Woodworker's Journal 2004 Spring, страница 28

Cut 2" thick high density foam on your band saw with the table set at 30°. The smaller face of the foam should match the size of the plywood. Round over the plywood edges.

To complete your seats, trim the leather to a 24"x 24" square. Then, on the rough side of the leather, mark a 3V square in each corner. Next, mark a 1" strip diagonally from the inside marked corner to the outside edge of the leather. Trim on your lines to create the shape shown above.

Gently pull the side flaps up and secure the leather with staples. Keep the tension across the seat even. Pull the strip up snugly and staple as shown below. If the corner is too bulky, you may need to trim a bit of foam.

On a level surface, check to see if your chair rocks.

If it does, make a line exactly the same distance up from the surface on all four chair legs. Sand carefully to the lines, and your chair will sit flat.

After the glue dries, plug all the screw holes. The easiest way to do this is to rip a long piece of stock to the thickness and width of the plugs, then trim them a little longer than you need them. Four of the plugs are sanded to small pyramids and glued in place. Tine rest are glued in place and sanded flush. Level the legs if needed (see below) and move on to finishing.

Finishing Thoughts

After a final sanding, I applied Bartley's dark walnut stain, then sealed it with three coats of a compatible low luster finish. Polyurethane is a good choice, because it's rugged enough to endure the constant handling and use of a dining room chair. Another good topcoat choice would be lacquer, if you're set up to spray it.

Stickley's seats were often upholstered in soft, brown leather. After all this hard work on the chair frames, it would be a fitting final touch for your chairs, too. For

Figure 2: Glue up the subassemblies of the back and chair sides. Make sure they are flat and square. After the glue has cured, move on to the final assembly.

instructions on completing that task, refer to the sidebar at left. When you're done, screw the seat support cleats in place and attach the plywood seat to them with screws. Then stick a felt pad (piece 20) to the bottom of each leg, and you're ready to start seating guests at your celebration dinner party. @