Well, once again it has been a while since my lost post. I am now back in the states living in Indianapolis at our churches mission house. I wasn't sure where or when I might be able to start woodworking again but the church allowed me to put a work bench in their bus barn and work from there. I was able to find a work bench from a fellow unplugged woodworker in Kokomo Indiana who sold it to me for a fair price. Then it was on to assembling a descent set of tools. I was able to bring a few back with me but not to many due to the weight issue. So now I am working between the buses. So for my first project I needed to build some frame or bow saws for an upcoming project that I have wanted to do ever since I became unplugged and started this blog. Nothing fancy on the frame saws just 2x4s and some simple hardware from the local big box store. I did spend a bit on the blades which is where the spending needs to be. The blades I used were purchased from Highland woodworking. They are Japanese style blades and are very aggressive on the cut yet leave a small kerf and a nice service.
So now it was on to the project I have been dying to do and have mentioned in previous posts. When I first started getting into woodworking (power tools mind you) I was captivated when I first saw a Maloof rocker. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It was so beautiful in an organic and natural way but was also functional. I knew I had to build one eventually, which I did in 2012. I had purchased the Charles Brock set on how to build a Maloof inspired rocker. It came with a DVD, book, and full size plans. I was able to build it in about 3 weeks or in about 180 hours. I sold that chair to help with my families financial needs but knew I would eventually build more. Near the end of 2014 I started to lean more toward unplugged woodworking and eventually converted completely to hand tool woodworking. So now I am back in the states and that has been a great blessing since I don't have the space, money or time to acquire and work with power tools. So I set out to build a Maloof inspired rocker with only hand tools. I decide to do my first attempt in poplar with the hopes that my skills will improve and I progress through the project. I didn't want to spend a boat load of money before I knew if I could do it unplugged. So here is the poplar. I found a really good wood dealer on the west side of Indy who has just about every type of wood you would want. I bought 32 bf of 8/4 but need about 50 for the entire project. These planks were surfaced on two sides with the edges left ruff. Which was fine with me. I don't have a problem dimensioning ruff wood but I didn't have the hand planes I usually use for that so this was a blessing in disguise.
To start with the seat I needed 5 pieces cut at 4" wide x 22" long.
One of the tools I acquired here in the states was this ryoba saw by Gyokucho. I bought it at Woodcraft for less than $45. This is the 300mm and is a monster. I really like using Japanese saws because I am able to stand by the bench and saw with out bending over to much which helps my back.
The ryoba had no problem cutting through the 2" thick poplar
So after planning down the edges square the five pieces look like this. Now this is where one had the option of just simply gluing the together and carving out the seat from a flat slab. Or you can cooper the seat which gives it a gentle curve that looks really nice. I opted to cooper my seat.
So what you have to do is plane some 3 degree bevels in the 3 middle pieces to get the cooper effect. The middle board #3 gets bevels on both side and are angled to where the top of the board is narrower than the bottom. Then on boards #2 & #4 get one bevel on the outside edge to where the top of the board is wider than the bottom.
Here you can see the angel and how it goes from nothing to 3 degrees toward the bottom on the #4 board.
Once beveled and checked for squareness along the distance of the board you can see the coopering effect.
It is a subtle coopering but really adds to the sight ling on the bottom of the seat once it is finished.
So that is it for now. I spent about 5 hours getting to this point. Next post you will see me begin to cut the leg joinery on the seat. Then it will be cutting a a good chunk of the seat so I don't have to hog out a lot of would with the adze & scorp. Well, my friends it is good to be back. Hope you enjoy this post and has always take care and God bless.
Mark Hynek
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