The legs need holes drilled. I used a bit and brace for the first few holes, but pear wood is hard, and I am weak! Drill press it is.

Fitting the first leg with the cross dowels. I made a mistake on were to place the grooves on one of the crossbars, and need to add a fourth grove on the remaining ones. This will make it a little more difficult to drill the holes for the vertical dowels that are in between the cross bars.

Looks like a little stick man. You always start with one leg and work your way out with a triangular stool.

It also helps to make sure all your pieces are labeled. Makes assembly a lot easier.

The front legs have one set of holes drilled.  At this point a ruler is placed across the front legs for two reasons. The first is for the length of crossbars in the front. The span is 1.5″ wider than the back sections. The other reason is to scribe a line for the angle of the drill holes.

The scribed line is then transferred along the edge of the leg using a ledge brought up to the scribe line.

The legs on this stool are narrower than on my original back stool. It hadn’t occurred to me that the 3/4″ drill holes would then be so close together. This means the chair will have a weak point at the joint. I am hoping the strength of the wood will help strengthen the joint compared to the softwood used on the back stool.

The final crossbars loosely placed in the drill holes.

Next up… Cutting the dowels so they fit properly in the holes. Drilling for the vertical dowels, more turning, and then stringing the chair seat.

• June 6, 2010 -- Triangular stool v1.0 (4)
• January 10, 2010 -- Pole Lathe from Electric Conversion (2)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• July 4, 2009 -- Pole Lathe Class (4)

Why a stool though?. The competition is to make something on the theme of WAR. Stool doesn’t sound very war like. Well, I am not a fighter, just a mere ostler in the south of Tir Righ (England) . If a war was to break out near my inn, I would have to use what was near at hand. A stool although no match for a true weapon, will still stun one of those Avie bastards when I smash it over their bacon obsessed heads. Just Say’n

So I took a trip to the magical fun time shop of Awesomeness (Windsor Plywood – Burnaby), and saw much to my delight that pear wood slabs were on sale. Not a commonly used wood for furniture construction, but considering I live in an orchard rich area it is probable. Pear wood is an amazing wood, as it is resistant to alot of tear out issues you find in alot of other wood species. I took a slab that had some nice hartwood/sapwood sections. The change in color ads so much awesomeness to wood. The slab was almost big enough to get two full stools out of it. The second stool I will build will have a bit of dogwood to make up for the missing pieces.

I still haven’t got around to making a rip saw. I turned to my trusty table saw to cut the slab down to 1.75″  board. I love the color contrast.

Earlier in the year I was given a new live center for my lathe. Sadly my tail stock doesn’t have a moris taper on it, thus rendering my new toy kind of useless. Useless except for using it in the head stock for pole lathe applications. This is a big improvement on the old conversion method that had me remove the motor belt. I still had alot of motor resistance, but this new method is effortless.

Short video to show the action of the lathe. The treadle is getting hung up on other machinery, but otherwise is a workable solution.

The three legs of the stool turned, and waiting to be drilled.

• June 16, 2010 -- Triangular Stool ~ V1.1 (0)
• January 10, 2010 -- Pole Lathe from Electric Conversion (2)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• July 4, 2009 -- Pole Lathe Class (4)

I am in serious Awe. I need to make me a floor lathe.

yoinked from Stuart Kings blog

• June 16, 2010 -- Triangular Stool ~ V1.1 (0)
• June 6, 2010 -- Triangular stool v1.0 (4)
• April 5, 2010 -- Good Weekend (2)
• March 30, 2010 -- Break Apart Eric Stands v1.0 (4)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• January 10, 2010 -- Pole Lathe from Electric Conversion (2)

I turned a bunch of the eric stand tops and then painted them with red oxide mixed with linseed oil.

The final cartoon is coming along. I took all the things that were wrong with the first draft and used it to work out the kinks on this version. My hands are in severe trauma over all the coloring this weekend.

• March 4, 2010 -- Turkish Carpet Project v1.5 ~ More Cartoons (3)
• August 19, 2010 -- Turkish Carpet Project v1.7 The Math (0)
• July 1, 2010 -- Turkish Rug project v1.6 a Looming I Will Go (0)
• March 30, 2010 -- Break Apart Eric Stands v1.0 (4)
• February 14, 2010 -- Turkish Carpet v1.4 Cartoon Time (0)
• February 12, 2010 -- Turkish Carpet Project v1.3 (0)

Bought a 2x6x8′ spruce  board from the local lumberstore. I cut it down to two 33″ lengths, and two 15″ lengths.

The 33″ lengths were then ripped down to 1.5×1.5 billets.

The two 15″ sections were then ripped into two 2.25″x15″ boards.

These four sections will become the eric stand feet (2 sets)

I then marked out the width of the lap joint in the center of the feet.

Double checking the width of the dado against the feet width.

Lap joints now  cut out of top and bottom feet.

I was going for a foot some what like this candle stand. easy to do, but adds a little class than leaving it blunt cut ends. Yes its out of period, but so are so many things in the society….sigh.

To make sure the feet look the same I made a template out of scrap kicking around the shop. Its a little more elongated than the candle stand, but I want the feet to be wider for stability.

Upside down picture of the stand with the pattern traced out.

Cutting out the pattern on the bandsaw.

Double checking how it looks.

Drilled a 1″ hole through both the feet.

Pieces then glued together

Then clamped tight.

Moving on to the poles, I marked the center points on the ends.

and slapped it on the lathe. The billet was then turned down to a 1.5″ dowel, with 1.25″ on either end turned down to 1″.

One end was then cut on the band saw . I cut down into the 1.5″ dowel area just enough to accommodate the size rope I have for the project.

Next I cut a 3″ section off of one of the 33″ long billets . I drilled a 1″ hole in the center.

Double checked it fit  how I wanted it to on the dowel.

Slapped it on the lathe and turned it to knock off the sides and have a small bead that will make the dowel and cap blend together.

Picture of how the top fits together with the rope.

I have to make 6 more just like this one. I will also make one eric stand that has a 1″ dowel the whole length of the stand. This way I can take apart the 7 other stands and have the feet section slide down onto the oddball stand. Then I have to make a bag that will fit all of the stands together in a nice package. Depending on if I am burned out or not, I might make a few more.

I am thinking I might paint them red using lindseed oil and iron oxide. I post again when I am done this project.

• April 5, 2010 -- Good Weekend (2)
• July 9, 2009 -- Wool Combs (0)
• July 5, 2009 -- Turned Thread Spools & Drop Spindle (0)
• July 4, 2009 -- Pole Lathe Class (4)
• April 2, 2009 -- Turned Bed Frame v1.3 (0)
• March 23, 2009 -- Turned Bed Frame v1.2 (0)

I cut down the wood on the table saw till it was roughly square and  4″ long.

Image Laden Post after the jump.

Used a center finder to establish the center of the squares.

Used a pick to makes a whole for the centers on the lathe.

Slapped it onto the lathe centers.

Using a roughing gouge to turn it cylindrical.

I use a parting tool to establish the size of the spool end button, eyeball the side wall thickness, and the use the parting tool to cut down to the size I want. The other side of the spool will get turned down later.

Using a caliper to make sure the spool spindle is roughly the right diameter.

Using the roughing gouge to waste away the left over wood between the spool ends.

Using the left over wood dust I burnish the spool to make a decent burnished finish. This only works well if I have made fairly fine cuts while turning the spool.

I flip the spool over to finished the other end. Its easy to break the finished end at this point by applying to much force from the end stock.

Eight down, Fifty Two left to go!

• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• June 16, 2010 -- Triangular Stool ~ V1.1 (0)
• June 6, 2010 -- Triangular stool v1.0 (4)
• January 10, 2010 -- Pole Lathe from Electric Conversion (2)
• December 22, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.6 Done Baby Done! (2)

I am lucky enough to have a decent size shop, and even luckier (mis-fortunate) to have inherited a lot of old tools. The decent size shop seems pretty small when all the tools are taking up every corner. Hence I have no room to have both a modern electric lathe, and a period pole lathe. This means most years I end up doing with out a pole lathe for the fall and winter months.

I came up with a simple cheap way to use the electric as a pole lathe.

Everything I need to convert the lathe. two eye hooks, one bungy cord, some rope, and a wooden stick, tape, and a steel rod. (you can accomplish the same thing without the tape, steel rod, and one of the eye hooks, you’ll just have less adjustment)

First off you need to place the eye hooks in the ceiling. That was easy in my shop, as I have drywalled all the surfaces but not taped and finished the panels. I can see the nails holes and thats where I drill the pilot holes for the two eye hooks. I spread them apart just shy of the steel rods length.

I took the steel rod, and wrapped both ends with duct tape. We are just keeping the rod from slipping out of the eye hooks.

Next, one end of the bungy cord was hammered closed. The rod with the duct tape ends are slid through the bungy end.

The rod is then slipped through the eye hooks in the ceiling. You can see how the bungy hook can now be slid along the rod. I used some rod I had kicking around the shop. It has a bit of flex but not enough to cause concern.

I tied the bungy to the rope. Don’t cut anything at this point as you will be needing to adjust it to your own needs. I also left the hook on this side, as I can quickly wrap the bungy cord around the hook raising the distance of the rope to the turned object.

The rope is then wrapped around the object to be turned.

The rope is then tied to a wooden stick (1×2 scrap I had kicking around). Don’t cut the rope as you will be playing around with this area too.

When I have the real pole lathe outdoors, I have a long treadle that I have jutting out the front of the lathe. It makes for a fairly small movement with my foot to get a good length of travel. In my shop I have a smaller stick and I have running parallel to the lathe bed. This means I have to use a bit more knee to operate the lathe, but it still works great.

The only other thing I do to the electric lathe, is I remove the motor belt. This means the snap back motion is not slowed down by the motor resistance.

This is not as nice as some of the pole lathes I have made, but it keeps my shop a little more workable space wise.

***update*** 

 I recieved a second live center for my birthday. With this live center installed in the headstock, and the tailstock allready equiped with a live center, you get a  pole lathe (bungy) that has very little resistance in the snapping action of the bungy cord. Works better than my purpose built pole lathe.

• June 16, 2010 -- Triangular Stool ~ V1.1 (0)
• June 6, 2010 -- Triangular stool v1.0 (4)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• July 4, 2009 -- Pole Lathe Class (4)

This is the design I drew for the back board of Emily’s Chair. It has all three of her initials ECV in it.

The back spindles were a pain. 13″‘s long but only a 1/2″ thick. It wanted to chop so badly. I ended up trying to hold the spinning  dowel with one had while cutting uncomfortably close to my hand with the other hand. I really need to build me a spindle support one day.

Dry fit of the back spindles. I have no real plans for this chair, just a doodle or two, so It was very surprising after all my effort, that I only miss cut one part. The very last back spindle, I forgot to an 1″ to accommodate the holes the spindle sits in…doh!

I decided to use a wipe-on poly-urethane finish. I have used it in the past, and have been happy with the consistency of the finish. No bleeding run lines.  I did a coat on all the part before assembly ans I used a artist brush to get into all the spindly parts. It work so much better than trying to force a sopping wet rag into a tight area.

The center part I was kind of dreading carving. I am not an experienced carver, an so I eliminated the initial C to make it easier on myself.

Punching in the pattern

I managed to carving out without gouging out an area I wasn’t suppose too. Success!

More finishing I love the contrast between heartwood, and sap wood. I tried to include as much of the difference in the bigger parts of the chair. I love flat and satin finishes. I find them so much more satisfying to look at then a gloss.

Glueing the front and back section together first. Normally I would glue the whole thing together at the same time but….

As the old adage goes “You can never have enough wood clamps”. Too True! I used every clamp I owned (over 18″) to glue up the final pieces.

Next time: Weaving the seat material. I have never done it before, so I am kind of excited.

• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• December 22, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.6 Done Baby Done! (2)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 9, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.3 (0)
• December 7, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.2 (0)
• November 26, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.1 (0)

The arms are shape kind of like an exclamation point. I walked around the house menacing people with the club.

The under side of the arms had 1/2″ & 3/4″ holes drilled. The main post and 5 spindles will occupy these holes.

To give the arms a little bit of interest, I beveled along the side and around the hand rest. Carving around a round perimeter of a piece is not my idea of fun.

Checking to see if I drilled the arm  hole was in the right spot. I had to turn the flattened piece of wood on the lathe to get a nice 3/4″ round tenon on the back leg side of the arm.

The two arms are done but for a little more sanding. I also went ahead and cut out the back rail that will be the center of the chair. Everything but the circle in the center has to be worked with on the lathe. Its a little nerve wracking having the large disc spinning so close to the cutting tool being held in one hand. It also doesn’t help that the spinning disk in mostly invisible while its spinning.

I managed not to kill myself. It looks alright. I am kind of freaking out, as I still am not sure what I will be carving in the middle of the disk. I tell you… This whole en-devour has not been planed out well at all!

The small spindles that fit underneath the arm rests. I used a story stick to get the general dimensions the same.

I decided to alternate every spindle with a different style spindle. This way it adds to the coolness factore, and hides any inconsistency between similar spindles.

I think it worked out fairly nicely.

Next exciting episode: Mary finds out the horrors of turning a small diameter long spindle… Can we saw Choppy McChop Chop….

• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 22, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.6 Done Baby Done! (2)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 9, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.3 (0)
• December 7, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.2 (0)
• November 26, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.1 (0)

The barley twist and fluting is finally finished. Its a pretty good match, although the foot profile is different from the front to back legs. Once they are not so close to each other, it will hardly be noticeable.

This was the most difficult part so far. Trying to figure out where all the drill holes go. I used low tack sticky tape to keep track where the holes go. Even being extra cautious, I still almost goofed as I had the grain orientated the same direction in 3 out of 4 legs. Measure 8 times drill once.

I always have trouble with reference punch marks. I have started making a small hole with an awl, and then use then punch to widen the hole.

I used a Frostner bit to get a nice flat bottomed hole. I also used a piece of scrap wood to keep the leg lying flat. The drill press table is rather small for drilling long objects.

All the holes are now drilled. If I screwed up I will find out when I start turning all the cross spindles tomorrow.

• December 20, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.5 Almost Done (0)
• December 14, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.4 (0)
• November 26, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.1 (0)
• January 16, 2010 -- 60 Spools (0)
• December 22, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.6 Done Baby Done! (2)
• December 9, 2009 -- Emily’s Highchair v1.3 (0)