Paul Saffold
10-16-2013, 8:49 PM
I had the pleasure of going to one of Drew Langsner’s 6 day ladderback chair classes in August. Pardon the untimely posting.
Country Workshops (http://www.countryworkshops.org) founded and operated by Drew and Louise Langsner in 1978 in the mountains of North Carolina, about an hour north of Ashville.
273130
Louise prepared all the delicious meals. The vegetables, herbs, eggs, much of the fruit all came from their farm. Louise has a blog about gardening, preserving and cooking
(http://louiselangsner.wordpress.com (http://louiselangsner.wordpress.com/)).
The ladderback chair is made in 6 days from a fresh log, red oak in this case. Now that might be a bit misleading because there is 6 to 8 weeks drying time between rough shaping and steam bending the legs, to the final shaping and mortising for the rungs and slats. The rungs and legs we used to make our chairs were riven and bent by a previous class. Similarly, the wood we shaped into rungs and legs will be used by a future class after it has had time to dry sufficiently. The back slats were riven, shaped, bent and installed on the last day. The seat was woven the last day, too. After a couple of weeks at home the slats were wedged and pegged and an oil finish applied.
At CW a cordless drill is used for the rung mortices and the bandsaw to rough shape the back slats after they have been brought to thickness. The remainder of the work is done with wedge, froe, drawknife, spokeshave, mortice chisel and handsaw.
There are several other places offering ladderback chair classes. Some use milled lumber rather than green logs. In addition to the shavehorse and drawknife, some rely heavily on jigs and use typical modern shop equipment to produce their chairs. This helps to create a consistent and uniform chair.
It was a great week spent with other woodworkers. There were 8 students in the class including one from Germany, a couple from Oklahoma who celebrated their 49th anniversary there, a father and 2 sons who all took vacation to meet at the school, plus the intern. Nathan, the intern, spent the summer working at CW, doing the normal farm chores and helping with setting up for the classes. He was a very busy young man. In return he attended all the classes offered there. Everyone was very helpful and friendly. All the students and Nathan were experienced woodworkers so the classes went smoothly, but there was still plenty of work to do after dinner or before class in the morning to keep up with the schedule.
Drew is an experienced educator. His instructions are very clear and to the point. Country Workshops is a life’s work for Drew and Louise and their passion and enthusiasm for it shows constantly.
The workshop is very well supplied with all the tools needed and organized so there is no wasted time looking for things. Drew boxed up 2 chairs made by students who flew into NC and mailed them out.
Besides learning how to make a chair, I realized a few things about myself. Seeing how a super organized a shop can be much more enjoyable and efficient to work in, I need to work on that. Being in the mountains was nice and relaxing but the only internet was the dialup in the CW office so I went without for a week. It was a bit unsettling to realize how much time I waste away on the internet. It’s time to spend more time living and less time reading about living.
No, I haven’t made any chairs yet. I’ve been very busy, though. Life stuff, house stuff. I do have the trunk from my neighbors’ ash. Not the straightest but it was literally within rolling distance of my driveway. And free. So it has a coat of AnchorSeal and is waiting patiently.
There are more pictures of my week at CW here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sawdusttoo/sets/72157634964266074/
I highly recommend Country Workshops. Their instruction fee includes room and board. It’s a nice package deal. Drew is 70 now so if you are considering it, don’t hesitate too long or you may miss a great opportunity. They have other classes in addition to the ladderback chair class.
Paul
273131
Country Workshops (http://www.countryworkshops.org) founded and operated by Drew and Louise Langsner in 1978 in the mountains of North Carolina, about an hour north of Ashville.
273130
Louise prepared all the delicious meals. The vegetables, herbs, eggs, much of the fruit all came from their farm. Louise has a blog about gardening, preserving and cooking
(http://louiselangsner.wordpress.com (http://louiselangsner.wordpress.com/)).
The ladderback chair is made in 6 days from a fresh log, red oak in this case. Now that might be a bit misleading because there is 6 to 8 weeks drying time between rough shaping and steam bending the legs, to the final shaping and mortising for the rungs and slats. The rungs and legs we used to make our chairs were riven and bent by a previous class. Similarly, the wood we shaped into rungs and legs will be used by a future class after it has had time to dry sufficiently. The back slats were riven, shaped, bent and installed on the last day. The seat was woven the last day, too. After a couple of weeks at home the slats were wedged and pegged and an oil finish applied.
At CW a cordless drill is used for the rung mortices and the bandsaw to rough shape the back slats after they have been brought to thickness. The remainder of the work is done with wedge, froe, drawknife, spokeshave, mortice chisel and handsaw.
There are several other places offering ladderback chair classes. Some use milled lumber rather than green logs. In addition to the shavehorse and drawknife, some rely heavily on jigs and use typical modern shop equipment to produce their chairs. This helps to create a consistent and uniform chair.
It was a great week spent with other woodworkers. There were 8 students in the class including one from Germany, a couple from Oklahoma who celebrated their 49th anniversary there, a father and 2 sons who all took vacation to meet at the school, plus the intern. Nathan, the intern, spent the summer working at CW, doing the normal farm chores and helping with setting up for the classes. He was a very busy young man. In return he attended all the classes offered there. Everyone was very helpful and friendly. All the students and Nathan were experienced woodworkers so the classes went smoothly, but there was still plenty of work to do after dinner or before class in the morning to keep up with the schedule.
Drew is an experienced educator. His instructions are very clear and to the point. Country Workshops is a life’s work for Drew and Louise and their passion and enthusiasm for it shows constantly.
The workshop is very well supplied with all the tools needed and organized so there is no wasted time looking for things. Drew boxed up 2 chairs made by students who flew into NC and mailed them out.
Besides learning how to make a chair, I realized a few things about myself. Seeing how a super organized a shop can be much more enjoyable and efficient to work in, I need to work on that. Being in the mountains was nice and relaxing but the only internet was the dialup in the CW office so I went without for a week. It was a bit unsettling to realize how much time I waste away on the internet. It’s time to spend more time living and less time reading about living.
No, I haven’t made any chairs yet. I’ve been very busy, though. Life stuff, house stuff. I do have the trunk from my neighbors’ ash. Not the straightest but it was literally within rolling distance of my driveway. And free. So it has a coat of AnchorSeal and is waiting patiently.
There are more pictures of my week at CW here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sawdusttoo/sets/72157634964266074/
I highly recommend Country Workshops. Their instruction fee includes room and board. It’s a nice package deal. Drew is 70 now so if you are considering it, don’t hesitate too long or you may miss a great opportunity. They have other classes in addition to the ladderback chair class.
Paul
273131