Just completed was a Hans Wegner CH 27 lounge chair.  The chair was acquired by my clients who are long time friends with the original owners who purchased the chair in Denmark many years ago.  It had been rewoven although incorrectly, the detail of the spokes crossing on the seat had been omitted.

The chair came out well and I offered the “first sit” in the new seat to the clients but they relinquished the honor to my son, Sam, who came along for the delivery.

Dux Rocking chair before repair

I just completed a repair on a Dux rocking chair designed by Hans Olsen for the original owner who purchased it in 1965.  The pattern for the back is similar to the seat on the Hans Wegner Round Chair but unfortunately was rewoven incorrectly about twenty years ago.  I was able to find some examples of original chairs on the web so I could recreate the back to its original state.

Detail of the back before the repair

No turning back now!

Chairs that rock are great to sit in but they can be a bummer to work on since they are always moving.  Fortunately the rockers on this one are easily removed.

The chair after a clean and oil

Now the fun starts.  The spokes are first and I have to be sure that I have the crosses going in the right direction and that there are three per pair of spokes.  The pieces of cane that run horizontally along the rails make sure the spokes stay put when the weavers are woven in.

Weaving the spokes

Each new spoke is tacked underneath the old spoke, wraps around the rail twice and then goes down to the bottom rail.

Tacking in a new spoke

Now that the spokes are complete I can do the weavers.

Ready for the weavers

A piece of cane is temporarily put in to establish the position of the crosses while I do the weavers in the same way the spokes are done.  Tack, wrap, weave across the field, wrap and tack.  The tacks are hidden under the new weavers.

Getting close!

Like all weaves it gets tight as you get close to finishing.

One of the last rows

I let the cane dry overnight since I work with it while it’s wet.  Cane has a lot of hairs and fuzz on it that needs to be removed.  The quickest way is to singe off all of this.  I use an alcohol lamp which burns clean with no soot.  Experience will teach you to keep the flame moving so the seat doesn’t catch on fire!  You only make that mistake once.

This is the scariest step

Finally the chair is done!

The top left corner

Dux Rocking Chair by Hans Olsen

Finished the Day-Ray sign

Taught a Danish cord class at Pasadena Community College

Spoke and gave a demo at Cerritos College

Restored a set of four dining chairs.

Made a piece for the Dunnage Show with the LA Box Collective.

Whew!

Here are some photos of what’s been happening…

Installing the Day-Ray sign

Day-Ray sign in South Pasadena

Students in the seat weaving class at PCC

Before

After

Finally we had a show at Inheritance.  That’s my screen in the window.  We should have a post on that at the LA Box Collective blog soon.

Dunnage show at Inheritance

My screen woven in the daisy pattern

Yeah, I’ve had many a late night and now I’ve caught my baby’s cold.

Here are the letters on my work table.  I only took what was needed so I left the extra A and Y.  From these letters I made templates to make the new ones.

It’s not a complicated project.  Cut out letters, glue them up, clean them, mount them to a board and paint but it will be cool to see some of my work in a public space.  I’m also proud to be apart of architectural preservation in my community.

Maybe I’m alone in this but I think pieces look very sculptural while in clamps.

David

I just got the call today that Pasadena City College’s Community Education program accepted my proposal to teach a class in Danish cord weaving.  The tentative schedule is Saturdays from 10:00 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. this September 24 through October 15.  Once the catalog comes out I’ll post more information.

So if you have a chair with a Danish cord seat like the one Charlie’s sitting on now is the time to learn to weave it yourself!

It’s been a busy few months in the shop and I got into the bad habit of working furiously and not slowing down to take pictures to share with you.  When this great old Windsor chair came in I knew I couldn’t let this one go without documenting it.

It’s in great shape but through the years the joints have come loose so it was no longer safe to sit in.  The owner wanted to keep the old finish and patina so it was a basic re-glue job.

Before I take a chair apart I mark each piece with masking tape so I know how it will all go back together.

A few gentle tugs on the parts and a couple of taps with a dead blow mallet and cork block got the chair apart.  Only the bottom frame was loose so the top was left intact.

The chair has been repaired in the past but unfortunately the previous person wasn’t careful about pulling it apart.  Chips like this come from not pulling it apart straight.

I also found some old yellow glue on top of the original hide glue.  Even with two glue-ups in its history the tenon had very little glue on it which is most likely why the chair loosened up.  Identifying hide glue is easy.  Just put some warm water on it and if it gets sticky it’s hide glue!

I’m going to re-glue it with hide glue since one of the great things about it is that new glue will bond with the old.  I also like to keep chairs as original as possible.  They make fancy glue melting pots but I choose to improvise my setup with what I found at the thrift store.  I even left the price tags on.

I forgot my tripod so I couldn’t do any action shots of me gluing it back together.  As you can see, after a waxing the chair came out great!

Lately I’ve been doing work for myself, which is rare, to make a home out of the fixer we bought in Highland Park.  Here is the biggest part of the remodel done so far.

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This is the living room/dining room/kitchen as it looked before.  The house is tiny by the way.  The wall had been altered to build the counter top that divided the kitchen.  Not bad but the room didn’t flow well and the altered wall is load bearing which wasn’t reenforced so the ceiling was sagging significantly.  My wife was concerned, the baby was due in about a month.  I couldn’t wait to rip out that wall!

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The first thing I did was remove the dank carpet.  Ew! I loath carpet.  After that temporary walls are built to hold up the roof while I remove the wall.  I was careful to keep the old corner cabinet intact and in place.

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Then it’s as simple as putting a large beam up into place on top of the vertical supports.  The roof had to be jacked up so the house would be straight and the flat beam would fit.  Having a tiny house does have its benefits, my Toyota jack was able to lift the roof.

At the time of this photo the baby was due in three weeks.

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Now after a little drywall, trim, zero VOC paint and some cherry floors we moved in just in time to have a baby!  Why is it that people always remodel houses right before they have babies?  I still don’t know why and I one of them.

The kitchen’s next.

Oh yeah, I bet you want to see a picture of the baby.  I just put a picture of him on the LA Box Collective blog.

David

Shaping Arm

Those of you who have commissioned pieces from me know that as I design and build your pieces I send photos of the work in progress.  Often it can be a question on how you want a particular detail done or to give a report on how and where the piece is in its construction.  I’m told the most interesting photos are of joinery before it has been glued together.  So often in handmade furniture most of the work is hidden in the finished piece so I like to snap a picture of it before the work is glued up.

Leg Joinery on the TV Console

With this blog I’ll share with anyone who likes to see the processes I go through to make a piece.  Repair projects will also be featured as well.  I’ll put up new posts and pages every week or two and if you don’t want to miss anything please subscribe.

Welcome to my blog.

David Johnson