Maloof Rocker - Final Headrest Shaping

The headrest as installed is a fairly heavy blocky chunk of cherry.  There are a few steps and a lot of material to be removed to transform it to the lighter more graceful piece I need to end up with.  

The bottom of the headrest has an arc that carries on into the leg and that is where I started the integration of the headrest by drawing in the guidelines. 

Headrest and Leg Before any Shaping

With those in place I used the pneumatic grinder and carbide burr to rough in the arc.  Using sanding drums and some hand sanding I ended up with a seamless transition between the headrest and the leg.

Bottom of  Headrest and Leg Transition Done

With that connection done I moved on to the front of the headrest and the leg joint.  All this requires is for the leg to be ground down flush with the headrest. 

Front of Headrest and Leg Prior to Shaping

This is done fairly simply using the angle grinder with the 50 grit sanding disk installed.

Front of Headrest and Legs Shaped

The back of the headrest is not quite so simple.  First is to draw in the guidelines for the reveal that will be ground into the leg.  As shown here the headrest starts out nearly ¾” thicker than the leg and  has to be ground down to the bottom of the reveal via a smooth taper.

Back of Headrest and Leg Before Shaping  (Note top of headrest is at bottom of photo)

Because there is a fair amount of material to remove here I started with the coarse carbide disk then switched to the 50 grit sanding disk.  Once I had established the rough outline I used a round rasp to refine the reveal following that with hand sanding.  With one leg done I duplicated it on the other leg. 

Initial Shaping to Form Leg Reveal

At this point nearly all the headrest is still 1¾” thick, a long, long way from where it needs to be.  The next phase of sculpting falls into two flows. 

First, is to smooth out the initial taper I had done to form the reveal working toward the center of the backrest leaving it the thickest at the center.  Second is to reduce the top of the headrest down to about approximately a ¼” thick.

The starting point for all this is where I left the rounding over of the bottom of the headrest done before installing the slats.  From that existing arc it’s a smooth curve ending up at the ¼” thick top edge.  To help me out I added a handful of reference lines.  Because this sculpting has even more material to remove than the initial taper the coarse carbide disk is an obvious choice to start with.  As with the other sculpting the progression once the major material removal is done is to use 50 grit disk sander, rasps, the pad sander, and lastly hand sanding.  After using the rasp to smooth out the curves I needed to check for high and low spots.  To do this I used a piece of chalk to coat the back.

Headrest with Bulk of Rough Shaping Done

I then lightly filed the surface which left chalk only in the low spots giving me a clear indication of where I still needed to so some work.

Chalked Headrest Showing High and Low Spots

Headrest and Right Leg Sculpting Nearly Done

With the majority of the back shaped and smoothed I could work on the very top corner of the reveal and its transition.  Using the 50 grit grinder, sanding drums, rasps, and hand sanding I created a smooth transition between all the surfaces. Once that transition is done I can finish running the radius I had routed a long time ago on the outside edge of the leg on up to the top.

The last bit of shaping involves softening the inside bottom arc of the headrest/leg.  With the sculpting of the back done and sanding completed to 120 grit here is what the headrest looks like.  A far cry from the big square block it started from.  Nothing like taking $8 worth of 8/4 cherry and turning it into sawdust. 

Headrest to Leg Sculpting Done Except for Sanding

Final process is sanding.  Since the basic woodworking on the chair from the seat up is done I can now go back and sand up to a 99% finished surface.  I need to remove any machine, rasp, file, sanding drum, scratches, humps, bumps or other irregularities starting with 80 grit and ending with 220 grit.   Because of all the curves the vast majority of the sanding is done by hand.  However, rather than do all that sanding at once and completely remove all the skin from my fingers I am going to intersperse it with the work on the rockers.

Next up – Making the Rockers & Sanding

Maloof Rocker - Headrest Shaping Part 1, Slat & Headrest Installation

There is a small amount of shaping work that has to be done to the headrest and some final sanding before it and the slats are installed.  Most of the shaping to the headrest tying it into the legs is done after it is in place. 

I start by drawing some guide lines for the rounding over of the bottom of the headrest. 

 

Headrest Blank with Slat Holes

Since the round over has a progressively smaller radius similar to a quarter ellipse and tapers at each end it is not practical to cut it with a router.   I started with the pneumatic grinder and burr and got a rough shape.

Headrest Initial Shaping in Progress

From there rasps and sanding give me a finish shape.  I sanded where the slats go and the roundover to 320 grit since it is a lot easier to finish sanding there without the slats in place. 

Headrest Ready to Install

The same logic applies to the slats.  I had already sanded them to 150 and now worked my way through the grits to end up at 320.  Lots of hand sanding and my fingers were really complaining by the time I finished.  While using the 320 grit sandpaper I also broke the hard edges just slightly.  The idea is to still have a hard edge but not one that's sharp enough to cut you.

 

Slats Sanded and Ready to Install

To give me the long time I needed to install the slats I used a slow set epoxy.  It has a working time of nearly an hour and a curing time of between 24 and 36 hours.  In order to minimize the mess I applied blue painters tape to the rear of the seat and the bottom of the headrest then cut out the holes for the slats.

Seat and Headrest Taped for Slat Install

I used a razor knife to cut the holes in the blue tape.  However, my razor knife had too square an edge for me to get in and make a clean cut in a half inch hole so I ended up regrinding the blade tip to a greater taper.

The glue-up process is not bad.  I load the holes in both the seat and the headrest with the epoxy then install the slats in the seat first.

 

Slats Installed in Seat

Slats and Headrest Installed

After they are in place I line up the 7 slats with their respective holes in the headrest, not quite like herding cats but close.  From there assembly sequence is, drive the headrest in place, clean up the epoxy that oozes out, apply Tightbond glue for the headrest to leg joint and clamp in place.  Lastly, I need to twist the slats so the flat face you will be leaning against follows the slight arc of your back and the holes drilled in the seat.   Since the epoxy has a long open time I had to come back after an hour or so to check for any additional ooze out.

Because the headrest piece in the headrest to leg joint is an end grain glue joint it is not strong enough  as is for regular use.   The solution is to add some #10 X 2½” screws, 6 of them in fact.  While the epoxy was curing I cut a small piece off the katalox and made six ½” plugs.

 

Cutting Plugs for Headrest

The next morning after the epoxy cured I removed the clamps and the blue tape.  After that I installed the screws through the rear legs into the headrest.  The process is the same as the other plugged holes: drill ½” holes for the plugs, drill clearance and pilot holes for the screw, install screws and glue plugs in place.

Headrest Plugs Installed

Next up – Final Headrest Shaping

Maloof Rocker - Plan Problem & Finishing the Slats

While I was working on the seat to rear leg joints I noticed that the back of the seat was 3/16” short of being flush with the back of the leg while the video showed it extended beyond the back of the leg.  The problem was on both the test piece and on the actual chair as well.

Rear Leg to Seat Problem

This was going to make a flush joint a problem.  After going back and measuring the plan templates I found that there was a ¼” error in the plans.  I had a couple of ideas on how to fix but was not really happy with either.  I tried one on the test piece consisting of narrowing the leg at the joint and feathering that down the leg but felt that it detracted from the chair’s lines.  I was also concerned that I was weakening the rear leg.  The other was to create a radius between the leg and the seat similar to the front leg joint.  I sent the author a note explaining what I had found and asking for a recommendation.  

Blended Joint

He replied that at times he had the same problem and what he did was to radius the joint.   I started going down that path but part way through found that the inside line of the leg was going to be interrupted by the 3/16” radius.  More thinking and talking to myself followed before I settled on a final fix.

I started just below the arm of the chair feathering a taper toward the inside edge of the leg increasing it to 1/8” as I moved down the leg without removing any material from the outside edge.  This left the overall line of the leg unchanged when viewed from the side.  It also minimized the wood removal retaining maximum strength.  From the seat on down I reversed the taper until it was feathered back to nothing.  The roughly 1/16” left at the joint I blended into the seat.  

With that done I was glad to move onto fitting the slats to the chair.  First is to lay out the slats where they would go and deciding what order I wanted them.  The idea was to make the grain flow from one slat to the next.

Slats In Final Order

I start the installation by measuring the depth of the holes in the headrest then marking that depth on the headrest face.  This will be used to determine the length of each of the slats.  Next is to make a mark on the slats ¾” from the bottom to match the depth of the holes they go in.

Seat Depth Lines on Slats

After clamping the headrest where it will go between the legs I set the mark at the bottom of the slat even with the top of the seat. 

Slat in Place at Seat for Marking Length

With the slat in place I go to its top and use the depth mark on the headrest I made earlier to establish the slat length.  A second mark is made where the slat crosses the bottom of the headrest.  This gives me the length of the top pin.

Lines for Length of  Slat and Length of Pin

Since the seat and the headrest are both curved the length of the slats change from one to another.

All Slats Marked for Cutting and Shaping Pins

Once cut to length there is an obvious conflict in installing the slats.  The proverbial square peg in a round hole.  The ends of the slats are square and the holes in both the seat and headrest are round.   To go from a square end to a round end fitted to the holes in the seat and headrest involve a few steps.  First using a template I draw a ½” circle on the end of the slat then mark the end point for the transition from round back to square.  The shaping starts by using the pneumatic grinder and burr to rough out the pin.

End of Slat Marked for Final Shape and Initial Grinding

From there I use a couple of rasps and sandpaper to end up with a ½” diameter pin ¾” long that will fit into the previously drilled hole in the seat.  As a sizing jig for the seat I drilled a ½” hole in a piece of ¾” thick oak.  Process is to use the rasps and jig working down until the pin is flush with the bottom of the jig and tight.  Once that is done I file and sand a smooth transition between the round pin and the square slat.   

Slat Pin and Transition Done

The end that goes into the headrest is the same except the pin is almost 2” long.  Let’s see 7 slats and 2 ends with one end done equals only 13 ends to go.

Finished Slat

With the pin fitted and the transition complete I put the slat into the seat and move on to the next one.  

Three Slats in Place - Four to go

Once all the slats are fitted I do a test with the headrest and holy cow it looks sorta like a chair!

Next up – Headrest Shaping Part 1 plus Slat & Headrest Installation

Maloof Rocker - Sculpting the Arms

To me one of the most appealing items in the chair are the arms.  The way they flow from the back legs into the very organic shaped armrest and then onto the front legs.  No straight lines here!  I had laid out my reference lines for the arms when I did the rear legs so there was not really anything keeping me from starting.

Layout Lines on Arms

Chair Clamped to Lathe

Because there is a lot of material to remove first is to take the sanding disk off the 4.5” angle grinder and put the coarse carbide wheel back on it.  I set the chair on the floor, clamped it to the lathe to help keep it from moving around and gingerly started making freehand passes. 

Process is to work my way grinding down into the arm toward the reference lines along the long axis working from the outside in. 

Once the edges are ground down close to where they will end up I started to remove material from the center to marry the edge lines.  When I get to a rough shape I switch the from the coarse carbide wheel to the sanding disk to smooth out the surface and refine the shape.  After going as far as I can with the disk sander I move to the rasp and hand tools.  The idea is to get to a 90% finished shape then move on to another area.  Once all the adjoining surfaces are at the 90% level I will work to tie all of them together.

Left Arm Shaping Progression

Top of Left Arm Rough Shaping Completed

After both arm tops are 90% done I flip the chair over so I can work on the underside.  Here where the front leg joins the arm I had one more layout line to add.  It is a guide for setting the arc or fillet between the arm and the leg.  The easy way to draw a concentric circle around the leg is to take a washer and using the center hole as a guide rotate the pencil around the leg.

Adding Layout Lint to Underside of Arm

I follow the same sequence for the underside of the arm as the top except it is harder to do than the top.  With the top I have free access from all directions.  The underside has the front and back leg to work around.  Then you have the inside edge which you can’t really see because the seat is in the way and lastly you need to keep track of where the back side of the grinder is spinning.  You do not want to be working on making a cut while the grinder back end is happily chewing on one of the legs.  I know that can happen from experience on the test piece.   It may not be much more complex a shape than the top but access and the ability to see what you are doing is certainly more restricted. 

Underside of Arm Shaping in Progress

Because of the tighter curves and more restricted access I could not get to the same level of finish as I could on the top which means that I have to spend more time refining the shape with the hand tools. 

Using a rat tail and flat rasp along with other files, the pad sander loaded with 80 grit paper and finally ending up hand sanding I get my final shape.  It’s a long way from being ready to apply a finish but the form and shape are there.

Two small areas are left to be done.  First, is the inside rounded edge on the top of the arm which flows up the rear leg and transitions into a hard edge.  Sequence here is to layout edges of radius, grind with carbide burr and refine the rounded edge with rasp and sand paper.  Second is to complete the inside edge of the rear leg where it runs between the seat and the arm.  Same sequence as above; layout edges, grind, refine with rasp and sand. 

Underside of Arms with 90% of Shaping Done

From here it is more hand work taking all the different surfaces of the arm that are now at 90% cleaning up any odd bits and tying them all together.  Lots of moving the chair around looking at it from different angles and feeling the surfaces, no humps, bumps, dips or irregularities allowed.   There is one other thing, both arms need to look and more importantly feel identical when sitting in the chair.  Although I am left handed I'm not building a left handed chair.

On a side note, these last two steps involving the sculpting of the leg to seat joints and the arms were really time consuming.  I spent the better part of 3 weeks taking them from the blocky rough shapes to where they are now.  While the overall shapes are 99% done the surfaces are nowhere near smooth enough to apply a finish.  I just know there is a whole lot more sanding in my future.

Next up – Plan Problem & Finishing the Slats

Maloof Rocker - Sculpting the Legs

Front Right Leg Before Sculpting

The sculpting of the leg to seat joints are next.  I would be lying if I said that I approached this step and was not nervous.  With nearly 150 hours of work invested in this project (both test and actual chairs) the idea of taking a grinder and whacking away freehand at the joints made me more than a little apprehensive.  

To give me some guidance and consistency on shaping the curves I pulled out my old drafting French curve and used it along with some freehand drawing to add a few layout lines.  They may not be the final shape but at least I had something to start with.   

Using the 4 ½” angle grinder with the 50 grit disk I gingerly started to shape the curve.  Once again the ease and speed that this tool removes material is surprising.  I find that I can really concentrate on the shaping and the material just disappears.  Sometimes I think a little more resistance to the cutting might be helpful.  Next is to use the pneumatic die grinder with the carbide burr to work on the top and bottom concave surfaces.

Pneumatic Die Grinder

The pneumatic die grinder is also used to cut a concave arc out to create a smooth transition from the seat to the leg.  Once a rough and I mean rough shape is ground I move on to a series of sanding drums mounted in the die grinder.  The drums progress smaller in size and to finer grits as I refine and create a smooth transition at the joint. 

At a certain point I move to hand tools; rasps, files, sandpaper wrapped flat blocks or around dowels I turned to match the arcs in the joints and at last just plain old hand sanding down to 100 grit.  It takes at least a three of hours per joint from the start to get to a point where the transitions are pretty smooth, there are no humps, bumps and there just remains finish sanding.  This is almost to that point.  I still have some fine tuning to do before I call it good.  Once there I will wait to do the final sanding until the chair is a lot closer to being finished.

The rear leg to seat joint starts out as the same blocky form and the front leg.  It follows a similar procedure using the same tools as the front legs to shape smooth transitions between the pieces.

Right Rear Leg to Seat Joint Before

This is the finished work on the leg and joint below the seat.

Sculpting the rear leg to the arm joint is a little more involved.  I start the same way in shaping a smooth transition from the leg to the arm.  However, on the inside there is a detail that gives the impression of the leg flowing into the arm.

Left Rear Arm to Leg Joint

I start with grinding the seat top to rear leg joint then outlining the curve into the leg and making a smooth transition between the two.

Layout and Sculpting Tools

Once the grinding is completed it’s on to refining the shape with a varied assortment of power tools, rasps, files and sandpaper.

Here the joint is mostly finished waiting for the arms to be shaped so the two parts can be blended together.

The last little bit to do here is to clamp the headrest back into place, mark the transition and grind it close to the finished shape.  In this picture the left side is completed while the right side is just marked.  Finish shaping will come later after the headrest is glued and screwed in place.

 Next up – Sculpting the Arms