Reply To: Starting projects of an absolute beginner
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I am already thinking about a next project, an “Adirondack”-chair for a friend. It seems easy enough. I found an old online article from august 2005 from popular woodworking.
Plans can be found here: Norm Abram’s Adirondack chair
Wie geht’s Pepperpot? This is cool. I’m also a beginner (for a long time!) and don’t have a proper bench and for most of my time didn’t have much space either. I just recently made this very same chair for my wife. She loved the type since visiting the east coast of north America but the type of chair is expensive and hard to find here. It’s very comfortable, my wife loves it and I had a great time making it, learning so much especially “reading the grain”.
The cost of materials was some sand paper and screws and roofing bolts, maybe 3€. The pallet wood I got for free. I decided not to try and disguise that it is an old pallet. You can seen the old nail holes and I only fully planed it where it needed to be. I even made a point of showing the pallet stamp where I used the blocks as arm brackets.
I used a power sander but otherwise laughed at all the power tools “needed” in the article. A few years ago I would have been intimidated and thought it wouldn’t be possible without a room full of appliances but since finding Paul Sellers I have a confidence that I can do (and learn) far more than I previously thought I could with a limited set of tools, space and skills.
I finished the scallops (inside curves) with a spokeshave after cutting cross grain to the depth of the cut (at the deepest part) and chopping out with an axe. A mallet and chisel would be fine too if you can secure the wood. Cutting with a coping saw sounds a bit slow; there’s about 4 metres of scallops. Paul show how to do an inside arc in the bookshelf series: https://woodworkingmasterclasses.com/2014/02/bookshelves-episode-5/
You might notice that the boards for the seat are wider than the plan because I was not inclined to rip down my boards to size but it would make a more contoured seat if they were narrower. I also made the back legs longer to make the seat more level.
If I could offer advice it would be to lay out your side pieces on the floor to get your angles worked out. The article doesn’t state that the front legs are vertical but it helps if you know that.
Coincidentally I have just bought an Ece frame saw with a rip, cross, turning and “farmer” blade and I love it. I’m not used to it yet but it doesn’t seem to bind as much as my panel saws.
Your projects so far are great. Keep your mistakes, it’ll be wonderful to see how much you’ve improved in a couple of years. When I started first I used a saw bench/stool that had a tool box under it. I would sit on it with the work! It had an oval hole in the top that a clamp could fit through which was very useful for example if you wanted the whole edge to over hang the top.
Good luck with your learning.