Since the chair is to receive a painted fir countersunk screws or nails can be employed to reinforce the tenons. The painted groundwork of the chair frame should be applied before the weaving is undertaken. After all holes are filled and the work sanded thoroughly dusted, the paint should be applied. A dull red background of paint is suggested. Two coats may be necessary, although thorough coverag not desirable in this simulation of native handicraft. The turnings can be enami black; the finials in the original design were left the same color as the frame, will look well if enameled black. The seat consists of pairs of in. rawhide strips spaced i in. apart, crossing each other alternately at right angles in what is called a "basket weave." Since the side rails are of equal length, eight lateral pairs of rawhide strands are the first ones stretched into position, one at a time. The initial, free ends are stapled to the inside of a rail at a corner, and carried up and over the outside of the near rail and down over the outside of the far rail until all the pairs are tightly stretched at iin. Fl0 2 Sob Seat woven fl intervals under the uniform tension. rawhide strips. Seven pairs of longitudinal strands are woven under and over the taut lateral strands. The 2in. difference in width between front and back rails is made up by spacing the rawhide pairs % in apart on back rail. For the rafia seat in Figure 2.50a the side rails may be mortised in. hig than the front and back rails, as shown. Methods of weaving rafia or rush se are outlined in Chapter 7. Maple Armchair. Traditionally constructed from maple, the type of e; chair pictured in Figure 2.51 can be built from any desirably grained hardwc and finished as maple. Its comfortable lines and simple styling render it a suita companion piece for other Colonial furniture. Before proceeding with the construction of the chair it will be found ad visa to lay out a fullsize version of the working diagram shown in A, Figure 2. Among other things, this will insure that the back posts are cut to the best i vantage with reference to the grain of the available stock. The front legs, arms, a supports are cut according to the pattern in B. The side rails are cut to confo with dimensions shown in A, exclusive of tenons. Mortise and tenon construction is used throughout, with double tenons wherePossible, for additional strength. All tenons are pegged with in. dowels, wh: can remain visible in this Colonial type of construction. 112 . Lumber List Pieces Thickness, in inches Width, in inches Length, in inches Description 2 i б 34 Back posts 2 б 20 Front legs i n 4З4 24 Front rail i n 23 Back rail 2 б 25 Side rails 2 34 12 30 Arms 2 34 10 16 Arm supports i 3 23 Back top rail 2 34 2 23 Back, center and bottom rails When all parts have been cut out, filed, and sanded down so that there are no sharp exterior edges, single tenons 34 Jn. long are cut at the ends of the back top, center, and bottom rails, and double tenons Y\ in.