Windsor chairmaking [warning - long]

[Ken Werner]

Well, now that 2 weeks have flown by since I quit my job, I've been out to California and visited with my friend Vaughn McMillan, danced til my feet hurt at the Dance Flurry in Saratoga, NY, and now I'm looking forward to going to Pittsboro, NC to spend a week with Elia Bizzarri, learning from him how to build a Windsor chair.
http://www.handtoolwoodworking.com/

I decided to bring some of my own tools along, even though Elia has all the tools I'll need. Below are the ones I wanted with me.

But how to get them there? I didn't feel comfortable sending a set it's taken me years to accumulate via the USPS. And as for the baggage handlers at the airlines, well, you know....And now that there's the TSA checking everything, I decided to go on line and see what can be checked in baggage. Turns out, you can check an axe, a sword, or a sabre. So I figured my little old drawknives and inshave would be tame in comparison. So today, I pulled Toshio Odate's classic book off the shelf, and made a tool box based on his traditional Japanese design. I used cut nails, in keeping with tradition. No finish. The wood is pine and some white oak. The top slides to the side to open. No hinges or slots. It is really a cool design, and is esthetically pleasing, strong and simple. Just how I like things. I think it should hold up well to what the baggage handlers dish out, packing it within my duffel bag.

I leave on Saturday, and will be working with Elia for 5 days. More on that later.

[Matt Radtke]

The trick I've always heard is to check a starter's pistol. Declare that you wish to check a firearm. They will inspect your case, they will lock it, and put scary tape on it saying "Don't Open Me. Gun Inside." Ta-da, no inspecting the box when you can't see it. Of course, you'll need to put a means to attach a padlock, but meh.

[Mike Henderson]

That's going to be five full days. I know a lot of people do it in a week, but I built a couple of Windsor chairs and it would have been a real push to get one done in five days, especially when those five days include teaching you what to do.

Good luck, enjoy the class, and post pictures as you go.

Mike

[Chuck Nickerson]

TSA has made a habit of unwrapping my tools in checked baggage, then not rewrapping them properly. In four trips, there are always been damage. From now on, it's FedEx home delivery for me.

[Jim Koepke]

From now on, it's FedEx home delivery for me.

I think FedEx still allows for pick up at their counter. I used to do that all the time when I worked at different locations. An easy way to get things close to where they were needed.

jim

[David Gendron]

I did a five days windsor chair classe with David Fleming in Ontario and it was a lot of work, but I finished it in time but with out the finish. What kind are you making! How are you planning to bring it home?

[Ken Werner]

David,
My expectation is no finish also.
As for getting it home either:
1. freight
2. pick it up when we visit my niece again in April - I'll be staying with her while I do this.

I'll be making a continuous arm chair.

[Mike Henderson]

David,
My expectation is no finish also.
As for getting it home either:
1. freight
2. pick it up when we visit my niece again in April - I'll be staying with her while I do this.

I'll be making a continuous arm chair.

If you were making something like a sackback, I'd say do a dry fit, then take all the pieces and ship them home in a flat package. Do the final assembly at home. But a continuous arm is a bit more of a problem for shipping.

I shipped a chair across country and it was pretty expensive.

Mike

[Ken Werner]

I agree with you Mike, on both counts. Well, we'll see how it all goes.

[Pam Niedermayer]

I love those Japanese toolboxes, have one myself (a long one that I'm thinking of adding wheels to), but think I'd add some sort of additional lock or wedge to keep the top on, regardless of whether you ship it or check it. It's just this sort of thing that's convinced me not to fly anymore, aside from the fact that Jack and I love road tripping.

If you need your tools for the class, I'd certainly ship them to the school via USPS or FedEx or UPS or whoever. I'd probably not ship them in the toolbox, given the weight of wood, but that' a purely financial issue.

Pam

[Kevin Adams]

Hey Ken,

I recognize a few of those shaves!

The tool box looks great. Hope you have a wonderful time and please show us photos when you return. Remember to bring a note book with you as you'll want to write down a lot of info for when you get back...hopefully, to build more chairs!

Take care,
Kevin

[Ken Werner]

Yup yup Kevin, the shaves are getting ready to sing. Thanks for the reminder about a notebook.

Ken

[John Keeton]

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, its off to work we go...

Ken, looks like you are ready!! I know you have been looking forward to this for awhile, and it will be a great experience. Good to see you are back in NY, safe and sound, and no worse for wear from your journeys!

[Ken Werner]

Well, my chairmaking trip is over, but my journey is just beginning....I had a really wonderful time working with Elia Bizzarri, and I would recommend spending a week with him to anybody interested in this sort of experience.

Without going into a "how to build a Windsor chair" kind of theme, I'd like to cover some of the high points of my time there. For anyone interested, Elia's website is in my first post in this thread.

After an uneventful flight, my tools arrived in baggage safe and sound. I told the TSA agent at my local airport about the tools, and he thanked me and passed them along without any trouble.

Arriving at 8:30 at Elia's shop, he immediately put me to work, using a brake, froe and club, riving wet red and white oak from the log. I then learned how to shave a square spindle blank, which later will be drawknifed to a shaped spindle. Most of the work is done with a very sharp drawknife, bevel down. In Elia's hands, a drawknife is an accurate and subtle tool.

I have to add, that when I met him, I thought Elia looked like a kid. He is tall, thin, lanky and energetic, while maintaining a relaxed and friendly demeanor. We got along just great. He was able to tolerate my nervousness before risky procedures, and even seemed to enjoy some of my dumb humor. Elia's shop is small and tidy. He believes in having simple and very sharp tools. It was terrific to see what fine work he does without all the bells and whistles so many of us, myself included, seem to desire.

Images below show the first rivings, with the brake, froe and club, the horse I sat on quite a lot, and the white oak blank I rived and shaved, destined to be the continuous arm of the chair. Notice the comfy seat Elia let me use.

By the end of the first day, I had rived all the spindles, did some preliminary shaping, rived and shaped the continuous arm, steamed it, bent it and left it in the form to dry. We worked from 8:30 to about 8 pm. More on the next post...

[Ken Werner]

Turning is not my forte, I am a really poor turner. I did manage to turn some simple legs, but it took me forever, and Elia had to bail me out from some messy work.

The seat blank was a humungous piece of beautiful clear white pine, air dried. It was about 20 x 21 inches, and 2 1/4" thick. We began by Elia telling me to flatten one side, then mark off the other side to be 1 7/8" thick. So I had to remove 3/8" from a nearly 2' x 2' surface. With a scrub plane. It was alot of fun, but tiring for my old pudgy body.

After thicknessing the board, I marked it with the seat template, and sawed the front part clear with a bandsaw. Then it was time to use my inshave to carve the 7/8" deep hollow for the, well you know.... Elia showed me repeatedly to skew and slice with drawknife, inshave and spokeshave. This and reading the grain are the most critical issues in getting a good cut.

[Ken Werner]

Elia's shop is about 10 minutes outside of Pittsboro, NC. This is where Roy Underhill has his woodworking school, and Elia was co-teaching a session with Mr. Underhill one evening during my stay. So I got to attend, and meet Roy [again - met him once before at a big show]. It was way too much fun. His school is a lovely storefront with tall ceilings, nice people, and great spirit.

The next day was our last, and we had alot of work to do. Elia reassured me we'd git er done. We began in the morning drilling out the seat, reaming the mortises, drilling the legs, all with complex and varied angles. The legs were glued and wedged.

The rest of the day into evening, we assembled the back, spindles and arms, but didn't glue them. We took them apart, to go into a crate Elia built using handsaws, to UPS the chair and my tools back home to my shop for completion. This is what the chair looked like before we dissembled it. I saved a picture of Elia for last. Although still in his twenties, he has been building Windsors for about ten years, was trained by Curtis Buchanan, and his skills are just inspiring. I would certainly recommend a one-on-one experience like this.

So that's about it. I had a great time, came home from the shop weary every day, but what fun, and what a joy to do. Once my chair gets here, I have more work to do, and will post the rest of the story as we go along.

[David Gendron]

Great looking chaire Ken! Good work! Keep us posted on your finishing progress!

[Kevin Adams]

Hi Ken,

Great looking chair...are you hooked now like so many of us?!

Did you learn anything about the tools you brought (how did they compare to what Elia used) and any good tips on sharpening and using them? I remember when I took my first class with an old timey chairmaker in VT I showed up with all these new, pricey tools and he just laughed. He said the pros couldn't affford that stuff! He had antique tools that you probably wouldn't look twice at if you saw them somewhere and others he had made himself. However, I learned right there that it was not so much the tool as it was the craftperson.

Can't wait to see the finished chair...I still cherish my first chair.

Take care,
Kevin

[Ken Werner]

Well, when we went to Roy Underhill's school, Elia brought a bunch of spokeshaves and drawknives. My new ones got some attention, but Elia did beautiful work with an old Stanley 151. He has one LN tool, the curved Brian Boggs spokeshave, that he likes alot. My experience was like yours Kevin, in that it isn't the tools, it's the user. That point was driven home very clearly, not by what was said, but by what was done.

Ken

[John Keeton]

Ken, great progress, and a really fantastic experience!! I read a couple of articles and have seen several pics of Roy's place - very interesting and looks like a great place for his intended purpose.

Looking forward to the pics of the chair once finished out!