Imrie Chair cont

Construction of the "Imrie" High Back Dining Chair

10. 11. 12.

Meanwhile, the legs for the chairs are being prepared. Before they are turned on the lathe, the mortises are cut. We will use mortise and tenon construction in these chairs, which is an extremely strong joinery technique, ideal for chairs.
The legs are made form Queensland Silver Ash and feature a dome at the top in Australian Red Cedar, which creates an interesting contrast. The cedar is inserted as a cylinder into the top of each leg after they are turned and glued in place. The dome shaped top is then turned on the lathe.
It's time to glue the stainless steel pins and permanently join the chair back halves together. We used a two-part epoxy adhesive.

13. 14. 15.

The front rail of the seat is dry fitted to the legs before gluing. This lets us identify areas that may need fine adjustments in the fit and eliminate any gaps between the two surfaces when the final glue up takes place.
The legs are attached to the seat rails using a high solids PVA adhesive. PVA is slightly flexible and allows for a small amount of natural timber movement. This is important in situations like this chair joint, which will be subject to very high stress loads. The flexibility of the glue will absorb these stresses without breaking its bond. The legs are checked to ensure they are square to the rails.
Now the backs are ready to be fitted to the seat. The backs are glued and bolted to the curved seat rails. Six chairs ready for upholstering with the fabric of the client's choice.