She wasn't pretty until she lost some weight and changed her outfit.

[Dodgy Loner]

I'm talking (of course) about a chair.

My wife and I were at an antique store last month. She was picking out new (old) chairs for the dining room.  Non-matching for an informal look. Fine with me. They are much cheaper than matching sets. I found an old, handmade ladderback chair that I liked. It had a wonderful patina. Red glaze on top of beige paint on top of cobalt blue paint. Chipping away in various places to give an indication of its age. It had a seat woven of ash splints that was brittle and cracking and would need to be replaced, but that was no problem. I have woven many a seat. At $22 for a 100+ year old, handmade chair, the price was right.

My wife picked out a chair that had...issues. It was a mid-20th century factory-made "Windsor". The turnings were ugly, the seat was ugly, and the crest rail was – you guessed it - ugly. On top of that, all the joints were loose and the chair was as wobbly as a termite in a yo-yo. But I figured I could glue the loose joints back up and give her a coat of paint and she would be acceptable.

One day after work, I took a mallet and began disassembling the loose joints. It turned out that all the joints were loose. In 10 minutes, I no longer had a chair, but a stack of parts.



I thought to myself, well this isn't so bad. At least now it will be easier to sand the parts for painting.

The parts sat in my shop for a month. In the meantime, I did some thinking (...dangerous...).

It occurred to me that it would be pretty easy to pop the turnings onto the lathe and refine them a bit. Probably less work than sanding them actually. So that's what I did.

Here is a leg:


And the outer back spindles:




They were much crisper and more elegant than before. I was very pleased.

Then I figured it would be much quicker to shave the spindles with a spokeshave then to sand them – plus it would give me the nice facets that I love so much on handmade Windsors:



Then I thought, what a shame it would be to use such nice turnings and spindles when the crest rail is so lifeless. It wouldn't take much work to give the crest a little shaping. So that's what I did:



And of course, by that point, the seat was the only part left. How silly it would be to go to all the trouble of re-shaping all of the other parts, only to leave the seat un-touched!

All it needed was a few saw cuts to give the ugly rounded tail a more traditional appearance:


And a little bit of work with a veiner to add the groove to define the seat:


And a little work with a wide gouge and some scrapers to raise a peak in the front of the seat:


And the back of the seat needed to be relieved some more for comfort:


And some drawknife and spokeshaving to lower the outer corners and to refine the curve on the perimeter:


A little sanding, and Voila! All better.


Now we're ready for assembly.




And paint:
















It took a whole weekend, but now it's my favorite chair. Not bad for $20 :D

[WmFritz]

Wow, Wow, Wow!  I'm always amazed what can be done with the right skills.
You took an ordinary, plain chair and gave it life.

The bad thing is, I cant show this to my wife because then I'd have to explain to her why I cant do that.  :D :D

[Texas Ranger]

Congratulations on your new chair, I have done the same, and yes, the lathe is a much better solution.  Every now and then I have a broken spindle that needs replacing, or a leg, or a leg stringer, lathe is essential in the  repair, refurnish, business.  And cleaning up the profile is good for business.

[Ljohnsaw]

I am a lover of wood grain and after all that work, I would have a REALLY hard time painting over the wood.  I would clear coat it.  However, what you have there might pass as a really well made antique!!!  Just for grins, you should take it to the antique traveling road show to get an estimate of its worth  ;)

[Dodgy Loner]

ljohnsaw- I used to be with you on the wood grain vs. paint, but I have decided that there are certain furniture forms that simply beg to be painted. A traditional Windsor chair is one of them. It was amazing how the layers of paint highlighted the "topography" of the chair and exposed hand tool marks that were invisible when all you could see was the grain. One of the things I noticed is that the best Windsor chairmakers will usually offer clear-finished chairs that have a much simpler style. Have a look at Curtis Buchanan's gallery if you're interested. The simpler forms allow the wood grain to take center stage, rather than fighting with the complex turnings and shaping for attention. Since this was a traditional Windsor after I got done with it, I chose the paint and never looked back!

Your comment about the traveling road show made me smile. My wife asked a similar question last night. I told her that the chair might fool an average antiques enthusiast, but it would not fool a serious Windsor collector. The main problem is that the legs on a traditional Windsor should be mortised through the seat with tapered turnings, then wedged on the topside (kind of like a hammer handle). This chair has cylindrical turnings that do not go all the way through the seat. It doesn't make me like it any less, though!

[Magicman]

Yes I agree.  It is "all better".   

[yukon cornelius]

amazing work!! I really like that!

[petefrom bearswamp]

Incredible!
I wish I had your talent.
I have built some cabinets and a bedroom suite for the wife and I but do not possess the skill to do what you have done

[clww]

GREAT work, Dodgy! 8) 8) 8)

[Jemclimber]

Excellent work!!   I really like the detail you gave to the turnings.

[21incher]

Amazing craftsmanship. A truly one of a kind chair now.

[justallan1]

Beautiful job, Dodgy. Thanks for all the pictures.

Allan

[fishpharmer]

Snazzy chair!  Well done. 8)

[Lud]

I agree with the gang, .......well done! 8)

[lowpolyjoe]

Wow, great project!

I like the mallet too.

[pine]

Very nice job.  I still like the look and grain of wood though as was previously stated.

[Dodgy Loner]

Very nice job.  I still like the look and grain of wood though as was previously stated.

I think wood grain is pretty when it is used effectively. But I'm pretty sure the seat was glued up by a blind man:



Not an effective use of grain. 7 pieces of mis-matched maple. Not attractive at all. I'll take the paint, please.

[beenthere]

It took a whole weekend, but now it's my favorite chair. Not bad for $20

...plus $500 worth of labor from a true craftsman...    ;D

[Wade60]

Awesome work. I like that you took an ugly chair and turned it into a beauty that would please the pickiest of women.  Well done sir.

[Dodgy Loner]

Thanks, Wade. And welcome to The Forum!

[kczbest]

Good Work! 8) 8)

[Burlkraft]

Awesome work Dodgy!

[5quarter]

Dodgy...Great work on the chair. Being in that business, I can appreciate the work involved. Agree 110% on the paint. faux finishing is a great way to highlight the design elements and give it the appearance of some age. Black over red is very popular and handsome...good choice .

[Dodgy Loner]

Thanks guys, this was a fun project and I'm glad that others like it. It almost makes me want to scour some antique stores for more suitable subjects ;D

[mad murdock]

I am particularly impressed with the profiling and reshaping of the seat!  Way to go on that chair 8)