, not on the tenon, that's the mortis.

And you want it to be in the back as well because you don't want this to fail.

Okay?

Because there are no screws in this area and you don't put it on the loose tenon because if you push that in, it's just gonna squeeze right off.

And so, that's good right there.

I wanna brush out some glue on the end grain right there.

And now what I can do, with glue already in the mortises on the back front rail or stretcher right here, is I can bring that up, and I can draw it all tight, and clamp it, (Scott hammering) and let the glue cure.

(clamp scratching) And after about an hour, then we can go outside, sand, and then finish.

And, of course, this piece right here fits in.

It gets screwed in at the very bottom left and right.

Maple cork in the bottle.

Whenever I have a counter bored hole, I tap that home.

I don't like to use glue.

If I have to reverse it, I can pry those out and away we go.

And they'll stay there.

Now, on the crest rail, that cherry crest rail, I have to finish cutting these notches out and I'll tell you, there is no better way to do it than this razor saw style.

I think I'm there.

Yeah, just like that.

I'll do the same for the other side.

Notch that, and the seat boards will come up and on.

I cut a curve on the bandsaw out for the two outside pieces, one screw per seat board.

And, of course, I'll sand this all down.

So I'll get that done.

When I stand, I like to work through 100, 150 and 220 grit sandpaper and then I'll tack it all off.

And from there, I'll use Arm-R-Seal semi gloss finish to really make this chair shine.

I'll get that done.

We'll take a look at the finished chair.

There's never enough time to do all the things I wanna do on the show, but I guarantee you one thing.

When you tackle a project like this from a wonderful magazine, and you make it your own by changing the dimensions, well, I call that time well spent.

So that's it for today.

Thanks for staying with us.

And don't forget Suzy's rocking horse that's on Facebook.

So check it out.

See you next week.

Yeah, that's looking good.

(light upbeat music) - [Announcer] Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(light upbeat music) (intense upbeat music) - Pro tools for tool pros.

(intense upbeat music) RIKON tools.

- 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.

- 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.

(upbeat music) - For more information on tips behind the American Woodshop and watch free episodes 24/7, check us out online and like us on Facebook.

(upbeat music)