Back Legs (Part 2)

I didn’t get much done today, but any progress is still progress, right?  I started by completing the rocker lamination jig.  This is made by first gluing together two pieces of plywood (I did this yesterday and let it dry overnight.)  The plywood I used is 3/4" Russian Birch.  Next, I glued on the rocker pattern and cut it out on the band saw.  My blade is getting so dull that it was more like burning through the wood than cutting.  I screwed the bottom portion to another piece of plywood to act as a backer.  The top portion was cut into several sections to use as cauls.  I cut out some of the wood on the cauls just to lighten the whole jig and to shorten up the clamping distance.  On most lamination layups I’ve seen, the clamping is done perpendicular to the curve.  My jig is setup to clamp straight up and down.  I’ll see how this works.  If I made a mistake, I can modify it later.  If anyone has experience with this, I would appreciate some advice.

I ordered a new band saw blade today.  I have a lot more cutting to do, but it will have to wait a few days until I have a decent blade to work with.  So instead of cutting the front profile on the back legs, I worked on the “adder blocks”.  The back legs on the Maloof chairs splay out at 5 degrees.  He did this with the use of special router bits to make the rear bridle joints.  The Brock design uses “adder blocks” to simplify the process without the need for special bits.  These blocks are glued to the inside of the back legs and then cut to at 6 degrees (Brock uses 6 degrees instead of 5 degrees). 

I have mixed feeling about these blocks.  They do make the build easier, but I worry that they will look like a “patch”.  I did my best to use wood that matched in color and grain direction with the legs, so maybe they will blend in.  I’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.

I used a hand plane to clean up the area where the back legs will meet the seat.  [ I used to view hand planes as antiques used only by woodworking Neanderthals.  I mean they don’t even have motors!  But now that I’ve taken the time to learn how to setup a plane and use it properly, it’s one of my favorite tools.]  For the adder blocks, I used a piece of 8/4 stock that I had already made four square.  I cut it in half which gave me a 3 x 5 x 7/8 block.  I clamped each leg to my bench, and then glued and clamped the blocks onto the inside of each leg.  Waxed paper was placed under the legs to make sure they weren’t glued permanently to the bench.  I’ll let these dry overnight before cutting the 6 degree angles.  The use of these blocks will become clearer in future steps.