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Thread: Windsor chair making. Best to take a class first?

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by mike stenson View Post
    There's Zabels in New London, Thomas Wiedemeier in Porterfield, and quite a few more saw mills in a quick google search and a whole bunch of lumber companies. You should have more ready access than I do in Tucson.
    Im familiar with Thomas Weidmeier, but i never thought they would sell one whole log to a guy, but you never know unless you ask i guess

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jason Buresh View Post
    Im familiar with Thomas Weidmeier, but i never thought they would sell one whole log to a guy, but you never know unless you ask i guess
    Worst thing they can say is 'no' If you tell them you're making chairs, they might have some stuff for you.. never know
    ~mike

    happy in my mud hut

  3. #18
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    Jul 2019
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    Well i had one thought and went to the yard waste center down the road from my work on lunch and there was a trailer of logs being dumped. It looked like oak bark, but it was really white in the center. I tried to heave a 24" round by 6' piece in the back of my truck but couldn't get it in there by myself. Im not 100% sure it was even oak, but it was straight and knot free.

  4. #19
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    Well i was able to sucker a coworker into helping me load this pig into the back of my truck.
    IMG_20201112_122643820.jpg

    I am hoping this is an Ash, but my identification skills arent very good. If its not oak or ash I can cut it up for fire wood. Ita very straight with no knots though

  5. #20
    Watch the Buchanan video on splitting the log. 24" round - do you mean diameter?

    Each species splits differently.

    IF this were me, after reading and watching a lot, I'd chainsaw the log into 2 x 3ft sections. I use a hatchet and deadblow hammer for all my splitting. On a short log (< 2-3 feet) you can split a good log with a few blows in the end grain and it'll cleave without having to use wedges. Longer than that, you not only may need wedges, but you may also need a froe and brake once you get it halved so that you can direct the split. A 6ft section will only be necessary for the long crest rails or continuous arm styles.

    The Dem Chair video shows Buchanan using the hatchet as a mini froe. A lot of what he does with the 'minimal set of tools' is possible because of his technique and experience and sharpening ability.

  6. #21
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    I would say it is about 24" diameter. These are guess's, i didn't have a tape measure with me. It may be shorter than 6'.

    I watched the video on Buchanan riving, but i am going to have to rewatch and take notes.

  7. #22
    Join Date
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    I made my chair here, and made several more in my shop.

    https://www.lumberjocks.com/reviews/2802

  8. #23
    For bending, I agree that air dried wood is better than kiln dried. But if you're going to turn your legs and spindles on a lathe, kiln dried is fine. Our ancestors shaped the spindles with a draw knife but when I made my Windsor chairs I turned them on a lathe and used kiln dried wood.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  9. #24
    It is certainly possible to use kiln dried stock on a windsor chair. But kiln dried lumber - even riven or qs stock isn't necessarly without runout. Working with green wood is the easiest way to get that.

    Not only is completely straight grain the strongest (particularly for spindles), it is also the easiest to work with hand tools. It's a revelation to plane or spoke shave it; you can go at it from either direction with more ease than typcial purchased lumber that hasn't been given this attention.

    Where you really notice it is when working with the drawknife. The layers peel off cleanly. The cathedral grain of something like ash oak gives you a visual clue of how much runout you have.

    All this is to say half of the genius of the Windsor chair isn't in just in its final form, but the methods.

    If you're eager and have the back for it, do it. You won't regret it.

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