Just a Quick Update on Vidar's Progress

Things have been coming along with my chairs and I'm on schedule to finish by my May 5 deadline.

You might remember that one chair has arms, the other does not. I wanted to mix it up a little.

I had been warned that the arms are one of the most difficult aspects of the chair, and I found that to be true last week and this week. Shaping the arms wasn't hard. Mortising the arms wasn't hard. Doweling the arms wasn't hard.

Fitting the arms to the back of the chair, however, was somewhat nightmarish.

Ok it wasn't that bad, but it was a challenge. The back legs of the chair, which come up to form the back rest, are pillowed on the front -- right where the arms connect. That means the arms themselves have to be concave, and curved, and angled, and tapered, to perfectly fit the mating surface.

Achieving this fit requires a round bottom rasp, gouges, double stick tape and sandpaper, and a lot of trial and error. But I finally nailed it and glued up today.

It was one of those glue ups where you walk away with a completely clear conscience knowing you didn't have to cheat at all to get the joint to close up just right. No crazy clamp pressure, no twisting or filling gaps with glue. It just worked. Beautiful.

Here are some pictures:

Here is the chair dry-fit and ready to go.

Close of up the nightmarish joint.

And here is the chair all clamped up!