Lost Art Press

Category: The Stick Chair Book

Drilling Centered Tenons

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Centering the tenon on a stick can be a challenge.

One of the biggest hurdles chairmaking students face when making their stretchers and sticks is drilling the tenon on the end of the stick. I use the Veritas Power Tenon cutters for this. And we do it freehand with the cutter in a drill.

So some skill and practice is required.

(Yes, I know I can mount the tenon cutters in a lathe and build a platform for the stick so the tenon is perfect every time. A lot of students don’t have or want a lathe. And my goal is to teach this craft with as few tools and jigs as possible. Why? It’s just how the Grasshopper God made me.)

Some students get the feel for it after a few sticks. One student burned through – no lie – more than 30 sticks, and he still didn’t get it right.

I’m always asking other chairmakers for tips on how to teach people to use this tool. From my own experience, here are the important steps:

  1. Level the stick in the vise.
  2. Level the tenon cutter using its bubble level.
  3. Press firmly forward.
  4. Advance steadily, and check to ensure you are still level and the cutter is perpendicular to the stick.

Chairmaker Travis Curtis offered this helpful suggestion: Try to observe the whole operation – don’t narrow your focus to one small area in front of the cutter. This will help you steer straighter.

It’s like driving a car (or cutting with a band saw). If you look right at the pavement in front of the hood, your steering will be erratic and you might squish the Grasshopper God inadvertently, bringing shame and a 20-year curse on your house.

But if you look a mile ahead of your car, your steering will be steady and smooth. 

This is a helpful tip. But it didn’t fix everyone’s problems.

Then Derek Jones taught his Cricket Table class here a couple weeks ago and he modified all my drills by gluing a bubble level on top of each one. (We have an entire drawer of individual bubble levels; you cannot buy just one.)

These bubble levels make the tenon-drilling process even more predictable. You can’t see the bubble level on the tenon cutter when it is spinning. But you can see the one on the drill. So you can make fine adjustments as you drill and observe the entire process in your field of vision.

Like this:

I love solving a problem using the brains of a bunch of people. Give this a try if you haven’t already.

— Christopher Schwarz

A Better Understanding of Red Oaks

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A stack of chair parts in Northern Red Oak.

I buy and process at least 900 board feet of red oak each year for chairmaking and chair classes. When chosen and cut with care, red oak can look much better than the ugly 1980s kitchen cabinets it is associated with.

But before you embrace this inexpensive and plentiful wood, here’s a quick lesson on what I look for at the lumberyard.

Most red oak in our area is from two different species: Northern red oak (Quercus rubra) and Southern red oak (Quercus falcata). These trees look nothing alike in the wild. Their leaves, bark and acorns are radically dissimilar. And the wood they produce looks different and works different. 

(We also get some Quercus velutina around here, which is also a red oak. But this particular red oak isn’t put with the other red oaks in our lumberyards. It gets its own bin that’s labeled black oak. To me it looks a lot like Northern red oak [Quercus rubra] at times. Boy, is wood confusing.)

There are a lot of red oak species out there that are sold as red oak. This blog entry can only deal with the two common ones.

Face grain of Northern red oak.

In general, most furniture makers prefer the Northern red oak. It grows slowly and has a finer grain. I find that it’s a little browner than other “red” oaks, so you don’t get as much of the pink cast that turns some people off.

You can usually identify the Northern red oak by looking at the end grain. The growth rings will be very tight – usually less than 1/16” apart (though there are exceptions I’ll discuss later). 

Southern red oak with its distinctive gray.

Southern red oak typically grows quickly. I’ve had pieces where the growth rings are 3/8” apart. The wood has a pinkish cast compared to the Northern stuff. Sometimes you will find gray stripes in the wood. Most people consider it the uglier of the two red oaks.

However, I prefer the Southern stuff for one simple reason: it’s usually stronger. 

Northern red oak (at top) can usually be identified by its color and its tight growth rings. Southern red oak (at bottom) is pinker and typically grows much faster.

The tight growth rings of the Northern red oak mean that there are a lot of pores running through each board. And these pores are filled with air. Chair parts made from Northern red oak are lightweight and can be quite fragile. I’ve had Northern red oak sticks and stretchers snap – even when the grain was dead straight. It’s simply a matter of too much air and not enough woody fibers.

The Southern red oak has fewer pores. The fibrous wood between the annular rings is heavy and springy. So thin sticks and stretchers are more likely to bend than snap.

As I’ve said many times before, however, trees are weird. Sometimes you get a Northern red oak that grew quickly and is strong. And other times you find a Southern red oak that grew slowly and produces some weak wood. 

And that’s why I remain open (but cautious) about both of the common commercial species of red oak. Choose your oak based on its color – you don’t want gray, pink and brown all clashing in one piece. And choose your oak based on what you want it to do: Buy fast-grown oak for strength; slow-grown oak for character.

— Christopher Schwarz

10x photo of Northern red oak.
10x photo of Southern red oak.

Closeout on ‘The Stick Chair Book’

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The first edition, which is being closed out.

We are awaiting a revised edition of “The Stick Chair Book,” which should arrive in early September. So we are closing out the remaining copies of the first edition of this book for $24 each (it was $51).

The forthcoming revised edition is about 10 percent smaller. It has the exact same content as the current edition, but I rewrote the text this summer to tighten it up to my satisfaction. Every sentence and almost page of the book has been streamlined as a result. Other changes to the revised edition include a new cover cloth (it will be black, of course) and better interior paper. The first edition of the book was printed during the supply chain crisis, and we were lucky we got any paper for this book.

Most publishers would simply pulp the remaining copies of the first edition. But we decided to offer them at a discount. It’s our hope that some readers who couldn’t afford the $51 price might be able to swing $24. Or perhaps some readers might want to pick up a copy as a gift for someone. Or a book collector might like a sealed first edition.

We have about 200 copies. All are sealed and are in mint condition. These are not factory seconds or returns.

You can buy a copy here.

— Christopher Schwarz

For Sale: Bog Oak Comb-back Stick Chair

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I am almost out of bog oak. If I’m lucky, I’ll get two more chairs after this one from the stock I purchased with my friend Andy Brownell.

This seven-stick-comb-back is set up as an armchair – perfect for relaxing by the fire. 

Here are some statistics: The seat tilts back 4°, and the back tilts 12° back from the seat. The seat is 17” off the floor and is 16” deep. There is 19” between the arms. The chair’s overall height is 40”. My chairs are compact but strong. If you can fit between the arms, the chair will hold you just fine.

Like all my chairs, the joints are assembled with hide glue and oak wedges, so the joints are strong but can be easily repaired by future generations. The bog oak is finished with a home-cooked linseed oil/wax finish with a small amount of natural solvent. The finish offers low protection, but it is easy to repair by the owner with no special skills or tools.

The bog oak was harvested in Poland. We paid to have it dated by radio-carbon dating and it is more than 2,000 years old. The wood in this chair varies from a dark nutty brown to a coal black. 

Purchasing the Chair

This chair is being sold by silent auction. (I’m sorry but the chair cannot be shipped outside the U.S.) If you wish to buy the chair, send an email to lapdrawing@lostartpress.com before 3 p.m. (Eastern) on Tuesday, June 20. In the email please use the subject line “Bog Oak Chair” and include your:

  • Bid
  • First name and last name
  • U.S. shipping address
  • Daytime phone number (this is for the trucking quote only)

Shipping options: You are welcome to pick up the chair here in Covington, Ky., and also get a pencil. I am happy to deliver the 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 $300 and $550.

— Christopher Schwarz

Now Available: ‘Make a Gibson Chair’

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A Gibson chair in black cherry.

The Irish Gibson chair is a feat of ingenuity, simplicity and geometry. Its radical angles and spare construction suggest it is an odd place to sit. But everyone who has sat in one will tell you this: It is remarkably comfortable.

I first encountered Gibson chairs through my research on vernacular furniture. And I wondered the same thing. How could this chair be sittable? So I spent a year recreating a Gibson chair with the help of hundreds of photographs and a few books.

My cheap copy sat remarkably well, and it altered the gears in my head when it comes to chair geometry. Intrigued, I went to Ireland in 2019 and studied a lot of Gibson chairs, including some beautiful ones in the collection of Mark Jenkinson. Then I came home and started building lots of Gibsons, fueled by my hands-on experience with the chairs.

I made some changes to suit the way I work and the way I look at chairs. I make no claims that my chairs are “authentic” (stupid word, that). But I understand the chair and have made quite a few to earn that understanding.

A cheap construction laser can save you hours of layout.

This year I decided to make a video on how I build these chairs. Gibsons are quite unlike the other stick chairs I make. And I have devised novel ways to use cheap lasers to make your life easier when building them (meaning you don’t have to build a lot of complicated jigs).

Megan and I spent a lot of May 2023 filming the process, condensing it into a video that:

  1. Will not waste your time. I dislike prattling on and on in a video. I tried to make this video 100 percent meat – no gristle.
  2. Will show you how to build the chair and avoid common pitfalls. I have made a lot of mistakes while figuring out the Gibson. I am happy to show you my scars and detours.
  3. Is somewhat enjoyable to watch. In our video there are cats, self-deprecating jokes, the breaking of the fourth wall and other small amusements that will, I hope, keep you awake.
  4. Has the information you need. The video comes with all the patterns (hand-drawn by me) and cutting lists and sources so you will get up to speed quickly.

This chair is a good first chair. Yes, it’s a bit angular. But you can do it. You just have to commit.

We are releasing this 3-hour video today with the introductory price of $50. That includes all the videos and all the drawings and patterns. All free of DRM (Digital Rights Management) so you can put the video on your laptop, iPad, phone and desktop with no restrictions.

You can read more about it here and order it if you like. After June 18, the price will be $75 forever.

— Christopher Schwarz