Here’s a little recap of what’s been going on in the shop.
Tapered Leg Indent
The Greene & Greene Adirondack Chair features a nice tapered indent on the front legs. This feature is much easier to make than it might first appear. A simple jig (inspired by Darrell Peart’s design) straddles the leg and when used with a router outfitted with a straight bit and guide bushing, its a no-brainer. A perfect indent every time!
Three Leg Options
Now because this is a Guild Build, I like to show alternative options whenever possible. So I decided to try my hand at carving a foot similar to one I saw on a Greene & Greene plant stand. I have absolutely no training in carving so I just did my best to replicate the design and the results were passable. Still needs some refinement and I can definitely use more practice. But you get the idea.
As a third option, I showed how to make a leg that is commonly found in Greene & Greene pieces and it features nothing more than a little slope at the foot on all four sides. Here’s a nice shot of all three leg options. I’m still going with the tapered leg indents, but it was nice to review a few different designs.
Angled Tenons
The next thing I worked on was the side legs of the chair. The trickiest part about these bad boys is the angled tenon. But my Incra 3000 was up to the task! Some careful attention to the miter angle along with a razor sharp dado blade results in perfect angled tenons.
A Close Shave
After a test fit, I noticed my tenons were just a little long. So I decided to shave a few thousandths off using my smoother. I just sharpened the iron last week so I was anxious to see what this puppy could do. After a couple passes I was pulling up .002″ shavings. Now that would put a smile on any woodworker’s face!
If you’re interested in joining us on this build, check out all the features and benefits of a Guild Membership!
The Dogs
And on a completely off-topic note, Jax and Lexi wanted to say hi. Don’t let Lexi’s smile fool you. She’ll rip your face off if you try to come into her yard. And Jax, well, let’s just say he has been working for years on his special trick: balancing a single blade of grass on the tip of his nose.
How did u make the jig to do the leg indents I wanna make one for a set of legs that are 3/4″ sq. and taper down to 9/16″? Is there a vid of it somewheres?
The jig is pretty simple and it was adapted from a drawing in Darrell Peart’s G&G book. It is made by cutting a piece of ply into three pieces and then cross-cutting the center piece to remove the area for the routing. The pieces are glued back together without that center piece. This gives you an area for your router bit and guide bushing to do its work. All you need to do from there is attach two rails that will straddle the leg. A piece of scrap material is used to raise one side to create the slope.
You can see the jig being made and used in the context of this project in the Guild: http://thewoodwhispererguild.c.....ack-chair/
Re: the blacker leg indent. Do you think that will collect water and encourage wood rot over time? I was about to try it on a few posts for a patio railing and then I started wondering how the rain would run off.
I might invert it, put the indent on the top running down.
The indent is quite small and the edges are rounded over, so I think any moisture accumulation would be minimal. But I guess we’ll find out. :)
All the legs look great, but the indent legs look the best.
And such cute pupperonies!
Great to see all the leg options Mark. How long did each of them take? Looks like the carved leg was quite a lot of work.
I really like the middle leg!
I like the one in the midle
Cool dogs….
Nice legs Marc! lol Awesome dogs too. Hoping to join the Guild soon.
Indents are really cool, but the carving is nice too. Just a guess, but if you put the two options side by side in the open market, the indents would be favored. Nice too that a simple jig accomplishes such a nice feature.
Your photos are beautiful Marc. What cameras do you use. DSLR?
I gave up on the “big boy” camera a long time ago. So now I just use this little guy: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Cyb.....038;sr=8-6
I tend to like the indented legs as well. It would be interesting if the rear legs could be indented as well, but it would have to be a compound indent to keep the indents pointing down and back. Kind of hard to explain without a pencil, the deepest part would be at the rear lower corner.
Pats for Jax and Lexi ;-)
Real grass in AZ? or cactus trimmings…
Love the indent with the tapered bottom…maybe?
don
Marc: I’m with Claude…I prefer the indent legs.
Lexie: Arf
Jax: Ruf
Love the indent legs.
I really, really like the carved detail. Will you be adding that endeavor to the video? Love the puppies. ;~)
You know it!
Wait, you have grass?
just a little. :)
Is Jax a Rotti mix? Our shepherds are the same way. They look all happy in pictures, but one look at a stranger and they’re ready to throw down. Good dogs. Good dogs.
I mean Lexi.
Lexi is actually a pure bred Doberman. We just left her ears all floppy so she looks even less intimidating. But when she growls, you know real fast she’s definitely a dobie, lol.
Thats what was throwing me off. Good looking pups.
.002″ continuous shaving on end-grain?!? I didn’t know end grain could do shavings like that. That mahogany must be a joy to work with.
Can’t wait for the video! Really like the tapered leg indents. They look nice!
Looks good so far! Building a traditional chair along with the guild build, and have found it enjoyable so far.
Let Jax know, that not to worry, someday he will get that blade of grass balanced. Just like someday my dog will catch her tail!