I was asked for pics of the sides and back of the Oseberg chair.  Here they are.  The back is one piece, so it comes off in a unit.

As for why there are no holes in the back for the seat weaving.

This particular one won't have a fully woven seat.  The holes in the front and sides are to mimic the action of a woven seat.  The buyer didn't want to re-weave a seat every time she broke the chair down.  There's a plywood seat that she is padding and covering.

For those coming from my facebook page - Welcome!  This is my running blog on what's going on in the shop and things that are upcoming.

If there is ever any woodworking you want, let me know! You describe it, I'll make it.

Well, I pulled the trigger.  I will be a merchant at an upcoming SCA event, Holiday Faire.  Wish me luck.

Finished 'Birth of Mary' Chair

Okay, here's the finished chair.  This is based on a painting done about 1510, by Hans Holbein from what appears to be a series of paintings on the birth of Mary, the mother of Jesus entitled "The First Bath".  It gets a bit confusing about what the actual name of the piece is, so I'll leave that to the art historians.  I started by calling it the 'Birth of Mary' chair, so I'm sticking with that.

Here's the original. (Taken from an on-line art print seller.)

Basically, a friend of mine asked, "Can you make me that chair?".  Of course, I said.  In the main, the chair is fairly straight forward, with the exception of the finial details on the back-posts.  So, I snagged the highest resolution image I could and zoomed in.

At first, I thought the top was faceted, and maybe the sides, after looking closer, I thought it might be smoother, and after drawing it out several ways, I thought that a more smooth approach would fit in with the chair better.

I'll post a "how it was made" entry later since I'm out of time right now.

Here's the finished project.  Hope you like it.  If anyone wants one, it's $375 the way it is.  This is in Cherry, with a split reed woven seat.  The shape can be modified a fair amount and different woods can be used to meet your style or pocketbook.

Finished chair photos courtesy of   Victoria Dye Photography

Progress on the "Birth of Mary" Chair

Things are going well.  Finished all the fitting and the upper rail joinery.  The decorative elements on the upper rail are moderately indistinct, so I improvised a bit.  Three holes, with carved concave edges, similar to Gothic tracery carving (but a whole lot simpler).

Here's the current status of the chair.  It pretty much looks like a frame because that's what it is.  Once the seat goes on, it'll miraculously transform into a chair.

Blue Ridge Lumber

Okay, so I had been intending on going to a lumberyard over in the valley for the last couple of years, but hey, I've got Northland Lumber, and it's pretty awesome.

Recently, though, I ran into another woodworker and he raved about the stock you could find at the Blue Ridge Lumberyard. So today, I went. It was HUGE! A much larger operation than Northland by probably 20 fold. Heck, it has its own truck dispatch and repair facility. Logs everywhere. It specializes in greenstock and ships all over the place. I could waltz through their place and get everything for a village's worth of log homes and businesses.

Going there is not without risks. Make darn sure if you go that you pay attention to the forklifts. They are everywhere and have a job to do and you are in the way. Do not go near them when they are unloading the log trucks. Having a multi-ton oak log fall out of the cradle onto you or your vehicle is going to contribute to you having a very bad day. (and yes, I did see not one, but two logs do this). 

Okay, onto the important part, the lumber itself. They have a lot of highly figured stock that you can go through and the prices are fairly reasonable. However, the thick stock (I was there for 12/4 cherry) is not so cheap. It was $8/bd ft. versus ~6 at Northland. Also, they only had 2 boards of 12/4 cherry. They had tons of poplar and oak and maple, though. When I asked for a price list, they don't give them out, unfortunately, so you have to call to ask.

If you go, ask for Kenny with the Kiln-Dried stock.

Round Post Joinery

One of the questions I get (along with the head-tilt) when people look at turned furniture is "how do you make the mortises in something round?"

Well, you could hold it in place and freehand drill it.  Or, you could make one of these and do it on the drill press.

Cutting the second set of holes

It's basically a series of blocks cut at angles and glued to a base board.  All of the blocks are cut exactly the same, so they automatically center whatever is put in the middle.  My original set up for this is HUGE and is ungainly, so I decided to make a much more minimalist jig.

Cutting the first two holes is easy, just line up the bit with the incised line (what, you thought those were just for decoration?) and drill away.

What you see in the picture is cutting the second set of holes, which are 90 degrees from the first.  To make sure the holes are at 90, I put one of the chair rails in place and use my speed square (the gray triangle thingy) which has a level on it.  I put the level on the chair rail and adjust the rail up and down until it's level.  This guarantees the second set of holes is perpendicular.

It takes longer to explain than it does to just do it.  It's pretty straightforward.   The biggest advantage for making them this way is that you don't have to mark up your pieces.  The leg is almost at its finished state.  The last thing I want to do is mark it up.

First fitting

I had already put the mortise holes in the back posts, so it was time to do a fitting.  A couple of the rails are a bit thick at the joint, so some adjustments will be needed.

The observant will note that the front top rail is lower than the side rails.  This is for 2 reasons.

1 - It strengthens the joint since the holed for the rails won't meet
2 - Comfort.  A woven seat is more comfortable if the front rail is down from the side rails. It keeps the rail from pressing on the underside of your leg quite so much.

Next up - decorative drilling!