Robs Magnificent Chair

One of my versions of this chair made from cheap pine began to rot. I decided I'd replace it piece by piece with good wood and screws that won't rust. After getting some pieces Deb talked me into just making a whole new chair with good wood.

We chose red oak, a beautiful choice as you will see. Seeing I had a bum shoulder I decided to have Southern Lumber cut the wood for me. They wanted a very high price because they had to use a band saw on most cuts. I brought the wood home and thought about it. Most cuts were straight lines.

Normally I'd set up my Workmate, devise some guides and use my circular saw to make the straight cuts. But my bum shoulder squelched that plan. My brother Chuck was visiting so I got him to help me with the straight cuts. It's interesting to see a lefty using a circular saw. So that cut down on the number of cuts. Back to Southern Lumber for the curved cuts. More reasonable at around $35 (They normally charge $1 for each cut on the table saw).

Finally I assembled the chair. I then took it all apart and sanded and stained all the pieces. Beautiful. I then reassembled some parts and left others free. I used steel wool between three coats of polyurethane. I then reassembled the whole chair. It has a few flaws but it looks really beautiful.

Here are some pictures -

P01 - Me doing the final assembly
P02 - Chair shot
P03 - From the rear
P04 - Close of seat area
P05 - Another angle of the seat detail
P06 - Probably the best picture. The color looks closer here.