Seat Frame Mortise

[Jim Dodd]

I've built my own seats from the git go, and I thought I'd share how I do them.

​ I like them strong, so I cut a mortise to accept the cross members.
Here's a few pics.

I cut the mortise with a dado blade on my tablesaw, before I cut out the frames.

I'll post a pic of my drill system tomorrow.

Jim
​

 

[dogbrain]

Jim, looks like you're using 5/4 for the curved parts and 4/4 for the cross members? Thanks for showing this, I wondered how you did your seats, they look comfortable. Looking forward to the rest.

Mark

 

[latremorej]

Jim, I am guessing that the photo above is at the test fit stage? Or do you round the edges and sand it smooth after glue up?

Jason

 

[Jim Dodd]

Mark
​ Yes 5/4 ash. The pic makes them look massive, but after I work them down, they are still heavy. They haven't let me down yet.

Jason
​ Yes it is just test fit now. I'll chamfer the holes, and some router work before glue up. I drill one small hole through the joint, to pin everything together.

Jim

 

[sweeper]

Thanks for the idea Jim, I'm going to try that from barrel staves.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Drilling jig for seat frames

Jim

 

[sweeper]

So how are you keeping the holes parallel to each other and not have one side lower then the other during the drilling?

Or is eyeball close enough?

 

[Jim Dodd]

So how are you keeping the holes parallel to each other and not have one side lower then the other during the drilling?

Or is eyeball close enough?

​ I'm not sure what you mean ?

​ The holes don't need to be parallel to each other. I hold the frame tight to the fence, and line up the marks, then drill.
​ The holes that are far left or right of center. Those holes will be at a slightly different angle, than the center one, but not enough to worry about.

Jim

 

[sweeper]

That was the edit as I looked back at how you wove the seat.

 

[Jim Dodd]

I thought I'd update this thread with a recent pic of a finished seat, installed.

 

[dogbrain]

Hey Jim, where do you get those long bolts? Stainless I assume, and what size are they?

Mark

 

[Gamma1214]

Looks good Jim and I'll try this on mine (when I get that far). Where can I get a template? (or just wing it a few times until I get it comfy?)

 

[Jim Dodd]

Hey Jim, where do you get those long bolts? Stainless I assume, and what size are they?

Mark

I ordered 6 or 7" stainless 1/4" Carriage bolts from Fastenal. They are spendy, and as you can see plenty long !

They weren't cheap, maybe $20 for 4.
I'm sure 10 x 24 stainless is about the same from Marine suppliers.

Jim

 

[alsg]

Great looking seats! What material do you use for the weaving?

 

[Jim Dodd]

Great looking seats! What material do you use for the weaving?

Nylon Snow Shoe cord. It's the 1/2" flat. Incredibly durable !

http://snowshoe.com/

 

[alsg]

Nylon Snow Shoe cord. It's the 1/2" flat. Incredibly durable !

http://snowshoe.com/

Do you varnish it or add some color? In your pics it almost looks like the color of rawhide. At snowshoe.com they say it is white.

 

[stripperguy]

Jim,
I looked at their site, I'm not seeing any neoprene lacing...Am I missing it somehow??
I used to use that synthetic lacing for many years, until my semi-local source (Havlick Snowshoe Co.) disappeared.
I've been unsuccessful finding another source.

 

[Jim Dodd]

Jim,
I looked at their site, I'm not seeing any neoprene lacing...Am I missing it somehow??
I used to use that synthetic lacing for many years, until my semi-local source (Havlick Snowshoe Co.) disappeared.
I've been unsuccessful finding another source.

They only have Nylon and Babche.

Have you seen Neoprene in lacing form ?

Jim

 

[Guest]

Jim, it’s good to see so many old build threads resurrected, there is a lot of valuable information there.

Question about the carriage bolt length – is the excess bolt end sticking out below the seat frame there to provide the bolt length needed to change out the seat drops for something akin to a sit on the bottom style pack canoe arrangement?

 

[stripperguy]

Jim,
Somehow I got the impression that they (or you) had neoprene lacing, I guess not.
I used to buy this synthetic lacing that was neoprene-nylon-neoprene, slit to 1/4" wide x however long. Used to buy it by the foot. It looked like natural lacing, never sagged, provided great support and comfort, and was waterproof.
I saw your link and thought I had rediscovered the Holy Grail...