Two chairs completed

The heavens are open and angels sing for on this day (a week or so ago, actually) two chairs were finished. AaAaAaAhhhhhhhh. I'm not going to go in to just how long it took to complete them, but let me say this, it feels good to be done-ish.

The chairs are finished, and done too.

Ahh... sh*t

I had a couple of those moments in the shop last night. That moment when you realize that the stupidity that lays before you came from your own hand.

The first one I can chalk up to a learning experience. I don't know where you live, but chances are if you live eastern part of the US you've experienced prolonged, high humidity over the past couple of weeks. I know that humidity + metal tools = rust and I watch the weather forecasts. I knew the humidity was coming. I prepared the tools that are too big to move out of my garage with a fresh coating of wax.

Tonight, I moved some work pieces that I placed my table saw shortly after the waxing and found this.

My table saw had never experienced rust before this.

Kids' Table and Chairs - Planning the chair assembly

In my previous blog posts I vented my frustration with the shaping of the rear legs. Additionally, I gushed about the online woodworking community and the helpful guidance I received. I applied the advice that best fit my skills and tools and ended up with some nice looking legs. Eight out of eighteen isn't too bad, right?

Before... a torn out mess

After... butta

Kid's Table and Chairs - The legs have been a challenge

It has been two months since my last update, but that's not due to lack of shop time, it's due to lack of progress. I've spent a good amount of time trying to cut the rears legs of these chairs and as of this moment, they are still not done. Allow me to explain.

The rear legs are angled out from where they meet the apron to floor and to the chair back. So far in the small number of cuts I've made I have not yet cut any piece other than in a straight line and I am finding that cutting the inside angles is a challenge. My original plan was to rough out the shape on the bandsaw and then clean them up using a plywood template and the router.

Kid's table and chairs - I finally started making the chairs

Its been just over a month since completing the table and now the chairs are finally under way. The reason for the extended break? I dunno. It was not an intended break as if I had gotten sick of this project, it was just how things worked out. Life. Regardless, the chairs are now progressing at the glacial pace I am becoming accustomed to.

Kid's Table and Chairs - The Completed Table

There comes a point in every project where you finish the final step and the project is complete. After buffing a coat of wax and attaching the table top, I looked at the table standing atop my bench and thought, "... huh, I'm done". But really, I wasn't. It hadn't been delivered. It hadn't been tested. It hadn't been approved by the customer.

With that thought in mind I took the table upstairs, removed the battered table that was the impetus for this project and placed the new table in its final destination. Too bad I was the only one awake at that hour.

Kid's Table and Chairs - Finishing the table

I have found that among the DIY home improvement projects I have done, the biggest bang for my buck, as well the biggest and most dramatic change, has been in painting walls. Taking down wallpaper or just painting over the existing color will transform the entire feel of the room, even if no other changes are made. The same can be said for finishing this table.

Kid's Table and Chairs - Table Assembly

Up until recently my first furniture project has included the process of taking pieces of wood and making them smaller. There's not much of an emotional or intellectual payoff in that. I can get excited about making square cuts and pieces of consistent length and width, but after doing that you still only have what amounts to a pile of pretty sticks. Arranging those sticks to be the object I see in my head... that's where the sexy is.

Kid's Table and Chairs - The table is down to final dimensions

It has taken a while, but I have finally seen the table, or close to what it will look like upside down. I recently finished jointing, planing ripping and cutting all pieces to final dimensions and had to at least line them up like a table to see what I had. Of course joinery is needed to keep a table upright so I loosely assembled the table upside down on its top and saw what it will look like from a bug's eye view. I should have taken a picture but I was too excited to think about that This one of all the pieces stacked up will have to suffice. On the far left are the aprons, the center pile is the legs and the big pile on the right is the table top.

Kids' Table and Chairs - Progressing at a snail's pace

So far this project feels like it is moving at a tectonic pace. I purchased the wood a little more than weeks ago and all I have done is cross cut some of the lengths. I've got a number of 2 to 4 foot boards in my garage waiting to planed. I'm not intentionally taking my time to allow the wood to acclimate to my garage, I bought it from a dealer less than hour away. Our climates are the same. The reality is that with limited time the pace of the project will be slower than I want. I'm just going to have to adjust.

Kid's Table and Chairs - Buying the Wood

I've had yesterday and today off from work. We didn't take a week long vacation this year, instead I have taken a number of four and five day weekends. This was one of those weekends. My wife's birthday was yesterday and we spent the time just hanging as a family. Today I was able to break away for a few hours to go buy the wood for kid's table and chairs.

Kid's Table and Chairs - Design and Planning

And so it begins, my first real furniture project. No vinyl veneered particle board, no allen wrenches, no androgynous Swedish instructions.

The idea for this project came to life a few weeks ago when my wife emailed me at work with a link to a child sized set of table and chairs at Amazon. She wanted to know what I thought about buying this to replace the kid sized folding table and chairs we currently have. The set at Amazon is all birch with a simple, stylish design (pictured left). I like it a lot and it will fit nicely with our decor but I do not like the thought of buying it and I convinced my wife that I could build it. She probably regretted sending the link. Its going to take longer and cost more but she has since warmed up to the idea.