beadLOCK Loose Tenon Joinery System  —  Project: "Making a Chair"

I have had a chance to use the beadLOCK loose tenon system several times since I first reviewed it over a year ago.    A few weeks ago, I was starting the designing of the Stickley Style writing desk, when I realized I would have to make a chair that would go with it. Chairs are relatively complex and can tax your joinery skills. That is when I remembered that the inventor of the beadLOCK System uses a chair at shows as one of his demonstration pieces.    So I asked for some pictures, and he said it would make more sense to send the chair. And he did. When it arrived, Maureen was here and we decided to let her test her chair assembling skills.
	Maureen and I both wondered how could a chair come in such a small package.  Well, it did. It was sort of like Christmas morning — "...some assembly required." But in this case, that is what we wanted to see — all the joints.
There were no instructions, so Maureen started by laying out the various pieces. Most pieces were obvious as to where they went. Then she found that each joint has a lightly penciled mark and number.
	The front legs were the easiest to identify, so Maureen started there. In each case, the beadLOCK loose tenons were glued in one piece, and that could simply be inserted into its mating piece.    The front crosspiece joined the legs easily. The front piece was inset about 1/8" —  this joint would be easy to do.
Any good joint should fit like a glove. What Maureen and I both noticed is that the beadLOCK loose tenons were all perfect fits.   "Loose" is the type of tenon — certainly not the fit.
	Next, Maureen has located the two sides. They are shaped with an angle since the front chair width  is slightly larger than the back width.
Here is the close-up of the joint. The tenon slides in straight, but the side is on a very slight angle. It will be interesting to see how this is done. Actually, we did see a small wedge included in the box. That must be for shimming the beadLOCK jig. We will find out soon enough.    By the way, our plan is to see if we can make this same exact chair or with slight variation to conform to the Mission Style. At least, that is our plan.
	As Maureen starts to assemble the spreader assembly that will fit between the legs, she notices that they are just single dowels. Then we realize that the beadLOCK System can do a number of different width loose tenons, from this one dowel width to the 5-wide that is used when the space allows. It makes sense.
Well, it is starting to look like a chair. The stretcher assembly easily fits into the front legs. In this view, you can see the angle very clearly. You can also see that each of the side pieces are also tenoned at an angle.
	We can also see now that it isn't just one angle, but two, since the back leg curves. The stretcher must be angled in two directions. This is clearly going to be a challenge. I am glad that we have the chair and not just some pictures.
Maureen now is assembling the upper back. All three pieces are gently curved.  The center panel is 3/8" thick so fits into both the top and bottom  mortises without any other shaping. The mortises were made by drilling a series of 3/8" holes and then squaring with a chisel.

 

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