ikea furniture and home accessories

Saturday, April 30, 2022

[New post] thinking about chairmaking

Site logo image pfollansbee posted: " 3-plus chairs underway I taught a class in making the Jennie Alexander chair with Pete Galbert & Charlie Ryland just recently. During the class, I put on my "old fart" hat & told stories of JA's chairmaking career. Then back home I've been wor"

thinking about chairmaking

pfollansbee

Apr 30

3-plus chairs underway

I taught a class in making the Jennie Alexander chair with Pete Galbert & Charlie Ryland just recently. During the class, I put on my "old fart" hat & told stories of JA's chairmaking career. Then back home I've been working on a few chairs - the parts for which have been made & stored here for quite a while. It got me to thinking of how the chairmaking changed from what's in the original 1978 edition of the book, to the revised one in 1994 to the present 3rd edition. And now will change again as more & more people are making these chairs. I looked recently at that first edition - I made chairs from it before meeting JA & Drew Langsner - but it's pretty stingy on instruction.

In the first edition (1978) there's no kiln, no steambox. JA dried rungs in the basement nestled up above a pipe from the hot water heater. (How did JA dry things in a Baltimore summer?) A chairmaker JA corresponded with in the early 1970s dried rungs on the tin roof of the shop. In the south. Gets hot up there. 

Geli Courpas reminded me once that back in the mid-to-late 1970s they bent the posts green, so a more subtle bend than in the later chairs. Below is a lousy photo, cropped from a larger view, showing one of these early 2-slat chairs with slight bend to the posts.

The book talks about boiling the posts prior to bending, but doesn't do it. 

bending rear post, 1978

At first, her chairs were assembled with pretty wet posts. Easy & forgiving, but not the best for a long-lasting joint. The work JA did with Bruce Hoadley showed that a lower moisture content in the post resulted in a stronger joint. That gave rise to the air-dry post/oven-dry rung. 

So all that is changed/fixed in the present text - it shows how to super-dry the rungs, how to steam & bend the posts and other detailed improvements on the earlier text. 

improved bending form for rear posts

I made a layout error in the class that led to some plugged mortises in students' chairs. Everyone was very understanding. I recently learned from reading JA's notebooks that during the photo shoot for the first book she put the front rungs in the rear posts (or vice-versa) - was able to get them out & redo things. But mistakes are easy to make. Once JA told me that a working title of the book was "The Fifth Post." 

I rived and planed some legs for another of my Alpine chairs. Was able to split an odd number so made 5 legs. Just in case. 

only need 4 out of 5
Make a Chair from a Tree: Third Edition
Comment
Like
Tip icon image You can also reply to this email to leave a comment.

Unsubscribe to no longer receive posts from PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER'S NOTES.
Change your email settings at manage subscriptions.

Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser:
https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com

Powered by WordPress.com
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play
at April 30, 2022
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

No comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Woodworking Tourism, Aging a Chair, How to Buy a Jack Plane & More

͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌     ͏ ‌...

  • South American Residential Real Estate News
    Click here if this email doesn't show properly We bring yo...
  • New: The Lost Art Digest
    Everything we posted last week in one place View this email in your browser Lost Art Digest, July 8, 2024 Editor's note: E...
  • New Chair Class * New Open Wire Dates
    Plus a Video on the 'Backwoods Chairmakers' Event View this email in your browser New Chair Class Plus, New Open Wire ...

Search This Blog

  • Home

About Me

ikea furniture and home accessories
View my complete profile

Report Abuse

Blog Archive

  • August 2025 (7)
  • July 2025 (7)
  • June 2025 (10)
  • May 2025 (8)
  • April 2025 (6)
  • March 2025 (7)
  • February 2025 (8)
  • January 2025 (7)
  • December 2024 (7)
  • November 2024 (7)
  • October 2024 (7)
  • September 2024 (11)
  • August 2024 (6)
  • July 2024 (7)
  • June 2024 (9)
  • May 2024 (9)
  • February 2024 (2)
  • August 2023 (1)
  • January 2023 (281)
  • December 2022 (408)
  • November 2022 (504)
  • October 2022 (471)
  • September 2022 (492)
  • August 2022 (526)
  • July 2022 (524)
  • June 2022 (595)
  • May 2022 (588)
  • April 2022 (555)
  • March 2022 (523)
  • February 2022 (417)
  • January 2022 (460)
  • December 2021 (838)
  • November 2021 (2147)
  • October 2021 (2353)
  • September 2021 (2625)
  • August 2021 (2784)
  • July 2021 (2382)
Powered by Blogger.