We have a decent-sized batch of Crucible Type 2 Dividers up in the store today, ready to ship. This is the batch we managed to get done before an end mill decided to go supernova in the mill (no one was hurt, thank you for asking).
I use these dividers every day. Above is a snapshot of me adjusting them one-handed to transfer mortise locations to a chair seat.
The bonus with this batch is it contains Megan Cooties. We had to sharpen these by hand before sending them to the warehouse. Cooties are no extra charge.
I don’t think this is what they meant by wet, green wood. But it works.
Most of my chairs are made with kiln-dried hardwood from the lumberyard. Its moisture content is usually at equilibrium with my shop – just like a good flat woodworker would want.
But I know and respect the wet/dry construction methods used by Jennie Alexander and other chairmakers who use moisture content to strengthen mortise-and-tenon joints. (An oversimplified explanation: A wettish leg mortise shrinks on a dry tenon rung to lock the joint.)
After much flailing about and experimentation, here is how I now imitate that process with wood that is kiln-dried.
Let’s say the joint has a 5/8” (.625”) mortise, which I drilled with a spade bit. I then make the tenon about 15 thou oversized (.640”). This size tenon is too big to enter the mortise.
The oversized tenon, before compression.
Compressing the tenon.
The same tenon after compression with soft-jaw pliers.
So I compress the tenon with soft-jaw pliers. By using a firm grip on the pliers and rotating the tenon, I can compress it to just under 5/8” in diameter (.620”). This tenon will easily fit into the mortise.
Then, when I add hot, wet glue and put the joint together, the tenon swells up to (nearly) its original size, locking the joint.
I know this is true because I’ve done a lot of experiments where I have cut apart sample joints. Plus, I have made a lot of chairs this way. But here is a simple experiment you can try, which is more decimal.
First, some facts. The common woodworking glues (both PVA and hide glue) are about 40 percent water. I use liquid hide glue for almost all of my joinery, plus a little PVA here and there. (Note that there are waterless glues out there, especially polyurethane glue. I haven’t experimented with these glues, so I have no opinion on whether they would work.)
So when I take the compressed (.620”) tenon and dip it in some warm water for a second or two, it swells. (This is much like steaming out dents in pieces of wood with a wet rag and steaming clothes iron.)
After two minutes, the tenon has swollen to almost its original size.
After a couple minutes, the tenon swells to .635”. After an hour or two, it swells to almost its full size (.640”).
When I assemble a chair, I can feel this process at work. The tenons enter the mortises with a little effort. The hot, wet glue hits the mortise and within 10 seconds or so, the joint becomes difficult to rotate. After a few minutes the joint is impossible to move.
If this seems like a lot of work, it’s not. It might add 10 minutes to the entire construction time involved in a chair. But I suspect those 10 minutes of extra work might add years to the lifespan of a chair.
I found an error on page 530 of the book – two missing mortises – that we repeated in the full-size patterns. So we fixed the mistake and issued new pdfs for the book and the full-size patterns. It’s not a huge error. A drawing earlier in the book shows the mortises correctly. And the text is correct. I suspect most of you would do the layout correctly and might not even notice.
It has been one of those weeks where everything feels like it is spiraling down the toilet bowl. Last week while making divider legs, an end mill self-destructed – destroying the fixture that holds our dividers’ legs and damaging the mill’s chuck. Estimate: No dividers for three weeks.
And the chair on my bench is fighting me every step of the way. I trashed two shoes yesterday before settling on something that might work. But I’m looking at this chair as I type this, and I suspect this one might be a burner.
There is some good news: Megan and I finished sharpening up a batch of finished dividers and sent them to the warehouse. So we will have some dividers in the store to sell shortly. And our machinist thinks he might be able to fix the damaged fixture in the mill.
Still, it’s one of those weeks where I fantasize about switching places with a friend who is a third-shift security guard at a factory. The place is so quiet and automated that he spends most of his time writing songs in the control room.
My daughter Katherine has just put some jars of Soft Wax 2.0 up for sale in her etsy.com store. These jars are left over from the Lost Art Press Open Day last week. So it’s not as big a batch as usual.
This is the finish I use on my chairs. She cooks it up here in the machine room using a waterless process. She then packages it in a tough glass jar with a metal screw-top lid. She applies her hand-designed label to each lid, boxes up the jars and ships them in a durable cardboard mailer. She is an independent business woman, and I could not be more proud.
Shown here is her loyal cat, Bean, who is sniffing the jar at the request of Katherine. Unlike the earlier version of soft wax, this version has almost no solvents – just a wee bit of a safe citrus solvent. We all love the smell when she cooks it.
Instructions for Soft Wax 2.0
Soft Wax 2.0 is a safe finish for bare wood that is incredibly easy to apply and imparts a beautiful low luster to the wood.
The finish is made by cooking raw, organic linseed oil (from the flax plant) and combining it with cosmetics-grade beeswax and a small amount of a citrus-based solvent. The result is that this finish can be applied without special safety equipment, such as a respirator. The only safety caution is to dry the rags out flat you used to apply before throwing them away. (All linseed oil generates heat as it cures, and there is a small but real chance of the rags catching fire if they are bunched up while wet.)
Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.
Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT): Applying Soft Wax 2.0 is so easy if you follow the simple instructions. On bare wood, apply a thin coat of soft wax using a rag, applicator pad, 3M gray pad or steel wool. Allow the finish to soak in about 15 minutes. Then, with a clean rag or towel, wipe the entire surface until it feels dry. Do not leave any excess finish on the surface. If you do leave some behind, the wood will get gummy and sticky.
The finish will be dry enough to use in a couple hours. After a couple weeks, the oil will be fully cured. After that, you can add a second coat (or not). A second coat will add more sheen and a little more protection to the wood.
Soft Wax 2.0 is made in small batches in Kentucky using a waterless process. Each glass jar contains 8 oz. of soft wax, enough for two chairs.
Y’all know how much I love to do videos (truthfully, I’d rather eat a hairball). So at 1 p.m. Eastern on Aug. 22, Megan and I will put on a live webcast from the shop that will transform the way you think about chairs forever (not really, we’re just going to answer some questions and show some techniques).
In addition to answering reader questions about chairs, I will unveil two techniques that have never been seen before on the face of this planet during the last 1,000 fortnights (actually, they’re quite well-known among chairmakers).
I’ll show you how I ream mortises in chair seats using an electric drill plus the Lee Valley standard reamer. Most students ream too hard and too fast, resulting in a cooked reamer and a burnished mortise. I’ll also demonstrate how I sharpen the reamer after every few chairs. This obscure and frequently secreted sharpening technique will literally blow the front of your skull off (OK, you’d probably come up with it yourself eventually).
If you have a question about stick chairs – how they are made, how they sit, the woods used, etc. – please send that question to Megan using email: fitz@lostartpress.com. Please use the subject line: “Megan, I prostrate myself for a morsel of truth” so she can keep it separate from the 600 other pleading emails she gets every day. Please submit your question before the end of the day on Friday, Aug. 20, so we have time to go through them all and write considered responses (really, we’ll just pick the ones we can make fart jokes about).
The livestream will be broadcast here. We will also provide a reminder on Sunday. After the livestream is over, we will archive it so anyone who missed it can watch it.
Also, we are selling a digital version of “The Stick Chair Book” here for $25. We don’t normally release a book like this, but paper shortages have changed our industry. Our next book might be have to be released on papyrus or on Arby’s wrappers.
