Some of you may have viewed the thread on the first Windsor comb back I built - https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread....dsor&p=3030637. That chair fulfilled a bucket list item for me that had been a dream for nearly half a century. Well, completing that chair was not only that, it seems to have become a new "sub-category" of my woodworking hobby. I started with building long rifles in the early 1970s, then rehabbing antique furniture for our home, next came designing and building furniture, then a deep dive into the woodturning vortex in 2009. All along the way I have still been drawn to Windsors. They have it all - turning, carving, detailed construction, hand tooling, etc.
The first one in the thread linked above was completed in May of this year - due in large part to Covid! Nowhere to go, the classes I teach at John C. Campbell were cancelled, so shop time was plentiful. In that thread I commented there would probably be another one this coming winter.
Well, the Covid thing dragged on, and I kept feeling the call to start on the next one. Why wait until winter!!
I called the tree removal fellow I know and acquired a large section of a hard maple log he had - about 32" in diameter. So, I split out stock for the legs and assorted turnings for another comb back. Hmmmm... while I am at it, stock for a sack back and a fan back. Hadn't turned any for awhile, and all that maple stock was sitting there - it needs to be turned!! It wasn't long before the legs, stretchers, arm supports and posts for the comb back, sack back and fan back were turned and drying!
When I built the comb back I was working from a white oak log section acquired from my wood supplier. There was plenty of log left and with all the turnings completed and drying, I thought I might as well split out the oak pieces before the oak ruined. With that done it seemed prudent to rough out all the spindles and parts to be bent while the oak was green and workable. And....probably should go ahead and bend all the parts that were to be bent while they had moisture in them.
Still....Covid continued.
Seemed a shame to have all those parts roughed out, so I finally decided to start on the second comb back. It is now fully assembled and in the house stabilizing before I paint it.
And, Covid drags on....and on. So, I have started on the sack back. The seat and undercarriage are completed, all spindles are to final dimension, and the arm rail is ready to be laid out for drilling as is the crest rail.
My hope is to have the sack back done within a couple weeks, depending on deer hunting and some other side interests. No doubt the fan back will be close behind as I have already glued up the seat for it!!
For many reasons important to all of us I hope the pandemic ends soon. But, either way, I am reasonably certain there will be even more Windsors in my future!
Reply With Quote