Christopher Williams, author of “Good Work: The Chairmaking Life of John Brown,” arrived in town on Thursday night to get ready for his Welsh Stick Chair class here next week – so we thought we’d give you a look behind the scenes at just some what goes into getting ready for a class.
The Christophers left Covington at around 8:30 on Friday morning (when it was still a tolerable 85° or so) for the hour drive to C.R. Muterspaw Lumber to choose enough 8/4 and 4/4 red oak for seven chair “kits” (red oak because it’s strong, available in straight grain and reasonably priced, and it looks nice with a clear finish, or paint).
Kale and I stayed here to hold down the fort – so there’s no video from the lumber picking. (And I, for one, literally can’t stand the heat; I’m considering a move to the Northern Territories.)
But Kale picked up the camera as soon as the guys were back, and caught some shots of what goes into class prep (at least on day 1 – Chris and Chris are finishing up as I write this at lunchtime on Saturday).
Making sure we have enough good parts ready (with a few extras) is key to a worry-free class. It’s a lot of effort – but worth it, so that students have a good experience…without our having to scramble (much) during the week.
– Fitz
Well done!
Have a great week!
I guess I’m missing something important here, but it looks like all they do is to assemble the already-made pieces together?
It might look like that, but all these pieces are rough. They all need hand shaping, joinery, shaving, drilling, saddling and on and on. The students will be lucky to finish.
Also, I wouldn’t want to take a class where the first day or two was basic stock prep. That’s a different class.
New Hampshire awaits you.
Looks like an awful lot of work!
Don’t accidentally go to Australia’s Northern Territory rather than Canada’s. You will variously melt, burn to a crisp or wash away – or all 3 – if you do. Also Canada doesn’t have man eating crocodiles in the pool.
Thank you for sharing. I too use power to size my stock and now I don’t feel so much like a poser. Strong work.
I don’t know if I click to hear the music or its for the cat…