MFT Jig Puzzle

[Jesse Cloud]

A buddy came into my shop the other day and thought this jig was the craziest thing he had ever seen, but when I told him what it does, he took a picture so he could use it at his shop...

Can you guess what it does?  Hint: I'm making chairs.

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I'll post the answer tomorrow.

 

[dsweetser]

No idea Jesse, but I'd love to see more shots of your shop.

Don

 

[DavidCBaker]

I like that ball on the end of the rail. It makes me think you've encountered sensitive parts of your body with that rail from time to time and finally got tired of it.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I like that ball on the end of the rail. It makes me think you've encountered sensitive parts of your body with that rail from time to time and finally got tired of it.

You got that right!  Cheapest rubber ball I could find at Walgreen's.  Best investment I've ever made.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

No idea Jesse, but I'd love to see more shots of your shop.

Don

Hey Don,
As you can tell, the shop needs a good cleaning before I take shots.  After I finish this batch of chairs maybe. [laughing]
Jess

 

[Wood_Junkie]

Sort of a story stick for setting seat height?

 

[woodguy7]

What about some pics of finished chairs  [big grin]

Woodguy.

 

[mouppe]

Is it to support the seat whilst you are assembling or gluing? It looks about the same distance as would be typical from the seat to the floor.

Richard.

 

[PaulMarcel]

A third hand during assembly; you clamp legs/back to the vertical to hold them there while you finish the assembly.

I like the cabinets in the background.  Look like spalted maple with big trunk hinges.

 

[Chris Hughes]

Get rid of the ball and get a longer table. [tongue]

 

[Corwin]

I like that ball on the end of the rail. It makes me think you've encountered sensitive parts of your body with that rail from time to time and finally got tired of it.

I prefer to think of tennis when I hear the expression, "the ball's in your court."      [scared]

 

[Kevin D.]

I've never made chairs, but here goes.  It's for removing the seat off after a dry fit.

 

[RONWEN]

I'm going with the "third hand for assembly" idea and the three sided shelf comes into play also somehow -- it's on the wrong end of the MFT (& backward?) for a saw rest.

 

[Rob-GB]

Is it to rest the stool seat on so the bottoms of the legs can be scribed to the flat MFT/3 surface?
For chairs with a slope to the rear is there an add on piece?
Rob.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

Lots of good answers!  Rob-GB's was the most complete.

When I make a chair, I finish and glue up the rear assembly (rear legs, rear stretcher, back splat or spindles).  There are lots of tricky compound angles in most chairs.  The rear legs splay outwards for stability.  The back of the chair seat is lower than the front for comfort.  Half a degree off here or there can make a big gap, so I cut the last pieces to fit.

The jig holds the finished rear assembly vertical with the front legs and stretchers dry fit.  I then fit the front stretcher to the gap between the front legs and scribe the front legs against the edge of the mft to find the final length of the legs.
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All the joinery is done while the pieces are square or rough.  After a successful dry fit, I will finish the pieces, glue the front assembly up and then glue the assemblies together with the side stretcher.  Then corner blocks, a slip seat, and leather upholstery and I'm done.... some day

Thanks for playing the puzzle - great answers.

 

[DavidCBaker]

So if we wanted to really mess with your sanity, we could slip into your garage and move something a cm or two.  [big grin]

 

[image132]

So if we wanted to really mess with your sanity, we could slip into your garage and move something a cm or two.  [big grin]

Ooh, thats evil. I love it! Lets move it off by 1/2 a degree? [big grin]

 

[woodguy7]

Jesse, that a sweet looking chair..  The back slat, is it laminated ?  If so i presume the inside lamination's are maple & the 2 outside lamination's a figured maple like burl or sumthing.  Do you do the upholstery & leather yourself ?

Lovely chair & would love to see a finished product,

Woodguy.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

@Chris and David - you guys are evil!

@Woodguy - Yes, the backsplat is laminated.  Plain maple in the middle, curly maple veneer on the show faces.  The interesting part was getting the negative space in the curved piece.  I used the template for the laminating form to make a 'cutting board' with the same shape, made a router guide out of a scrap piece of laminated curve and routed it with a couple of different sized bits.  I will do the upholstery myself on this one, just a simple slip seat.  Will take pics if anyone is interested, the good part is that there is no sewing, just a cool air stapler.

Thanks for looking.
Jess

 

[woodguy7]

Interested, hell yea.  Can you stitch leather ?  Its something i have always wanted to learn, someday i will.  I started to make a chair called the "figure of 6" by a famous maker called Joseph Walsh from Ireland.  I just wanted to see if i could.  It is quite a tricky glue up & i have made the hard part but i just cant get the time to get back to it, just to busy with work.  I would love to have more spare time to make chairs & a Maloof inspired rocker will be my next victim 

http://www.josephwalshstudio.com/

go to selected works, then figures & form.  then figure of 6.  I think it looks quite nice.

Woodguy