Editor’s note: Our Mind Upon Mind series is a nod to a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column (also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years”), in which Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement. To that end, we’ve asked you what else you have thought of, tried out and improved upon after building projects from our books.
Send us your own ideas! Email kara@lostartpress.com. You can read more about the submission process here.
Today’s pick is courtesy of Craig Regan, which may be helpful during your next stick chairbuild. Thanks, Craig!
— Kara Gebhart Uhl
Boring a compound mortise for a stretcher in a vertical leg is one of the more complex operations in stick chair building. I developed this shop-made, spring-loaded stretcher to assist in that process. It simulates the position of the finished stretcher and helps in the following ways.
1: It helps you lay out and fine-tune the correct position of the stretcher. This enables you to see how a stretcher will look before boring any mortises and makes sure you are aligned with the center of the leg.
2: Once the stretcher is in place, the steel ends can be pressed into the leg to establish an accurate center point for boring the leg.
3: It helps you measure the length of the stretcher. I use a “shoulder-to-shoulder” measurement then add the length of the tenons later. A pencil tick on the plastic spring housing records the length. A small spring clamp stabilizes the spring mechanism.
4: It’s also useful for prototyping new designs and helping you decide on the stretcher location.
Want to make one? You will need:
- 3/4” dowel (poplar wood is fine)
- plastic toilet paper roller (you can find this at your local home center)
- Kreg Pocket-Hole Jig pocket screw
- J-B Weld quick-set epoxy
- 1/8” x 24 tpi steel rod
Instructions:
1: Disassemble the toilet paper roller by pulling it apart. Cut off the end cap on the narrow tube and insert a section of 3/4” dowel. Use a dab of J-B Weld expoxy to hold it permanently.
2: With the other 3/4” dowel, bore a 3/8”-flat bottom hole in to the dowel end. Insert the capped end of the larger tube and secure it with the Kreg screw and J-B epoxy. Note: You will need an extension bit to reach into the tube depth. Also, pre-drill a pilot hole 1/16” to prevent the dowel from splitting.
3: To size it, reassemble the spring housing with the spring compressed, and mark the unit plus or minus 1” smaller than the space between the chair legs.
4: Pre-drill the dowel ends and insert 1” sections of threaded rod. Grind a point on the rods.
One caveat is the limited length. The cost is about $5 a piece and assembly is quick, so making multiple custom sizes is no problem. You can also do a friction fit (no glue) with the dowel in the smaller tube. This makes swapping out different dowel lengths quick and easy.
Thanks for reading about my spring-loaded stretcher. I hope you find this useful.
– Craig Regan