| Carved Oak Barstool -- Brass Pins and Sculpted Seat |
From "Wood Works"
episode WWK-112 |
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With the seat and legs put together and the stretchers installed, the bulk of the barstool assembly is complete. In this segment, brass holding-pins are installed to add stability and accent the legs. The seat is then hand-sculpted using a variety of power tools. Materials: Barstool assembly
Hand scraper
Power drill; 3/16" bit
Band saw
Disc sander
Jigsaw
Table router
Handheld router
Power grinder with sculpting blade
Disc sander
3/16" brass dowel stock
Glue gun
Instant all-purpose adhesive
Brightly colored electrical tape
Chalk or carpenter's pencil
Safety glasses or goggles
Note: Cut sizes may vary. For exact measurements, please contact David Marks through his website -- information below under Resources. Safety Alert: Always wear safety goggles or safety glasses when working with wood, saws, drills, routers, etc. Brass Leg-Pins Steps: - Once the glue holding the stretchers in position has dried, hand scrapers are used to remove excess glue and make the stretchers perfectly flush with the legs.
- Next, holes are drilled for the brass pins that will lock the stretchers in position (figure A). The holes are drilled so that they are toed-in at an angle, providing the brass pins with enhanced retention. The ends of the brass pins will be left exposed on the legs, making for a nice detail.
- A 3/16" bit is used to drill the holes for the pins (figure B), toeing them in slightly.
- To make the brass pins, 3/16" brass dowel stock is cut on the band saw into sections that are 2" long (figure C).
Tip: Roughing up the pins with some sandpaper will help them adhere better once they are glued in the drilled holes. - Instant all-purpose adhesive is put into the drilled holes to hold the pins in place (figure D).
- Once the glue has been applied, the pins are positioned and seated with a few blows of a hammer (figure E).
- Finally, once the pins are installed and the glue has hardened, a file is used to flush up the pins with the leg surfaces (figure F). Some sandpaper can be used to put a fine finish on the job.
Leveling the Feet Steps: - To ensure that the legs will sit flat on the floor and the barstool won't rock, each of the feet is ground down on the belt sander until they are all flat and level. The assembled barstool is set on a perfectly flat surface, and horizontal lines are scribed on the feet to indicate a flat bottom-surface (figure G). Brightly colored tape is put on the bottoms of the legs so that the lines will show up clearly.
- The bottoms of the legs are ground away on the belt sander (figure H) -- using the pencil marks as guides -- until the stool sits perfectly level on a flat surface.
Shaping the Seat Steps: - Once the feet have been ground down so that the barstool sits perfectly level, work can begin on shaping the seat. A template is used (figure I) in cutting out the profile for the top.
- A pencil mark is scribed around the perimeter of the seat top, and the mark is used as a guide for rough-cutting out the seat profile using a jigsaw (figure J).
- The rough cut left by the jigsaw is cleaned up on the table router using a flush-bearing bit. The template is attached to the top of the seat as a guide for the router bit. Since clamps would be in the way, the template is temporarily attached to the seat top using a glue gun. With the template attached, the seat is flush-trimmed all the way around its perimeter (figure K). In our demonstration, the full thickness of the seat stock was taller than the height of the flush-bearing bit. Therefore, the template was used to smooth the lower part of the seat first (figure L). Then the template was removed, and the router bit was raised to cut the shape on the rest of the seat (figure M). A variable-speed router set at 10,000 rpm was used to ensure a safe, clean cut with the router bit.
- Next, a handheld router with a 3/4" radius bit was used to round over the top edge of the seat (figure N).
- The next step is to sculpt the bottom edge of the barstool to create a beveled edge. When sculpting wood, it's always helpful to delineate boundaries. In our case, a compass was used to scribe a line 1" in from the edge and all the way around the perimeter of the seat (figure O). Tape is used to delineate the bottom edge of the radius that was just routed in the previous step (figure P).
- Sculpting the bottom edge entails carving a bevel that reaches from the pencil line to the bottom edge of the radius -- all the way around the perimeter of the seat. The tool used for this process is a power-grinder with a sculpting blade installed. The power-grinder is used to carefully remove wood to form the bevel (figure Q ).
- Once the bevel along the bottom has been created, the grinder and sculpting blade is used to sculpt a comfortable curve in the top of the seat (figure R) -- including the through tenons.
- The sculpting tool works quickly to create the beveled edge but leaves a rough finish and some gouge marks. A disc sander, with 50-grit sandpaper, is used to remove rough marks (figure S) and bring the seat close to its final form.
In the final segment, air-powered tools are used to finalize the barstool's smooth finish, and a tung-oil wood stain is applied. Sponsored Resource
> Click here to order your tools and materials for this project from Woodcraft!
RESOURCES :
Fine Woodworking
A magazine devoted to high-quality craftsmanship in woodworking.
The Taunton Press Inc.
Website: www.taunton.com
The Small Wood Shop (The Best of Fine Woodworking)
Author: Helen Albert (Editor)
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561580619
Woodworking Techniques: Best Methods for Building Furniture from Fine Woodworking
Author: Editors of Fine Woodworking magazine
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 1561583456
Mastering Woodworking Machines (Fine Woodworking Book)
Author: Mark Duginske
Publisher: Taunton Press
ISBN: 0942391985
David Marks Website
David Marks, DIY's Wood Works host, is a master woodworker. For more information on cut sizes and project details, please contact him via his Website at www.djmarks.com
The Complete Woodworker's Companion
Author: Roger Holmes
Publisher: Watson-Guptill
ISBN: 0823008665
The Complete Book of Wood Joinery
Author: Robert J. Decristoforo
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Co.
ISBN: 0806999500
Advanced Woodworking
Model: 0783539126
Author: Editors of Time Life Books
1998
Time-Life Books Inc.
Website: www.timelife.com
Popular Woodworking
F & W Publications, Inc.
Website: www.popularwoodworking.com
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