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Author Topic: Shaker style benches & seats
Ken Hume
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Post Shaker style benches & seats
on: August 6, 2023, 07:32
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The Oxfordshire Woodland Group are about to embark on making a set of Shaker meeting house furniture items including long benches and high backed bench seats. Persons interested in participating should contact the Trustees. Bodgers and pole lathe turners are particularly welcome.

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Ken Hume
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Posts: 639
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Post Re: Shaker style benches & seats
on: August 31, 2024, 07:57
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Oxfordshire Woodland Group Fellow Cora Firth was chosen to make the two Shaker benches and high back seat.

An ash tree that had been cut down in the woodland was cut into 2" thick slabs x 4 ft long and laid in stick in the barn to season.

These slabs were resawn to produce 2" x 2" and 1" x 1" stock to make legs, stretchers & rods.

Four x 1.5" thick x 9Ft long top quality Douglas fir planks converted from a butt log and laid in stick were selected to make the seats.

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These planks were sawn thru & thru from the same virtually knot free log in a manner typically found in original Shaker furniture.

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The DF planks were delivered to Cora Firth's furniture workshop where they were put through a thicknesser / planner.

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This process resulted in a higher contrast between knots and wood with the knotier side being relegated to the underside of the benches.

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Cora Firth then prepared dry ash stock [square to octagonal section] to make both Shaker bench and high back chair legs.

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The first turned legs are very appealing revealing beautiful grain patterns and colour.

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The Shaker bench seats components were delivered and assembled by Cora Firth and The Stratfield Saye bodgers at their annual week long gathering in North Hampshire (19th - 23rd August 2024).

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The bench seat planks were made using high quality Douglas Fir converted by OWG to produce mirror image match marked planks

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The pair of benches will be used to support attendees at OWG woodland school session.

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Cora Firth and OWG Trustees were able to benefit from the Stratfield Saye chair bodgers experience in assembly and final fit of leg stretchers.

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The OWG bench and high back seat designs were based on visits made to Hancock Shaker village, Mass., followed by a stay at Enfield Shaker village, NH. The care and attention invested by the Shakers in their workmanship was obvious. The Shaker's were known to say -

"tis a gift to be simple" and "hands to work - hearts to God".

Ken Hume
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Posts: 639
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Post Re: Shaker style benches & seats
on: September 6, 2024, 12:55
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Work proceeded in Cora's workshop to join the high back seat planks and then turn legs & stretchers for this seat.

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Assembly & wedging then moved to Cora's display workshop where the Shaker benches and high seat could be shown to advantage (high seat back rest & rods omitted).

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The display made by positioning of the side benches (boards) and the high back seat (chair) which is deliberately enclosed and framed within the arched braces of the timber frame helps to demonstrate the hierarchy of importance of people and place.

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Cora is now effectively demonstrating that she is "chairman of the board".

Ken Hume
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Posts: 639
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Post Re: Shaker style benches & seats
on: September 14, 2024, 20:40
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Levelling the bench is done using a laser level mounted on top of an appropriate support (plastic drum).

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The underside of the bench seat is used for long and cross levelling and also for checking the leg assembly at the other end of the bench to ensure minimal material needs to be removed from the legs.

Ken Hume
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Posts: 639
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Post Re: Shaker style benches & seats
on: September 28, 2024, 07:25
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Cora's jig made easy work to align and drill the holes for the back rest spindles.

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To avoid blow out of the underside seat surface the augur drilling was stopped when the screw thread point just emerged from the underside. The bench seat was then turned over and drilled from the underside using another slightly undersized augur. This resulted in a good tight fit for the back spindles

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Some trial spindles that had been made from slightly undersized stock had flat spots.

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These will be remade from the same dry ash stock cut more generously to help avoid this type of imperfection,

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