Set of Summer Porch Furniture

It will be noted that the top edges of the front and back rails are to be beveled so that the seat slats shall fit them properly; also the top edges of the cleats.

These slats are shaped by steaming the wood, then clamping them to forms previously worked to the desired shape, as shown in the drawing.

Fix up a steam box as follows: Nail four pieces of boards together so as to make a steam tight box of a size sufficient to take in the slats to be shaped. Close one end of the box, boring a hole in it large enough to take in the end of a piece of iron pipe or a garden hose. Put the pieces in this box; connect the box to some steam-producing vessel—a teakettle would do using a piece of hose, and stuff rags in the open end of the box. Allow the pieces to remain until they are thoroughly saturated with moisture and are pliable, then take them out and clamp them to the forms. Allow them to remain on the forms until the wood has dried out enough to hold the form of the model.

Thoroughly scrape and sandpaper all the parts preparatory to applying the finish. The bottom pieces are made fast to the cleats, and these in turn fastened to the front and back rails. The sides of the chair are assembled first; then the back and front rails are glued up; and finally the seat is put on.

The settee which is shown in Plate 9 is so similar to the arm-chair in the manner of its construction that no additional drawing is needed for it. The ends of the settee are exactly like those of the chair. The length of the front

rail is 41 inches, measuring from the inside of one post to the inside of the other. The back rail is 39 inches long from inside to inside.

Fourteen slats will be needed for the bottom. The back horizontals and the cleats to which the seat is to be fastened must be made cor respondingly longer. The curvature of these back rails is of the same radius as for the chair for the same length of horizontal. The inter vening part of the horizontals is straight, as will be seen in the picture (Plate 9).

Bolts as for the arm-chair will be needed.

The construction of the side chair (Plate 8, A) is along the same lines as the arm-chair and settee just described. The proportions are different, and the seat is put on differently (see Fig. .41). The radius of the seat slats is 24 inches. They are fastened to the chair rails by means of small-headed nails. These heads are set below the surface of the wood slightly, and the holes are to be filled with a putty colored to match the finish.

No rocking chair has been described in this set of porch furniture. The manner in which either the arm or side chair can be made into a rocker is very evident, the making of rockers and their substitution for the present bases ac complishing this result. The bolts which fasten the bases to the verticals make it possible to change from one kind to another quickly.

The bolts needed are the same as for the other chair.