Maloof Rocker - The Back Slats

There are 7 slats that form the back of the chair and a lot of steps to take them from start to about 90% done which is where I will stop until I fit them into the chair.  The cherry slab I am using for the slats had a few “challenges” when I went to do the layout.  There are knots, holes, cracks, some wild grain and the like that I had to work around.  

Slab for Slats

 Since the slats are structural elements that end up fairly thin at each end where they are attached I also need to pay attention to how the grain runs from one end to the other.  Starting with the preliminary layout I had done earlier I worked to improve the grain alignment and slats relationship to the flaws.  It did take me the better part of an hour playing around with different layouts to finally end up with one that worked.

Final Slat Layout

 Once the layout was done I used the bandsaw to rough out the slats to smaller, more manageable pieces.

Initial Slab Breakdown

From there it’s back to the bandsaw to carefully cut just slightly wide of the pencil line completing the first of several steps toward the finished slats. 

Rough Cut Slats

Next is to use disk, oscillating drum, pad, orbital sanders plus some hand sanding to clean up the bandsawn front and back surfaces.  The finished slat is 1¼” thick but the board I cut them from is just over 1¾”.  I had two choices, either run the board through planer until I got to the right thickness or cut them out at 1¾” then resaw to the correct thickness.  I opted to cut them from the full thickness board and resaw.  My reasoning is if I came upon a hidden flaw after the first round of bandsawing to shape (remember my surprise with the seat) I had about ½” of latitude to cut down from one or both sides depending on where the flaw was.  It was fortunate that I went this route as I had a couple of instances show up that needed to be addressed.  Using a marking gauge I drew a line on each slat about a sixteenth over the 1¼” final size removing the flaw or worst looking side.  The extra sixteenth is for cleaning up the bandsaw cut on the thickness sander. 

Ready to Cut to Width

It’s back to the bandsaw using a pivot point as a guide for the cut.  I think I have used the bandsaw more on this project than just about anything I have ever made.  I could have cut the pieces on the table saw but the curved slats left a lot of blade exposed at the finish of the cut plus the piece is not all that wide and I just did not feel comfortable with my fingers less than ¾” away from the blade.  Because of the curved shape my typical push blocks and sticks did not fill me with confidence.  I like my fingers and want to keep them attached.

Cutting Slats to Width

The bandsaw leaves a roughish cut that I have to clean up.   For me the easiest way is to use the thickness sander.  With it I can easily and very accurately clean up the rough surface so that it is flat and parallel to the opposite face.

Bandsaw Cut

Once run through the thickness sander I pulled out another template that I use to outline the face of the slats.  This one is made from plastic laminate because I needed it to be flexible enough to follow the slats curves.

The front of the slat where your back rests is flat.  However, the center part of the slats back is rounded on the router table using a 5/8” radius router bit to soften and visually lighten the piece.  Because of curves the grain changes direction along the cut so to reduce the chance of chipping I cut with the rotation of the router bit or “climb cutting”.   The downside is cutting this way greatly increases the possibility of losing control during the cut and getting hurt so precautions are required to reduce the risk.  I took several light cuts, kept the hand holding the board down-stream of the bit and used a large push block to keep my upstream hand back and away from the bit if things went bad.  Several passes later the roughed out rounding was done with no problem. 

Back of Slats Routed

Cutting Top of Slat to Final Width

The top and bottom of the slats are cut down to leave roughly a ½” centered section which then transitions to the thicker center back support section.  I used the table saw and a stop block to cut the straight part.  

The remainder along with the transition is cut with the bandsaw.  Because the back is rounded I clamped a block to the side to act as a flat reference surface keeping the slat square with the bandsaw blade.  The table saw leaves a nice smooth edge however the bandsaw not so much.  To clean up the rough cut and start on the finished transition I used an oscillating drum sander.

Cutting Transition

It Almost Looks Like a Chair!

There is still quite a bit of work to be done on the slats as they are fitted into the headrest and seat which comes later.  However, for now the last step on each of the 7 pieces is to inspect all the surfaces removing any machine marks, smoothing the curves and cleaning up transitions from flat surfaces to curved surfaces.   No humps, bumps, dips or irregularities allowed.  It’s mostly by feel rather than by measuring.  A pad sander, lots of hand sanding and patience does the trick.  

Once finished I clamped them roughly where they will go in the chair just to see how they looked then set aside until later.

Next up – Plugging Holes, The Headrest & Drilling Slat Installation Holes