leftover oak

[Bearb]

Ah yes, I thought you were describing a pocket screw system. I have not used one but I hear good things about them for furniture and cabinet making.

[Esther]

Well see, we are such amateurs at this, we don't even know how to talk about it.

[Bearb]

Esther, any new projects on the horizon? With the change in weather (and the accompanying yard work) and a few different life changes (some good some bad) my workshop time has gone to ZERO (mid project too). Sure would be fun to live vicariously through you guys. . .

[Esther]

You're gonna laugh. We are making thrones for Bible School at church. They need a "king" size one and a "Queen size one". They don't have to match, just one be larger and more ornate than the other. I found a chair up on the storage deck in our pole barn (well, it's not a pole barn and it's not a barn. OK it's a storage building 24' x 32' and has 12' sides.). This chair used to have an upholstered seat and no arms. So I thought why not sand it down a bit, pad a piece of plywood with a royal color blue/gold/burgundy fabric and paint the rest of the chair with gold. He can add arms made out of the padded siderails from a waterbed. Then the king size one he thought he'd make out of 2" x 4"s and rip them in half for the legs and frame. In the meantime, I'm going to put the word out that if anybody around has an old wooden dining room chair they want to throw our way, maybe we can dude it up to do the job for the second one.

I was going to Joanne fabrics today but knew that any satiny or velvety fabric would be pricey. I stopped at Salvation Army and bought a floor length royal blue satin formal for $4.99. It is beautiful and has plenty of fabric to do both chairs. Can't wait to get at this project. Pete thinks I'm crazy. Do you remember seeing these crowns we made for the three little granddaughters for Christmas?  The board that is left from where he cut them has a cool shape and I'm thinking that maybe we can incorporate that shape somehow into the back of the chair.

[Bearb]

That is great. It is great when you can find good causes that need fun little projects. You get to stretch your creativity and build our chops at the same time. If you haven't yet, look into freecycle and craigslist. Both are good sources for unwanted chairs and such, you may also score some hideous old window treatments for the fabric. The curtains in my childhood home in the 70s would make some pretty great thrones now. . .

building the chairs out of 2x4s would be a great way to use your pocket screw jig, gold spray paint and gaudy fabric will cover the ho-hum grain.

[Esther]

Turns out that while I was wandering around today trying to decide what to buy at Salvatin Army, Pete was ripping up 2 X 4s. He already has a basic throne put together and yes he used the Kreg Joiner. So I'm dumping the idea of using the old chair. To me, what he has done looks more throne like than the chair. So I asked him if he had enough scraps to do a second one and he does. I have some of the jems and stuff left over from the crown project so I'm guessing they will get something far more fancy than they expected. Can't wait to get my hands on them. 

[Bearb]

I love it when a plan comes together. I'm sure the church will be thrilled!

[Esther]

Pete is using 2 x 4s and ripping them in half for the framing. We cut out a crown and glued it into the top and the dress will be used to upholster the seats. Oh and the long brown thing is a padded siderail from an old waterbed and it will be the arms and go across the back.

[Bearb]

Nice, Pete looks like he's having fun. I wish I could get into the shop! I'll try to see if I have any pictures of my 1/3 finsihed project.