Thanks!
Check out the set of videos that I linked to at the end of my other post. They are six in all and they're each 10 minutes or so, but do watch all of them. I referred back to a couple of parts of some of them for refreshing my memory.
His instructions on how to wrap the front rail are invaluable. I could not figure out how that was done on mine and I even had another original Wegner chair to look at but without undoing it I just couldn't figure it out. It's just a matter of wrapping one side separately and tacking the end, then wrapping the other side and continuing that one on to weave the whole seat. The direction of the wrap is crucial.
He also shows how to one whole course around the seat with the cord, then tighten and clamp it, then do another and tighten and clamp that. You are never weaving and tightening at the same time.
Also, he has a pretty big shuttle. I was gonna order one from HH Perkins but decided to just make one since I had some lauan plywood (1/4") laying around. Later I saw the one from Perkins and it's TINY. It's probably great for something but on the Wishbone I wanted to load up as much cord as possible on the shuttle to keep from having to do a lot of knots. I will post a photo of the one I made with measurements. It took about 10 minutes to make. My design is different, too---after making one like theirs first and not being happy with it.
The other important tip is how to keep the intersections of strands in an even diagonal to the center. Mine are very crooked in the first photo, not too bad in the second one and they'll be better in the next one.
Nice Job - I hope my learning curve . . .
. . . is more generous. I want to get my four Moller's done this summer. Spanky - how long between these efforts? Will check the videos.
MCBeehive - I am probably ready to purchase cord. Wife is back and forth on black - natural.
Therefore, heading towards the natural unless you have a need for black. NOT intending to pressure you at all. Just asking for timing purposes.
Will wait a few days or so before I order.
Dana
Oh, pshaw, Aunt Mark!
Danacook, how long between the one that I screwed up and the one that I did well? Mabye 5-6 years? But in between I just gave up and didn't even attempt that kind of seat. The first one I did after watching the videos was the one in the photo. I watched the videos and literally said, "OH! THAT'S how you do it. Duh." And then I did it.
Here's a crude computer drawing of my shuttle after battling my iPhone trying to get the photo off it.
This is not drawn perfectly to scale but it's close. Just do your own drawing according to the measurements and you'll be ok.
The main difference between mine and HH Perkins' is the middle section is a lot longer. The first one I made had a very short midsection but turned out that meant that I ended up with a round ball of cord that was very soon too big around to fit between the front rail of the seat and the rung below it. I could not put much cord on the shuttle at all and had to do more knots than I would like, plus loading up the shuttle is a boring task and I don't want to have to do it every 15 minutes.
So--longer midsection means a long, flat load of cord that will fit between rail and rung. I got almost up to the center back slot on the Wishbone before it ran out.
I did wind the shuttle very neatly, being careful to keep the distribution as even as possible so that i could fit as much on there as possible.
Sand the edges of the lauan--goes without saying! It's very splintery. They don't have to be satin smooth, a rough sanding is ok.
Oh, one other thing---the guy in the video clamps his chair to his work surface as do the guys in the Danish factory. I thought I'd see how mine went without a clamp before i put any time into rigging something up and turns out I did not feel the need for it.
Thanks but it's really not selfless at all.
I do a few things well and all my life people have said, "oh, I'd love to be able to do that but I just can't!" And then I'd say sure you can, it's not that hard, but they really weren't interested in trying at all. Which I get, I know that not everyone really, truly wants to take the time to make beautiful things with their hands. It's not the be all and end of of human existence. But here on DA I've finally found some people who really ARE interested and are actually following through and I'm getting a lot of satisfaction out of that!
So really, it's quite selfish. Heh.
p.s. plus, i hate to think of anyone passing by a chair that needs a new seat just because they think it's way too hard to do--or that it's a "lost art" which is what people have said to me even as they are watching me weave. IT'S NOT A LOST ART IF I'M DOING IT RIGHT HERE, DUDE.
Quantity of cord for a Moller 71
I realized when I recently needed to purchase cord that I didn't know exactly what it takes to do each chair. I thought it would be helpful to document what is needed for each piece of each chair - this evening I finished a Moller 71, here's the info:
Moller 71
Warp strands: 3.2 ounces / 91 grams
Front rail: 2 ounces / 57 grams
Back rail: 2 ounces / 57 grams
Field: 11 ounces / 312 grams
Total for a Moller 71: 18.2 ounces / 517 grams
A coil is about 2 pounds / .9 kilograms, so you can nearly squeeze two chairs out of a single coil, assuming you're accurate when you cut lengths for the warping and rails.
I've got a couple more chairs to do in the coming weeks / months (Mogensen J39 knock-off and Hvidt 316, both of which are shaker style), so I'll post info for those when I have it.
I've thought about weighing cord
but it does vary a little depending on humidity so I just go by yardage. Though that also tends to vary a little from chair to chair---not sure why, though.
Also, the Danish-made cord is a hair thicker and more dense than the other stuff, so you'd get less yardage from the same weight.
Ha, my method of measuring is to
hold the cord in the vicinity of my nose and pull the strand over as far as I can reach to the right---repeat as needed for as many yards as prescribed. It's an old seamstress trick. Just adjust as necessary for your arm length.
Not extremely precise but it's close enough and it's very quick!
Need some advice on cleaning up Moller 78 teak finish
I have been delayed. If you scroll up, you will see red Moller 78s with a gray cat perched. I am heading into pulling the seats off of these and weaving them with paper cord, but just before the weaving, want to refinish the exposed wood.
They are teak. I believe that I can use a #0000 steel wool and oil to clean and remove accumulated imperfections and some "human schmutz" that is inevitable. I could also use Murphy's Oil and have done so on a Teak Table. But, I would guess (with zero experience) that these were oiled.
Am I correct? And, what would be the closest modern equivalent of the oil used?
Dana
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