What have I been doing?

Between too-hot weather, schedule constraints, and illnesses, what in the world have I been doing if not building this great chair?  I put this together.

Still need to make the black undershirt.

Here is the original build thread.

Took a few shots before the sun went too far west.  The shoulder pads are just pinned in place. I plan on fiddling with them a bit more - I think I can get some of the wrinkle out of the shoulder stripe.  I also didn't take any shots of the back - realized I need to fix the button strap locations first.

Some B-roll images.

This will be a nice go-to uniform.  But for my support red stripe uniform I'd like to iron out a few things.  Here's the corrections to the front I'd like to make.

As for comfort, I can sit in it just fine.  Reaching up is a bit hard.  It is a little tight in the shoulders too.  I took it in a lot in the back on this version so I may let it back out a little bit on the next one. But walking around, breathing, moving my arms in non-extreme poses works great.  It's actually more comfortable than I thought it'd be.

When I get the undershirt done I will post more pics in different poses.  I'm working on some hand held accessories and background items that should look good in my photos too. I am slowly turning my office into an ENT ready room.  Here's the latest item that should be showing up in my mail box this week...

Still too hot. But got another greeblie.

It's still in the upper 90's and low 100's.  Too hot to work in the garage.  Not enough scratch to buy the materials to finish the upholstery.  I did how ever just find this little gem in my mailbox.  My thanks to Bruce for making it for me!

The switches and black frame are made from colored resins.  The castings are perfect!  No bubbles, great colors, the only thing I need to do is clean up the bottoms of the switches and frame and secure it all together.  The switches are non functioning dummies, but man they look good!

The electronics I plan to install will be controlled by the push buttons mounted on the arm control panel opposite these switches.

Man it's hot - almost ready

After 16 consecutive days of over 90 degree weather (many well over 100, one day last weekend the thermometer at the house read 108!) it has finally started cooling down.  I will get the garage straitened up and will get back to the chair.

Next on the list is the walnut arm rests, then foam and upholstering.  Though I will be skinning a lot of it in HIPS, there's still going to be plenty of puttying and sanding.  I got a good lead on some great sandable putty (I've never looked past bondo before) called Evercoat Metal Glaze 100416 sanding putty.  thanks to Steve Neil's mentioning of it during his youtube video.  It's pricy but this chair is definitely worth it.

*corrected post from mahogany arm rests to walnut armrests 7-12-12 and corrected some spelling mistakes*

Another Small Step

For father's day my wife picked up the black vinyl for the seat.  Thanks honey!

And a secondary but no less important thanks to Gregg for leading me by the nose too it!

Back to it

Short post today.  I got my shop all cleaned out.  I re-assembled everything to check for damage as it was moved here and there the last few weeks.  All is well.  A quick pic before I really dig back into it.  I just picked up my carpet as you see in this pic.

Getting back to it

Been away from the project too long.  Had that medicine cabinet to build, then had a friend's wedding in Vegas, then had car troubles, water heater died, and now I am down with a nasty sinus infection.

I did pick up some carpet samples, and I have listed out and sourced the upholstering materials and supplies I need.  SO keep an eye out, there will be more posts that are directly chair related soon.  In the mean time here's a fun little Makers Fair talk from Adam Savage of Mythbusters.  It's a great talk that definitely had echos of my life and likely yours too if you build stuff like I do.  :)

Slight Deviation

Had to take a little break and rededicate my shop to a new project.  My parents are having their bathroom redone and my dad and I are making the set-in medicine cabinet.  Should be done before next Monday.  After that, back to the chair.

Getting there. Armrests, Pedistal Skinning, and Walnut Work.

I got the half round part of the chair base skinned in 1/8" Masonite using glue, clamps and an upholstery stapler.

I also got the side arm rest pieces mostly done (the final assembly of them will take place during upholstering the seat.)

And finally, I got the walnut chopped to rough length and glued them together.

Seat Done

Got the seat done.  It needs the two small anchor blocks at the base of the side rails, but I will add those closer to upholstery time.

Assembling the Chair

Got the back of the seat assembled this morning. I will trim the lower back once I finish the seat and can match them together.  All the pieces of the seat have been cut and fitted. I once again used all my clamps but I got the frame glued to the bottom of the seat pan this morning. 

If I have the time tonight and tomorrow, I'll get the seat pan finished, the lower back trimmed, and the whole thing finished and assembled.  Then it's on to the sides and arm rests!

The Last Few Curved Pieces

Got the last piece in the jig tonight.  It'll come out tomorrow night and it'll probably be the weekend before I find the time to work on it again. So until next time...

Remember, click the images for larger views.

Side Rails and Upper Back

Got the Madison side rails and upper back done today.  Here's some pix.

Lining up the first cut.  

I used this perfect little angle cutting jig.  I picked it up from a yard sale last year new in box for $3.  I had no idea what I'd use it for when I bought it but now I am glad I did!  It worked perfectly!

Making the cut.

 Both first angles cut.

Cutting the other side on the band saw.  I cut is just outside the finished line and sanded it to perfection after.

Then I routed all the edges and hand sanded all edges with some 400 grit.

The final result.

Next step, cut and fit the lower back that I clamped and glues this morning, and get started on the curved seat frame parts.

Starting the Madison

The original Captain Kirk chair was made using a Madison chair as previously stated in this blog.  Well, I've shopped around and decided that I didn't want to wait to find just the right vintage seat to pop up for sale, nor did I want to pay the arm-and-a-leg-price they go for these days so I decided to build my own; once again, I used all the great information from this wonderful forum thread.

Here's some pix from today's progress.

The curving jigs.  These are set up for the seat rails and the upper back.  There are different spacers (top right) to re-use them for the lower back.

 The upper back section ready to be jigged and glued.

The upper back section glued and jigged.

The two flat side rails clamped and glued up.

Here is what is waiting for me tomorrow.  I used all my clamps - literally - so I had to wait on the other curved pieces.  So if I can find the time tomorrow will see the lower back section and at least one of the curved seat rails jigged and glued.  Not pictured are the side rails for mounting the backs to.  I will try to get them done this weekend too.

Finally a big thanks to my dad.  He came over today to help me out.  We got all this work done as well as setting up my new air compressor with nailer, build a custom hose reel, and clean off the band saw my uncle donated to my shop and put a new blade on it.  THANKS DAD!