Since we're all woodworkers, here, I'm sure many of you have seen the Jake's Chairs for which there are plans on the net. Basically they're a curved back Adirondak style lawn chair -- very attractive, very comfortable, and VERY repetitive to cut.
Well, I just finished making 4 of them for some friends. (I've made over a dozen for my family and friends)
Needless to say, some of the pieces are way beyond the capabilities of my machine -- the rear legs are 39" long, and my machine is 18x24.
So, while I was cutting out some of the more repetitive pieces, I got thinking about ways to do it by computer control. :-)
I had an idea -- my cutting pattern is for nested parts cut sequentially from 12' long 1x6 boards. The backs, for example, are 27" long pieces, but ripped down the middle. The seat slats are 1/3 of the width of the 1x6...and 24" long.
So, I'm picturing something akin to a moving table router, with a Y capacity of only 6 inches or so.
The difference is that it would be able to handle extremely long (technically, infinite) pieces of lumber. I'm picturing something similar to my benchtop planer...a "lunchbox" with an active head and rollers that feed the wood through the machine. No table, per se...
Has anyone built a machine like this? I assume the software would support it, since it's technically just a fixed-gantry style machine...might have to tweak a few settings, though.
Almost anything is possible, but is this type of machine practical? It seems as if it would be of a lot of use in a home workshop -- even more so than one for cutting parts from sheet goods, such as plywood.
-- Chuck Knight
P.S. This is a picture of some older chairs I've built -- I modified the proportions to narrow them down. Let's just say that Jake was "larger than life."
Hmmm.... Looks like you might be able to be a little more efficient with a good table saw and some hardboard patterns and a pattern cutting bit in the router table for stuff like that...
Even a production shop would probably stick with that route until things got way out of hand and even then then would probably not go CNC unless they could cut them from sheet stock.
Building chairs
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