Steve lines up the stick (taped to the drill) with the mortise location on the side stretcher.
I cut dovetails pretty much the exact same way I did 20 years ago. Same layout, same sawing, same chiseling, same fitting. But when it comes to my chairmaking, things seem to change every day.
I’ve been building stick chairs since 2003 (and frame chairs since 1997). So it’s not like I am new to the chairmaking craft. But for some reason, I am constantly finding new and usually small ways to make things easier.
When I wrote “The Stick Chair Book,” I thought I was pretty much settled in how I make my chairs. But by the time we had to reorder the second printing, I decided to revise the book. Not in major ways, but in many little minor ways. And I added a lot of little shortcuts I had discovered.
Now, about a year after releasing the revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book,” I’d like to revise it again for the next printing. Again, nothing major, just small things here and there that make it easier to drill and assemble things.
Even today, I came up with a stupid little trick that really helped. Here it is. When drilling the mortises for the stretchers, tape a stick or skewer or chopstick to the centerline seam of your drill. It helps immeasurably in lining up the drill between the mortises in the legs and between the mortises in the side stretchers.
I’ve seen lots of tricks that use rubber bands or lasers. But none is as simple as taping a scrap to the drill.
When the scrap is aligned with both mortises, Steve drills the mortise in the side stretcher.
As a chairmaker and author, I know I’m not alone in the way I feel about my past writings. Many other chairmakers are constantly finding new ways to make the process a little easier.
Why have we not created the “Unified Method of All Chairmaking?” Because there are at least 100 ways to make a chair. And 1,000 tricks that go with each method.
This is one of the things I love about woodworking – the constant discovery. But it can be frustrating both as an author and a reader.
A friend recently took a furniture design course taught by a guy I’ll call Mr. Famous Furniture Maker. During the class there were lectures, field trips to find inspiration, drawing lessons, scale model-making and critiques.
“Well,” I asked my friend, “how was the class?”
“Great,” he replied. “Now I know how to design furniture that looks exactly like Mr. Famous Furniture Maker’s pieces.”
This is, of course, one way to learn design. But not everyone wants to become a Junior Sam Maloof or James Krenov the VIII. Some woodworkers just want to make a side table, dry sink or tater bin that is well-proportioned and pleasing to look at.
One excellent path to learn design has been blazed by Jim Tolpin and George Walker, who have written a series of books that teach design using artisan geometry and whole-number ratios. During the last 11 years, we’ve edited all of Tolpin and Walker’s books for Lost Art Press and deeply appreciate that their approach is style-agnostic and crystal-clear.
This book, “Principles of Design,” is an excellent and complementary approach to Tolpin and Walker. It was first published in 1916 under the title “Industrial Arts Design” and written by William H. Varnum (1878-1946). We renamed it “Principles of Design,” which is a far more apt title.
Varnum, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, was the author of two important design books, plus some other works on setting up a curriculum for shop teachers.
I own copies of all his works, but this one is my favorite. The book was written to teach shop teachers how to teach furniture design. And the book reads like the syllabus for an excellent college-level course in the fundamentals of furniture design.
Varnum lays out a series of step-by-step rules to guide the reader through the process of designing furniture, pottery and metalwork. It begins with function and form, of course. But it then delves into common-sense rules for dividing up a form both horizontally and vertically. These rules work. And once you read them and see the accompanying illustrations, I think you’ll say: “Of course.”
Varnum explains how to “enrich” the shape or contours of a design. Then how to enrich the surfaces. And there is an excellent section on using color.
Many of these rules have been embedded in buildings and furniture for centuries. Many of us know the rules innately. But Varnum puts them to paper in ways that allow us to use them to create new works.
“Principles of Design” was written during the waning years of the American Arts & Crafts movement, so the examples used in the book are gorgeous Craftsman designs and earlier traditional forms. Varnum’s rules apply to all furniture forms, but the austerity of the Arts & Crafts pieces in the book help make the use of his rules easy to comprehend and digest.
Bright paper plus stochastic printing make this book a pleasure to read.
Mechanical Specifications
The original printing of this book was gorgeous, so we sought to equal or exceed its specifications. The book is 7″ x 9-5/8″ and printed on #80 matte coated paper, which is a close match to the original. Because some of the details in the photos are dark, we chose a press that could do stochastic printing, which gives sharper detail. The book’s signatures are sewn together, backed with fiber tape and wrapped with heavy boards. The covers are wrapped in cotton cloth and printed in gold foil.
Like all our books, “Principles of Design” is printed in the United States. It is $41 plus shipping. We will offer this book to all our retailers worldwide, but it is up to them to carry it or not.
Note: We have printed only 3,000 copies of this historical text. Because space at our warehouse is at a premium, we do not plan on any future press runs of “Principles of Design.”
This comb-back stick chair is designed for dining and working at a desk, though its back is leaned back just a bit more to add some comfort.
I’m offering it for sale for $1,500 via a random drawing. The price includes crating and shipping to your door anywhere in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Details on the sale are at the bottom of this entry. First, some notes about the chair.
The chair is made from American sycamore (seat, arms and comb) and dead-straight red oak for the legs, stretchers and sticks. The sticks are shaved and left octagonal. All the tenons are cut slightly proud and burnished. All the chair’s joints are assembled with animal glue, which is reversible, and wedged with hickory wedges selected for arrow-straight grain.
The seat is tilted 2.5°, with the chair’s back tilted 14.5° off the seat, making this a great chair for enjoying a meal or writing a letter. The seat is 17” off the floor, making it comfortable for most sitters. The chair is 40” tall overall.
It is finished in soft wax, a non-toxic finish we make here in the shop. The finish is not terribly durable, but it is easy to repair if you ever damage it. The finish lasts many years if you don’t abuse it, and the oil from your skin enhances it and adds to the luster. THis is a finish that looks better every year.
Like all my chairs, I make them as best I can, but most of the work is by hand. So you will find an occasional stray tool mark or tiny imperfection. These are not left intentionally, but they are the result of hand work.
This is my 19th chair this year.
How to Buy the Chair
The chair is being sold via a random drawing. If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Friday, Sept. 27. Please use the subject line: “Sycamore Chair.” In the email please include your:
U.S. shipping address
Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)
If you are the “winner,” the chair will be shipped to your door. The price includes the crate and all shipping charges. Alternatively, the chair can be picked up at our storefront. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.)
— Christopher Schwarz
P.S. You can get free patterns for this chair here.
After an absurd number of delays, The Stick Chair Journal No. 2 is now shipping. The new issue contains complete plans for a Hobbit-esque stick chair, plus lots of photos of original chairs (for inspiration), techniques to help you at the bench and a profile of Welsh chairmaker Gareth Irwin.
The new issue is $25. Because of the arrival of the new issue, we are closing out copies of issue No. 1 at a special price. And offering a bundle of both issues Nos. 1 & 2 for a discount.
Every order of the Journal comes with a pdf download of the Journal itself, plus a pdf download of the full-size patterns for the chair in each issue.
Important note: We have printed 2,000 copies of issue No. 2 of the Journal. Once that press run has been exhausted, we will not reprint this issue.
And if you haven’t noticed, the Journal is the same physical trim size as “Welsh Stick Chairs” and “The Belligerent Finisher” so all your soft-cover stick-chair material is an identical size (for people who are into that – see below).
Not One Chair, But 1,000: Some chairmakers become obsessed with perfecting one form of chair. That’s fine. But stick chairs ask something different from their makers.
‘Preflight’ Avoids Assembly Disasters: The most common problem stick chair makers face is with cracked arms. These simple techniques reduce the chance of a cracked arm to almost zero.
Gareth Irwin, Chairmaker in the Forest: We visit the Wales shop of Gareth Irwin, who builds his chairs entirely by hand. With lots of inspiring photos.
The Tyranny of Tables: The seats of modern chairs are too high (18″) for short sitters. Why don’t we lower the standard seat height of chairs? Simple answer: The dang tables we dine at. We offer a solution.
Stick Chairs in the Wylde: A detailed photographic look at a selection of antique stick chairs from Tim and Betsan Bowen, antique dealers in Ferryside, Wales.
John Brown’s Cardigan Chair: To our surprise, we now own the first chair that John Brown built in the United States. This article is a close examination of the Cardigan chair, both its virtues and faults.
Hobbit-y Armchair: This chair is inspired by a prop from “The Fellowship of the Ring.” It combines elements of British and Germanic elements into a chair (actually, a backstool. Kinda?) that is perfect for the hearth and telling tall tales.
Control the D#^& Tenon Cutter: If you struggle with the Veritas Power Tenon Cutter, this article will set you (and your tenons) straight.
Alexander Bros. in Timberville, Virginia, is now selling chair kits for stick chairs (and Brian Boggs chairs) in a fair number of species and at very good prices.
Shea Alexander has been picking chair wood for me for the last eight months or so, and I have been impressed with what he sends. The stock for the legs, sticks and stretchers is dead straight. And the rest of the pieces (which don’t have to be straight) are nicely dried and clear.
With these kits, you get just what you need to build a basic comb-back stick chair. The kits currently on their website is for the Six-stick Comb-back in “The Stick Chair Book.” But that same kit can be used to build almost any comb-back chair, including the four-stick comb-back from “The Anarchist’s Design Book.” Both books are a free pdf download.
You can get the kits in red oak, cherry, American elm or walnut. And the prices for the kits range from $235 to $410. That is an incredible bargain.
I receive no kickback, compensation or money from these kits. All the money goes to supporting a great family business. So if a lack of wood has been holding you back from building a stick chair, click here.
