Prairie Settle
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A few photos of my latest work in progress, An Arts and Crafts ‘prairie settle’. Basically a sofa in a wooden frame loosely based on an L&JG Stickley design (which in turn was loosely based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs).
A good tenon and mortise workout – there are about seventy of them!
At the moment everything is held together with a friction fit. I’m dreading the glue-up on this one (-:
Steve
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So many joints but you move on without hesitation there won’t be any problems I suppose as the wood is pine. If it were maple I would definitely seek for assistance as friction increases very much when you apply glue. At least it is my experience.
Oh! Excuse me for getting into your affairs. Why don’t you install wooden pads on the vise jaws?
Misha
Hi Misha,
Ha, it’s funny you mention the vise’s lack of wooden pads because I was thinking about that as I took the photos.
I want to use plywood but still haven’t found a source for it here in Bulgaria. Basically, as time has gone by I have just become used to being careful with the metal jaws. It would be far better though if I could find some ply and finish the job off.
Maybe your comment was the reminder I needed (-:
Steve
Hi Steve!
I use dense grain pine for the purpose and it works great.
Good luck with your project.
Misha
I’ll bet cutting all those M&T’s was quite a workout. Must have been several days worth of effort. Can’t wait to see the end product.
Matt, Northern California - Started a blog in 2016: http://tinyshopww.blogspot.com/
Crikey! By now you must be an M&T expert.
They look really good and like Matt and I’m sure many others, I can’t wait to see the finished piece.Cracking job!……After seeing those photos I bet you’d be good at making ladders too…Hah!
Paul - A southern lad living up north - Nr York England
Thanks for the encouragement.
Yes, if I never finish it, at least I’ve got a ladder! (-:
One of the end sub-assemblies:
A good beginning…
Misha
Here’s the latest progress. This is a test fitting of the parts with no glue. There don’t seem to be any major problems or mis-alignments (fingers crossed).
I do have to be careful that it’ll fit through the workshop door though! It’s also becoming quite unwieldy for one person to manhandle.
I’m still dreading the glue-up! (-:
Steve
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Breakdown the glue-up into manageable bits. Have you considered using hide glue? The working time is considerably longer than PVA glue. Beautiful project. Thanks!
Hi Harvey,
I’m definitely going to break down the glue-up into manageable stages. PVA is the ‘devil I know’, so I’ll probably stick with that this time (please excuse the pun). I should really get hold of some hide glue though, if only out of curiosity.
Photo is of the first corbel. I’m not sure I have the shape quite right yet though. The thin section needs to be a little thinner, IMO. Once I’m happy with the shape, I’ll copy it to the other three. There will also be two at the back but they will be a slightly different shape and size.
Just a couple of photos showing the lacing of the nylon rope seat bases. It took a surprisingly long time to do just one, due to dealing with knots in the rope and not being able to find the ends (-: The second will probably go a little faster though.
I’ve had other (non-woodwork) projects on the go, which has slowed down the prairie settle project somewhat, but I’m getting tired of it taking up room in my workshop so am looking forward to finishing it now.
I haven’t had much time to work on this, but it’s coming along. Most of the woodwork is done now, apart from the top. The glue-up went with no mishaps.
That was the easy part. I need to find someone who can do upholstery next, or learn to do it myself.
Steve
What a nice piece, you can be justifiably proud!
Thank you Richard.
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