We’re starting to stitch and ship out the latest run of Roorkhee chairs to customers. This one – bound for Virginia – is in “Crazy Horse” leather with stitched seams and copper rivets at the ends of the seams.
For the record, no horses were injured in the making of this chair. Cows – not so much.
In addition to stitching this chair and using copper rivets, we made another alteration – we doubled up the leather on the arm straps. I’ve seen it both ways on historical chairs – one-ply and two-ply. I like the doubled-up stuff. So if you are making one for yourself, you might make a sample arm strap to see which you prefer.
The Crazy Horse leather is from Brettuns Village in Maine. It is excellent stuff. Tough. And it comes already dyed and finished. The biggest bonus is it is grippier than the smooth vegetable-tanned leather we use. So if you happen to pass out in the chair (with or without alcohol) you are less likely to slide to the floor in a pool of awkward drool.
Since building my first set of Roorkhee chairs, I’ve been tweaking the details for the set of six chairs I’m working on now.
Most of the changes are in the leather. Instead of riveting the leather, we are stitching and riveting the leather. And we are using different rivets. Instead of rapid rivets, we’ve switched to #9 x 1/2” copper rivets. These rivets take more time to install, but they hold tighter (according to our leather experts) and they are easier to deal with when you are working with leather of inconsistent thickness.
And they are more expensive.
To see how to install them, I shot this short video of my shop assistant, Ty Black, making a sample rivet in some vegetable-tanned leather. There’s also a short clip at the end that shows how we are stitching the leather and riveting the ends.
We are quite pleased with the copper rivets. If you have a Tandy store in your area (or another leatherworking store), stop by and take a look at them.
The turnings on the Roorkhee chairs I build are beyond simple – easier than pen turning, to be sure. But some woodworkers simply do not want anything to do with a lathe. For those of you who fall into this camp, here are some ideas.
1. Get over your fear/dislike of the lathe. It’s a fun machine, whether powered by foot, indentured servants (e.g. children) or electricity. This would be a fantastic first turning project.
2. Pay someone to turn the legs for you. There are lots of production turners who could bang these legs out in about an hour.
3. Make the chair with legs shaped by other tools. As shown in the photo above, in the 1930s version of this chair made by Kaare Klint, the makers omitted the cylindrical turning near the top of the leg. The shape at the foot could be made with a drawknife, spokeshave and a gouge or two.
Then there are the chairs shown below, which have a “Land of the Lost” feel to them – kind of mid-Chakka, if you ask me. I think they look clunky, so I’d opt for one of the three choices above.
Want plans for a good Roorkhee chair? Look no further than the October 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine. My plans for a traditional Roorkhee Chair – leather and all – are there, along with construction notes and hardware details.
I have to give a huge thank you to Greg Miller in Australia, who helped guide me through the construction and design process of this incredible chair. My chair didn’t end up exactly like his, but I couldn’t have done it without him.
Some details:
— You can download the SketchUp drawing of the chair here.
— You can download the issue of the magazine here.
— Read more blog entries about Roorkhee chairs here.
The August 2012 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine is in the mail to subscribers – I received mine yesterday – and it features my campaign secretary on the cover.
This fact failed to impress my children – even when the news was accompanied by a flirty little dance.
In any case, if you aren’t a subscriber, the issue will be on newsstands in a few weeks and the digital edition will be available for purchase and download on Saturday, June 30, at ShopWoodworking.com. The article that accompanies the project isn’t your typical Tab A into Slot B story. Yes, there is construction information in the article. But my goal was more to show you how to design one for yourself using the joinery, materials and typical dimensions of campaign chests.
Yeah, I know that’s kind of weird. But it’s the kick I’ve been on for a few years now. Plus, after 12 months, 14 days and 31 minutes after leaving my job, I can now let my freak flag fly.
However, I know that there are some woodworkers who would appreciate a very detailed drawing of the campaign secretary, and so I am offering it for a free download from the 3D Warehouse. It’s a SketchUp file, so you’ll need that free program to view and manipulate the file. Click here to download SketchUp (it’s free). Click here to download the file for the campaign secretary.
I’d also like to take a moment to answer the No. 1 question from readers who have studied the article and my photos: What the heck is that screw for on the side of the top drawer/gallery? Here’s a photo.
The screw shown in the photo is a temporary one – I replaced it with a nice No 10 brass screw after the finish was on. But what is it for? Simple, it holds the sides of the gallery to the desktop. Without the screw, the sides will flop about because they aren’t glued to anything except the back of the gallery.
Still confused?
OK, let’s back up a minute. The cubbyholes are a separate assembly that just slides into the gallery. Ignore them. Forget them. Here, in this illustration I’ve removed them.
What’s left? It’s a drawer without a drawer front. The sides are connected to the back with through-dovetails. The drawer bottom (i.e. the desktop) is in a groove in the sides. Here’s a shot of the drawer bottom in the groove in the sides.
The drawer bottom/desktop is connected to the sides with a single beefy screw through the side and into the bottom/desktop. We need this screw because the drawer front (which is the fall-front of the desk) is attached using hinges – not half-blind dovetails like a traditional drawer. And you can’t glue the bottom/desktop into the groove because it’s a wicked-bad cross-grain construction. So you need a screw.
If you build this project you will find out the solution for yourself, even if you don’t quite grasp it yet.
Just keep muttering to yourself: “I need two screws. I need two screws.” That will fix your problem – and make you some nice new friends at the grocery store.
