17 – Detailing

  1. A Walnut Windsor Chair – Introduction
  2. The Log
  3. Transport
  4. Rough Lumber
  5. Seat Blanks
  6. Legs
  7. Arm Posts and Tapered Holes
  8. Carve the Seat
  9. Turn the Undercarriage
  10. Assembling the Seat and Undercarriage
  11. Spindles
  12. Arms
  13. Assembling the Spindles and Arms
  14. Crest Version 1 — The Form Bent Laminated Crest
  15. Crest Version 2 — The Steam Bent Crest
  16. Final Assembly
  17. Detailing
  18. Finishing a Walnut Windsor Chair
  19. Final Notes

Entry 17

Not Quite Ready

Detailing  –  1/20/2008

The last step before finishing.  Neglect it, and there will be problems.

The last step before finishing is what I refer to as detailing.  I go over the whole chair and check for glue squeeze out.  Any that is found is carefully removed with chisels or carving gouges and the area is touch up with sandpaper if necessary.  Since the chairs get a clear finish, all excess glue must be removed.

Occasionally, I get some tear-out in the seat or arms so some wood is missing.  I mix a “filler” from fine sawdust of the same species as the wood to be patched.  The binder is liquid hide glue.  I add a small amount of hide glue to the sawdust and mix.  There should be sawdust “left over” so that I have a “dry” mixture.  Using a small wood spatula, I push the filler into the surface that needs to be patched and smooth it out.  After the filler dries, the excess can be pared away with a chisel and/or sanded smooth.  When the oil and varnish finish is put on the chair, this patch will become all but invisible – as long as the patch is small.  Large patches would be quite noticeable because they do not have the grain pattern of the wood.

Finally, one last thorough going over.  With 180, 240 and 320 or 400 grit sandpaper at hand, I remove any scratches in the wood that were not removed earlier.  I can wet the wood with turpentine or paint thinner to make them easier to spot, but I’d only do this outdoors (for ventilation).  For most of the chair, sanding with 240 grit is sufficient.  For areas of end grain on the seat and arms and the hand-holds at the ends of the arms, the final sanding is 400 grit.  With the detailing done, I sign the chair in pencil.

If I used a milk paint finish like traditional windsor chairs, some of the detailing described here could be omitted (except for cleaning up excess glue and patching).  Certainly sanding to 400 grit is overkill for a painted surface.  I make chairs like these in walnut because of the wood and I want it to show.  So, on to the last step…  (January – March, 2008)