Editor’s note: Our Mind Upon Mind series is a nod to a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column (also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years”), in which Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement. To that end, we’ve asked you what else you have thought of, tried out and improved upon after building projects from our books.
Send us your own ideas! Email kara@lostartpress.com. You can read more about the submission process here.
Today’s pick is from Todd Touris, in Canadice, New York. Thanks, Todd!
— Kara Gebhart Uhl
I recently pruned back a couple of heartnut (Japanese walnut) trees that were taking over our garden area. After studying the cut logs, which were only about 5” in diameter at their widest, I decided there was enough material for a chair. Because I didn’t want to use a different wood to make the solid seat required for a stick chair, I decided to build a ladderback roughly based on the three-slat design described in Chapter 20 of “Backwoods Chairmakers.”
Carefully riving the parts, I ended up with some interesting pieces that I was able to rough into posts and rungs with a drawknife. I cut several thin slats from the widest portion of the log with a bandsaw. The wood was still very wet and I was able to bend it on the form without steaming.
Because of the irregular shape of the posts and rungs, I had to do a few things to ensure the mortise and tenons would line up when assembled. First, I cut the tenons using the laser method as described in the “The Stick Chair Book.”
Next, because I kept the natural curves of the tree for the posts (no steam bending), I had to figure out a way to get the mortises oriented correctly. Precise angles and use of a bevel were not an option.
After getting a back post orientation that looked good, I clamped the posts to the bench and decided on the best point for the rear seat rung. I then drilled the two mortises for the rung using a bit extender.
I then measured down to the bottom back rung and drilled the mortise for that rung. I repeated the process for the front posts. I then made four square and straight dummy rungs to the correct lengths and dry assembled the front and back post assemblies. I cut two scrap boards to a length that would give the desired depth and orientation of the front to back. Because of the curves of the posts, these lengths were not the same and I had to fiddle with them until I got what I wanted.
Finally, I clamped the front and back assemblies together with the board spacers, marked the remaining mortise locations and drilled them using the bit extender method.
Note, I originally intended this to be an arm chair, thus the longer length of the front posts. Unfortunately, my butt wasn’t going to allow that.
After that, the rest of the construction was pretty conventional. I refined the shape of the posts and rungs. I kiln dried the rungs to bone dry. I cut the slat mortises. I shaped and refined the slats. The assembly went smoothly using hide glue.
I would have liked to have harvested hickory bark for the seat, but instead I used rattan splint, which is sustainably harvested, so no trees were killed in the making of this chair.
The chair is finished with blond shellac and a top coat of soft wax.
From the beginning of this project, I thought this chair had a good chance of ending up as firewood. So, I’m quite pleased with the outcome. Using the wood’s natural curves presented both aesthetic and construction challenges. Perhaps some of the techniques I described could help and encourage others to make a ladderback “hedge” chair.
– Todd Touris
What a beautiful chair! The scallops (is that what they’re called?) on the back posts are a really nice feature.
That is flipping gorgeous!