Turning the legs and stretchers is completely different than any of the previous work. It's always a bit jarring when I switch to turning, and takes me a little time to really get my head into it.
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Rough practice on a piece of scrap
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It helps to practice some of the cuts on a piece that you do not care about - this piece has been used for this more than once, and is nothing to be proud of. :)
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Sharpening - the black marker helps adjust the tool rest
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Done
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Sharpening is yet another critical skill - if you can't sharpen well, you can't turn well. That's just the way that it is. Sharpening is fundamental to every single cutting tool used to make chairs, and none of them will work the way they are supposed to if they aren't sharp. It's not something I love to do, but I've learned the hard way that it cannot be skipped.
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| Side stretchers are the easiest, so I do them all first to get warmed up |
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One done
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| These little v notches are a little tricky to cut :) |
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Four side and two center stretchers - enough for two chairs
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One afternoon's worth of turning. These came out reasonably well - they are far from perfect, but will look very nice in the finished chairs. A pro turner would finish these in less than half the time and they would be better to boot. :D
