Ian - Oak, my friend, oak
But MAC has (well I hope he still has...) some of the most fanstastic elm you are ever likely to see.
Back to the chairs.
I found some footage, from which this still is taken. The boards were big and heavy. I needed some help from my neighbour to get them onto the trestles.
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So after machining to 34mm I attached my OSB template with a couple of screws, to one of the rejects. The result was not good. Too much flex and a very poor surface finish. I'm glad I tried it though, I learned a lot.
So I used my second reject but used DS tape all over it. Much better, from a security point of view, but totally impossible to separate workpiece and template afterwards! In fact, I broke the template. So I made a new template out of 18mm MRMDF and that is much more rigid. I've also learned to use DS tape just enough to hold the two together, and not a square millimetre more.
So instead of covering the whole surface with DS tape, I'm using it in 12mm strips - all along the back legs and only in the tapered areas of the front legs.
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The legs are then bandsawn close to the finished line using my Notched Single-Point Bandsaw Fence
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With the template still attached it's over to the Router Table. I have long had adouble-bearing flush-trim bit. It pretty good. But It's getting in need of a good sharpening and the surface finish is not what it once was. It's also a straight bit, so it cuts with a chopping motion. OK but not great.
I happened to be talking with Eric the Viking (joke coming up later...) who told me he has a Wealden onewhich has a curved cutting edge to give a shear cut and he extolled its virtues. So I gulped and ordered one. £36. Ouch. But is it wonderful. It's not quite as long as my cheapie yellow Chinese one, 50mm c.f. 2.5", but it is more than adequate for anything I'm likely to need it for.
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The surface finish is as good as a sharp and plane. Beautiful.
I didn't always get the order of the tapers right on the front leg. Ideally I want to have a flate surface down on the table. But I also want to trim with the grain, for a tearout-free cut. If I cut the two tapers in the wrong order, I end up like this
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It's not the end of the world, but it is a bit less stable, so I have to be careful.
On the router table, I use either the top bearing or the bottom bearing, depending on which way the grain is going.
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I've paired the legs up as best I can. There is quite a variation in colour, but I'm fairly happy with the pairings. I might replace one of the front legs, I have enough spare.
So I now have 12 front legs, all nicely tapered and acceptably the same
I also have 4 back legs done, another 8 to go.