Lost Art Press

Photographic Proof: Chairs Don’t Need Stretchers

Posted on by Lost Art Press
An early 18th century English Windsor. No stretchers.

After 20 years of studying vernacular chairs in Western cultures, I am happy to state – again and again – something that some people refuse to believe.

Chairs do not need stretchers to be strong or to last hundreds of years.

The furniture record is clear. Chairs without stretchers survive just fine. They survive for the same reasons that any chair makes it for a few hundred years. The wood selection and joinery are excellent.

An 18th century Welsh Cardiganshire chair. Beat to heck. Still strong. No stretchers.

You might say: People weighed less and were smaller back then. While not universally true, it doesn’t really matter because chairs without stretchers continue to be made and sat upon by well-fed Westerners today.

So why do some chairs have stretchers and some do not?

Chairs without stretchers are easier to build and easier to repair. If a leg becomes loose, re-glue it and drive in a new wedge to return the chair to sound.

An Irish chair – likely 19th century. Doing just fine without stretchers, thank you.

Chairs with stretchers are more difficult to build and more difficult to repair. However, they can go longer between repairs. If a leg becomes loose, the stretchers will hold it in place for a good long while. You can use the chair just fine – until the stretchers come loose.

Stretchers are decorative – this is important for chairs that are sold in stores. It’s one more place to put a fancy turning or some wooden brooch below the seat. 

Chairs without stretchers look odd to people who aren’t used to seeing them, which might be why we get so many comments from people when we post a photo of a stretcher-less chair (“Sitting on that chair will kill someone” is a typical comment.) The first Welsh stick chair I built in 2003 doesn’t have stretchers, and it’s still going strong. (Meanwhile my sister-in-law has burned through three sets of store-bought chairs during that same time.)

One of my favorite Welsh chairs. Look at how spindly those legs are. And yet, no stretchers. This chair used to have them.

I build both kinds of chairs, it depends on my mood, the effect I am going for and the wood on hand. If I have some dead-straight 2” oak chunks for legs, I see no reason to add stretchers, unless the customer insists. But if I have some 1-5/8” walnut for legs, you can bet I’m going to add stretchers to shore up the undercarriage – both structurally and visually.

Stick Chair Merit Badge Update

In other stick chair business, we are down to 70 merit badges. And when they are gone, this little promotion is over. What the Sam Hill am I talking about? Read this. Build a chair, follow the rules (please!) and get one of the last ones.

— Christopher Schwarz

Shaker-style Lap Desk

Posted on by fitz
Fig. 4.1.5. I chose a proportion based on the intended use of this lap desk as the starting point for my design.

The following is excerpted from George Walker and Jim Tolpin’s first book collaboration, “By Hand & Eye.” (The projects in the book, including this one, are by Tolpin.) It’s the book that kicked off their “Artisan Geometry” work, which now includes four books: “By Hand & Eye,” “By Hound & Eye,” “From Truth to Tools” and “Euclid’s Door.”

“By Hand & Eye” is a deep dive into the world of history, architecture and design. And the authors have emerged with armloads of pearls for readers.

Instead of serving up a list of formulas with magical names (i.e. the Golden Section, the Rule of Thirds) that will transform the mundane into perfection, the authors show how much of the world is governed by simple proportions, noting how ratios such as 1:2; 3:5 and 4:5 were ubiquitous in the designs of pre-industrial artisans. And the tool that helps us explore this world, then as now, are dividers.

The key to good design is to master these basic “notes” – much like learning to sing “do, re, mi.” How to do this is the subject of the first three-quarters of the book. It offers exercises, examples and encouragement in opening your inner eye, propping it up with toothpicks and learning the simple geometry that will help you improve your design. The last quarter of “By Hand & Eye” takes these principles and puts them into practice by designing nine projects that are decidedly contemporary – proof positive that design isn’t reserved for highboys and 18th-century Philadelphia side chairs.

Design Parameters & Process
● The only starting parameter for this Shaker-style lap desk was the requirement that it provide a writing surface for note cards (about an 8″ x 11″ rectangle) so I chose this proportion (8:11) for the overall plan view of the lid.

● I then made the width of the top and bottom lid rails one-eighth of the overall frame height. By selecting 1-1/4″ as the frame width (which would also serve as the module length), the internal panel/writing surface is six modules wide (and therefore 8″) and is more than 11″ long. Drawing a diagonal intersects the inside edges of the top and bottom frames at exactly one-eighth the length of the lid (thanks to the magic of geometric expansion), establishing the width of the side frames.

● I added a two-module-wide extension to the angled frame lid to increase the internal capacity of the desk.

● To angle the lid to a 2:1 ratio, I made the sides one module high at the front rising to two modules high at the back.

● The lid and extension overlap the desk box by one-fourth of a module along all sides.

● I chose butt hinges that were close to one module in length, and I inset the hinges two modules.

● Note that the frame of the lid acts as a border around the writing surface and thus punctuates that space. If your eye chooses to make the frame lighter or stouter, remember that those framing elements are tied proportionally – if you make them stouter, the writing surface shrinks in both directions. Also note how the small ebony stops at the top and bottom act as another layer of punctuation.

● While the layout of the internal dividers is sized for paper and writing utensils, it also creates a pleasing division of major and minor spacings.

Classes at LAP: Second Half of 2023

Posted on by fitz
Happy smiles (none are faked!) from a 2022 class. (After hours, of course – the bourbon doesn’t come out until the tools are put away.)

Next Tuesday at 10 a.m. Eastern, registration will be open on our ticketing site for classes in the second half of this year – including two from visiting instructors. (Note that if you click through to read more about each class, you’ll see a “buy tickets” button – but you can’t buy tickets until 10 a.m. Feb. 21.)

Classes are limited to six students (seven for one class…because Will Myers travels with his bench, thus we’ll have an extra), so each student gets plenty of attention from the instructor…whether they want it or not. And if you want to take a class and travel with your family, there’s plenty of fun and interesting stuff around here for the non-woodworking visitor.

• Build a Gibson Chair with Christopher Schwarz, June 26-30
• Build the “Anarchist’s Tool Chest” with Megan Fitzpatrick, July 10-14
• Make a “Jennie” Chair with Travis Curtis, Oct. 2-7
• Make a Shaker Candle Stand with Will Myers, Oct. 21-22

In addition to the classes mentioned above, we’re taking applications for an Aug. 14-18 Comb Back Stick Chair class with Christopher Schwarz. The class description follows (and includes an explanation as to why we’re trying this approach with this – a relatively advanced – class).

Build a Comb-Back Stick Chair with Christopher Schwarz
Cost: $1,800 (price includes all materials and lunch every day)
2023 Class Description, Tools & Materials

Build a comfortable stick armchair in the vernacular tradition using many tools and materials that are familiar to the typical woodworker.

The form is inspired by historic examples of 18th- and 19th-century stick chairs from Wales that have been refined by John Brown and Christopher Williams – two of my favorite chairmakers. I designed this version to be built with American woods, familiar bench tools and a few specialty chairmaking tools.

Students will be encouraged to customize their chairs (no two stick chairs should be alike). The hands, armbow and comb can all be changed to suit the builder’s style. Students also will be shown how to design their chairs to be more contemporary or ancient-looking. (Stick chairs are chameleons.)

While stick chairs are an ideal form for a first-time chairmaker, it does require intermediate woodworking skills, plus some muscle and stamina. Students should be very comfortable with edge tools and be able to sharpen and maintain them. You will need to be adept with a cordless drill. And be prepared for hours of shaving while on your feet (we have wooden floors here, FYI).

This class requires long hours and will make you tired (but happy at the end of the day). Because of the nature of this class, we bring in lunch every day for students. Plus, all materials (wood, glue etc.) are included in the cost of the class. So the price is higher than a typical week-long class.

This class will be filled via a somewhat random drawing. To apply, send an email to covingtonmechanicals@gmail.com with the subject line “August 2023 Chair Class” by Feb. 24. In the email, please let us know your name, and the most difficult woodworking project you have built on your own (not in a class). And, using no more than four sentences, let us know why you want to take this class (personal enlightenment, professional development, you want to teach others etc.) There are no right or wrong reasons.

Why are we trying this application process? We’ve watched some students who are extremely skilled or others who are new to the craft get frustrated because the pace of the class is too slow or too fast. We are simply trying to find a pool of students with similar skills. If we have a big group of beginners, we will put together a beginner class. Likewise if the applicants are mostly advanced woodworkers, we will gather a class of experts. We are just trying to improve the classroom experience for everyone.

On March 1, we will let everyone know who is in the class and who is on the wait list.

Donate & Enter to Win a ‘Shop Tails’ Carving and a Book

Posted on by fitz
The “Shop Tails” audiobook cover, and Carol Russell’s delightful fiddleback Tasmanian blackwood cat carving.

One of Nancy Hiller’s last “jobs” (which she insisted on doing herself) was recording the audio version of her final book, “Shop Tails” (an often grueling job on a book that clocked in, after final editing, at almost 12 hours). We posted it on the LAP store just hours after we got the final files from her and Jacob Belser at Primary Sounds Studios; that was Aug. 4, 2022. We lost Nancy on Aug. 29, 2022.

Ten percent of net profits from “Shop Tails” – a tribute to the many four-legged friends (and one feathered friend) whose lives were intertwined with Nancy’s – go to The Ranch Cat Rescue, in Bloomington, Ind., a non-profit run by Alison Zook that is funded solely by donations. In a small effort to help Nancy’s favorite cat charity just a little more, we’re asking for $5 donations via this PayPal link (while the fundraiser is channeled through my personal account – all donations will of course go to The Ranch Cat Rescue).

Not only are you helping to support Alison’s work in Nancy’s name, with your $5 (or more) donation you’ll also be entered to win one of two fabulous prizes in a random drawing. First prize is the beautiful fiddleback Tasmanian blackwood cat carved by Australian wood artist and teacher Carol Russell for the book jacket. (She – I’m convinced it’s girl cat – has been keeping me company on my desk since last July. I will miss her, but am willing to let her go in support of such a good cause.) Second prize is the book we made into the audio book cover “Woof!! The Audiobook.” The fundraiser runs through March 13; I’ll the announce winners on March 14.

Here’s that donation link again – and below is an excerpt, Shadow the Turkey Vulture, from Nancy’s audiobook.

Wally, giving you his best beseeching look.

More Soft Wax 2.0 For Sale

Posted on by Lost Art Press
Funky Winkerbean approves of this new batch of Soft Wax 2.0.

My daughter Katherie has posted about 40 jars of Soft Wax 2.0 in her store, and I have bought the first one (we are out of it, and I asked her to make some).

We love this finish I use on my chairs and casework. I adore it. Katherine cooks it up here in the machine room using the raw ingredients of yellow beeswax, raw linseed oil and a little bit of citrus solvent. She then packages it in a tough glass jar with a metal screw-top lid. She applies her hand-designed label to each lid, boxes up the jars and ships them in a durable cardboard mailer. The money she makes from wax helps her make ends meet at college. Instructions for the wax are below. You can watch a video of how to use the wax here.

Instructions for Soft Wax 2.0
Soft Wax 2.0 is a safe finish for bare wood that is incredibly easy to apply and imparts a beautiful low luster to the wood.

The finish is made by cooking raw linseed oil (from the flax plant) and combining it with cosmetics-grade beeswax and a small amount of a citrus-based solvent. The result is that this finish can be applied without special safety equipment, such as a respirator. The only safety caution is to dry the rags out flat you used to apply before throwing them away. (All linseed oil generates heat as it cures, and there is a small but real chance of the rags catching fire if they are bunched up while wet.)

Soft Wax 2.0 is an ideal finish for pieces that will be touched a lot, such as chairs, turned objects and spoons. The finish does not build a film, so the wood feels like wood – not plastic. Because of this, the wax does not provide a strong barrier against water or alcohol. If you use it on countertops or a kitchen table, you will need to touch it up every once in a while. (I have it on our kitchen countertops and love it.) Simply add a little more Soft Wax to a deteriorated finish and the repair is done – no stripping or additional chemicals needed.

Soft Wax 2.0 is not intended to be used over a film finish (such as lacquer, shellac or varnish). It is best used on bare wood. However, you can apply it over a porous finish, such as milk paint.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS (VERY IMPORTANT): Applying Soft Wax 2.0 is so easy if you follow the simple instructions. On bare wood, apply a thin coat of soft wax using a rag, applicator pad, 3M gray pad or steel wool. Allow the finish to soak in about 15 minutes. Then, with a clean rag or towel, wipe the entire surface until it feels dry. Do not leave any excess finish on the surface. If you do leave some behind, the wood will get gummy and sticky.

The finish will be dry enough to use in a couple hours. After a couple weeks, the oil will be fully cured. After that, you can add a second coat (or not). A second coat will add more sheen and a little more protection to the wood.

Soft Wax 2.0 is made in small batches in Covington, Kentucky. Each glass jar contains 8 oz. of soft wax, enough for about five chairs.