Hey wood nerds, it’s time for the LAP Open Wire, where we attempt to answer your questions about woodworking – plus our tools, books, apparel and Napoleonics.
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I am putting up two Irish Gibson chairs for sale via two random drawings. The chairs are a little different and each has a different price.
Both chairs are black cherry and finished with soft wax (a non-toxic, easily repairable finish). And both are assembled with hide glue, so the joints are reversible should they ever need repairs. The backs of both chairs lean at 25° and are identical in comfort. The arms of both chairs are heavily shaped by hand, which is different than my usual Gibson. Here is how they are different.
The Saddled Gibson
This chair is the one I built for the video we released last week. The seat has a shallow saddle, and the seat is 15-1/2” from the floor.
As I was assembling one arm, I cracked off a piece thanks to a bad hammer whack. The piece glued back on just fine. There are no structural problems with the arm, and I expect the fix will be permanent. But there is a small cosmetic scar visible on the inside of the arm. Because of this cosmetic flaw, the price of the saddled chair is $1,100 plus shipping.
The Unsaddled Gibson
I finished up this chair today, which is why its finish looks a bit brash in the photos. The color will mellow in a couple days. The seat is unsaddled – honestly, the shallow saddle doesn’t improve things as far as I can tell. So I decided to leave this one flat, which is how the chairs were historically made.
The seat is 15-1/4” off the floor – a tad lower than the other chair. The other difference is that I glued cross-grain blocks under the arms to strengthen them during assembly (I will be covering this in a video next week). This chair is $1,400 plus shipping.
How to Buy a Chair
These chairs are being sold individually via two random drawings. (I’m sorry but the chairs cannot be shipped outside the U.S.) If you wish to buy a chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday, May 30. In the email please use the subject line “Saddled Chair” or “Unsaddled Chair” depending on which one you want. And include your:
First name and last name
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
Yes, you can enter both drawings, but you must send two emails – one with each requisite subject line. And only one email per each drawing please; duplicates will annoy Fitz, and be deleted.
Shipping options: The winner of each chair is welcome to pick up theirs here in Covington, Ky., and also get a free pencil (woo hoo). I am happy to deliver each chair personally for free within 100 miles of Cincinnati, Ohio. Or we can ship it to you via LTL. The cost varies (especially these days), but it is usually between $200 and $500.
During the Lost Art Press Open Wire, a reader asked if I would post a video on how I turn tenons. I’m not a fancy turner, but I can make a respectable tenon. When I make a bunch of chair parts, this is how I prefer to do it.
Here are the tools shown in the video (because someone will ask. We are Never Sponsored.)
Today I put together the above trailer for our new video “Build a Gibson Chair.” Plus, Megan and I started filming a bonus video that will go out to everyone who has bought the video.
The bonus video will cover some refinements to the chair, plus offer some strategies for ensuring the arm doesn’t crack. We should have the video done by the end of the week, edited and uploaded to everyone who has placed an order.
After we released the video last week, we got a lot of questions about it. Here are a few answers.
The chair is similar to the Irish chair in “The Stick Chair Book,” but it has a different seat shape, different arms, different hands, different back sticks, different backrest. But yes, it’s similar.
The chair is absolutely suitable for someone looking to make their first stick chair.
You don’t need a lathe, shavehorse, steambox, axe or drawknife to make the chair. It is designed to be made with a band saw, some bench tools (especially a jack plane and a block plane), a cordless drill and a few bits.
The chair in the video has an optional saddle. No it doesn’t make the chair more comfortable. But it does look fancier.
As shown, the chair will easily hold someone who is about 250 lbs. For larger sitters, you can widen the seat, beef up the legs a bit (1/8” to 1/4” is plenty) and use oak instead of cherry.
The chair is ideal for sitting by the fire and talking to friends. Or reading. Your posture in the chair is not like you are in a chaise-lounge.
Yes, you can turn the chair’s tenons on a lathe. That’s what I do when I’m in production mode.
The chair is made from kiln-dried wood from the lumberyard.
If you would like to see the tools I used in the video and a cutting list for the chair, you can download that here.
If I missed any questions, you can leave them in the comments, and I will do my best to answer.
One last thing: The video is $50 until June 19. After that, it will be $75.
