Popular Woodworking – October 2019

POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 33

Finishing Touches
I use thick corner blocks to support
the upholstered seat bottom, as
well as a ledger strip at the front
edge where most of the pressure
hits. They are angled to match the
corners of the seat frame. I set the
top of the blocks down 1" from the
seat rails, clamp them in place with
a Quik-Clamp, drill, countersink
and screw them in.
Next I make a seat-bottom tem-
plate to take to my upholsterer. It

29

30

29 Here’s how to make an accurate

seat base that you can take to an

upholsterer. Notch a thin template to

fi t around the legs, and use a pen to

trace the interior of the seat frame.

Offset that line inward by^1 / 8 " to

make room for the upholstery. Cut

out that template and trace it onto

(^3) / 4 " Baltic birch plywood.
30 Saw and smooth the seat blank
and cut a hole in the middle for
webbing. Note the corner blocks
are screwed into the frame to
support the seat, as well as the
extra ledger strip up front where the
pressure is greatest.
sits inside the frame with a^1 / 8 " gap
all around. The size of the gap is
dependent on how your upholster-
er (or you) wraps the seat bottom,
but^1 / 8 " works well for the uphol-
sters I’ve used.
The actual seat blank is made
with^3 / 4 " shop-grade plywood. After
making the template, I trace its
shape on the plywood and then fl ip
it over to make sure it’s symmet-
rical, to keep things consistent for
my upholsterer. If it looks good
I saw out the shape, beveling the
front edge at 9° so it doesn’t bind
when I drop it into place. I also cut
the back of the front leg notches at
9° for the same reason, using my
backsaw.
I usually have my upholsterer
install webbing for comfort so I
need to cut out the middle of my
plywood, leaving a 3"-wide frame all
around. I do this with a jigsaw.
I turn over the chair at this point,
brand it with my logo, and drill^5 / 64 "
holes in the center of the bottom of
the legs in case Hafele felt pads will
be added in the future.
Before applying fi nish, I go over
the chair with a red 3M pad. I fi nish
my chairs with three coats of Livos
Interior Oil Sealer (#244) or Sam
Maloof Poly/Oil Finish, waiting
at least 24 hours between coats. I
go over the chair three times with
clean rags or paper towels after
applying each coat, working the
intersections hard, so as not to
leave any residue there. If I rub the
wet coats fi rmly and thoroughly,
each one glistens with an even,
satin sheen and I don’t have to sand
between them. PW
Tom Dolese makes furniture and
teaches chairmaking at his shop in
Bellingham, Washington. See more
at terrafi rmadesignnw.com