NOTE: This video is being offered at the introductory price of $30 for the first 30 days of its release. After that, it will be sold for the full price of $60.
In this nearly two-hour video, professional chairmaker Chris Williams shows you how he builds a beautiful Welsh lobsterpot chair using simple tools and bent branches from the forest.
Lobsterpot stick chairs are one of the most desirable and tricky-to-build forms. The tightly bent back sticks converge on the comb and give the chair its visual energy. But how were these chairs made? Were the sticks steambent? Bent while green?
Chris has spent a lifetime studying and building traditional stick chairs in the shop in the Welsh countryside. And he's studied many lobsterpot chairs that have survived for more than 100 years, and those that have broken.
The difference between them, he says, is in the arm. By using a naturally-crooked branch, the arm has no short grain, so it can withstand the immense pressure exerted on the chair by the bent sticks. Chairs with short grain – either in the arms or the sticks – tend to break easily and are difficult or impossible to repair.
In this video, Chris visits antique dealer Tim Bowen (of Tim Bown Antiques) to examine an antique lobsterpot chair to understand how they work and survive. From there, Chris heads to the hedgerows to show you the bent timber that grows there that he harvests for his work.
In addition to the bent sections, Chris harvests some straight ash and splits it in the forest for the legs and sticks. And then he goes to work in the shop.
Dealing with naturally curved material is tricky to dry and cut, and Chris shows you how he manages the process using hand tools and his band saw.
During this process, Chris explains how the shape of the arm dictates the rest of the design of the chair. He works with the existing curves, joins the arm parts with traditional keyed scarf joints and then builds the rest of the chair based on the arm.
Chris learned to make stick chairs directly from John Brown and worked for him for about a decade. Many of Chris's techniques, such as shaving the sticks, come from JB. Other techniques, such as making the armbow, are the results of Chris's long research.
In the end, the lobsterpot comes together in the video without plans or patterns. Chris uses the shape of the wood at hand to determine the overall look of the comb and the pattern of the sticks.
The resulting chair is a gorgeous piece of sculptural work that is quite comfortable (we got to sit in it before it went to a customer).
For chairmakers, this video is a rare glimpse into the shop of someone who works at the top of their profession. And it's encouraging to see how it's not fancy tools that make the maker, it's their skill and cunning.
Even if you have no intention of building a lobsterpot chair, it's a fascinating project. And it is a delight to watch all the parts come together.
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