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.
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.
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.
One of the difficulties students have when making Irish stick chairs is drilling the mortises for the two back sticks that also pass through each arm (we call these particular back sticks “posts”).
For a recent class, I made a jig that makes it easier to drill accurate mortises. While no jig is foolproof, this one is close.
If you know me, you know that I avoid jigs. For my work – especially with stick chairs – I would rather rely on skills than gizmos. This jig is simple (two pieces of wood screwed together) and actually removes the need for another simple jig I use when drilling mortises in the arms and seats. So it’s a bit of a wash when it comes to counting the jigs I use.
If you’re lost (“Martha, what the heck are ‘stick chairs!’”), then take a look at this book: “The Stick Chair Book.” It’s a free download.
About the Jig
Essentially, it’s an oversized doweling jig that lets you drill 3/4”-diameter mortises at exactly 20° off 90°. You simply clamp the jig over the mortise location, place a 3/4” bit in the jig and drill. The only thing that can go wrong is that you lean sideways as you drill and waller out the hole in the jig.
The jig is made from two pieces of wood: a 1/2” x 6” x 6” base and a 2” x 2” x 6” drilling block. You can use any old thing for the base, but I recommend a stout wood for the drilling block.
To make the jig, bore a 3/4” hole through the block. The hole should be centered on one edge. Cut off the bottom of the drilling block so it’s a wedge with a 20° included angle. (It will look like a doorstop with a hole bored through it.) Then glue and screw the drilling block to the base.
Next drill out the 3/4” hole that passes through the base. You are almost done.
I added some lines to the base that indicated the centerpoint of the hole through the jig. These allow you to place the jig accurately on your layout lines.
The jig on the seat. The sightlines are in red.
Using the Jig
All the sightlines for the five back sticks of this chair are at 0° – or straight ahead. Draw them on the seat, plus the locations for the mortises for the back sticks. Put your drill bit through the hole in the jig and position the bit’s point on the location of a mortise. Allow the jig’s base to rest on the seat. Rotate it until the jig’s centerlines match up with the sightlines. Clamp the jig down.
Now run the spinning bit through the seat, guided by the jig. Repeat this process for the other four mortises for the back sticks.
Drilling the mortise through the arm for the post is a bit of a trick. I had to figure out where the sightline was on the arm so that the arm would end up in the right place in space. This was done with a drawing (see below).
Once I marked this sightline on my arms, it was easy to place the jig on an arm in the right place. To drill the mortise, I clamped the jig and arm together in a vise (this was easier than adding clamps).
Placing the tip of the bit on the mortise’s location.
Clamp the jig and arm in a vise.
With the holes for the posts drilled in the arms and seat, I put the posts in the seat, threaded the arms over the posts and held them 8” above the seat with the drilling rig I use for almost all my chairs (which is shown in “The Stick Chair Book” about 100 times).
The posts, arms and one drilling jig. I am ready to drill the mortises in the arms.
Of the nine chairs we built in class with this jig, a couple students had mortises that weren’t aligned. After some investigation I realized it was human error. The student had driven the bit sideways and cut into the jig with the bit’s side flutes.
This problem can be minimized by sanding the sharp flutes of the bit that allow this side-cutting. I used #220-grit paper and only sanded the flutes – not the cutting edges of the bit at its tip.
This type of jig also works great for making a Gibson chair – you’ll just have to make a separate jig for the 30° lean of its posts.
The jig, the pattern with the sightline on it and the finished arm.
I recently finished this Irish stick chair in red oak during a chair class and am offering it for sale to readers of the blog. This chair will be sold via a random drawing for $1,600 (that price includes both crating and shipping to your door anywhere in the lower 48).
Details on how to buy the chair are below.
About the Chair This chair is adapted from “The Stick Chair Book” (a free download). It is almost identical to the chair I built for my recent article in Fine Woodworking. It is a low chair (the seat is 16” from the floor), with a back that leans 20°. It is designed for one task: Sitting around with friends and family and talking, reading or sharing a drink.
Like all my chairs, this Irish chair is assembled with hide glue so it can be repaired easily in the future. The finish was a bit of an experiment. The oak was first colored with lye, which gives it a warm chestnut color. Then painted with General Finishes “Milk” Paint in Emerald (sadly, a discontinued color). Finally, I applied a thin coat of Black Bison Wax from Liberon (dark oak). Then I rubbed out the black wax, carefully burnishing through the paint in areas to give the chair a bit of an aged appearance.
I don’t do this finish often, but it seemed right for this chair.
The through-tenons on the arms are left slightly proud and are burnished, again to add some years to the piece. All the sticks and legs are left faceted straight from the tools, which adds texture and character to this folk form.
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 Thursday, Aug 29. Please use the subject line: “Irish Chair.” In the email please include your:
Name
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 $1,600 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.)
