When I think about the things I would grab from my shop during a fire, my chair patterns would be at the top of the list. The patterns I own have evolved during the last 18 years and began with some tracings I made during my first chair class.
These patterns are still my jumping-off point for all my existing and new chair designs.
In order to help readers of “The Stick Chair Book” begin their own collection of patterns, we’ve made five sheets of full-size patterns for all the major components in the five chairs in “The Stick Chair Book.” NOTE: If you have bought the Early Adopter Digital Package for this book, you already have these patterns in your possession. No need to buy them twice or thrice.
We are selling the patterns two ways.
For $20 plus shipping, you will receive five 22” x 34” sheets printed on lightweight paper used for architectural drawings. These can be easily cut out and stuck to thin plywood to make templates. The patterns include mortise locations for the legs and sticks. And the sightlines for drilling the leg mortises.
For $10 you can download a pdf of the five sheets, which you can get printed out at your local copy shop, reprographics firm or office supply store.
A couple other updates: We have restocked on Crucible Type 2 Dividers and have another big load on the way to the warehouse.
Also, we were hoping to launch our Lost Art Press beer steins this week, but we hit a snag. We didn’t receive our full shipment of them. So we decided to hold off on launching them until we had our entire order. Stay tuned.
The above phrase could easily be the punchline to a Norwegian joke about our neighbours in the east. Here in Norway it’s a cultural staple to tell jokes about the Swedes. Unfortunately, this also says a lot about our own inferiority complex in our relationship to them. And I’ll be the first to admit it: We’re not as cool as they are. While we all agree that they talk weird, eat horrendous food (like rotten herring) and that IKEA is just an evil plot against the world. But they’re actually annoyingly successful at almost everything.
The Swedes are both great innovators and traditionalists. They even successfully export a lot of their ideas to the rest of the world. Among others, they’ve given us Abba, Wille Sundquist, Volvo, Bluetooth and Spotify. And even dynamite! Oh, and they designed the classic Coca-Cola bottle! And us Norwegians? Well, we’re famous for killing whales, raiding and pillaging villages around the world, skiing and brown cheese. How about that!
Therefore it’s no surprise that they also did some groundbreaking scientific research on chair design. Surprisingly, I’d had never heard about this. Which is a bit weird, considering I’m a nerdy chairmaker myself and live just next door to them. Instead, it all came to me when I excavated a dusty Åkerblom Chair from a Norwegian barn earlier this summer. When I started reading about the chair, I learned it was an interesting part of chairmaking history that has been long forgotten and perhaps little known outside our Scandinavian borders.
The Åkerblom Chair that I found stowed away in the red barn in the backgroun
The Chair Doctor
The story starts with Bengt Åkerblom (1901-1990), a Swedish doctor who became a pioneer in the field of electromyography. This is simply put a method of studying and evaluating the muscular strain induced by different body positions and movements. It is done by measuring the electrical nerve activity in skeletal muscles. Dr. Åkerblom had a special interest in sitting postures. Through his studies, he pretty much laid the foundation for the science of modern ergonomics. In 1949 he released his 187-page long thesis called “Standing and Sitting Posture with Special Reference to the Construction of Chairs.” It was also sold as a hardcover book.
The Journal of the American Medical Association from Nov. 1949, announcing Dr. Åkerblom’s new study.
Åkerblom’s thesis, hard bound as a book.
Bengt Åkerblom’s goal was to scientifically prove that a chair could be designed to minimize muscular strain and discomfort. In other words: to become the most comfortablechair possible. The main findings of the study were:
The position and shape of the backrest, which is applied to the weakest part of the spine
The importance of the height of the chair seat from the floor
The slope (also called the tilt) of the seat
The seat must allow for the sitter to move around and change between positions
He came to his conclusions through both lab experiments and observational studies of people using chairs in daily routines and work life. He found that chairs formed to mimic the human body usually gave no or too-little support to the lumbar spine. In other cases, the supporting area of the chair back was too high up. Åkerblom also proved that the seat would have to tilt the sitter backwards in order for the back rest to function properly. He also found that a chair seat that was too high above the floor would induce pressure on the underside of the sitter’s thighs. This would impair blood flow to the legs and result in fatigue and discomfort. Lastly, a pommel-less seat with only a shallow saddling to it would let the sitter easily shift position, which increases the sitter’s comfort over time.
It Takes Two to Tango
In 1931, another Swede, Gunnar Eklöf from Stockholm, graduated as an interior architect. After working for a lamp factory and some furniture makers for a few years, he was offered a job as a furniture and interior designer at Karolinska University Hospital in 1936. This is where his life took a turn.
During his work at the hospital he developed an interest in ergonomics. Although I have not been able to find out how, he must have met Dr. Åkerblom during this time. Immediately after the war, Åkerblom was finishing his thesis at the Karolinska University Hospital and was probably keen to try out his theories in real life. However he was a scientist, not a chairmaker. One can only imagine it must have been love at first sight between Åkerblom and Eklöf.
And so Gunnar Eklöf designed a simple stick chair based on Åkerblom’s findings. As you can see from the protoype drawing below, all of the main principles have been incorporated: The low seat (15-3/4″ above the floor), the 6° seat slope and the star of the show – the bent back sticks providing lumbar support at 6-1/2″ above the seat. The seat is almost flat and has a very subtle saddling, allowing the sitter to easily shift her weight.
Bringing it to the Masses
Neither Åkerblom or Eklöf were chairmakers. They needed help to bring the chair into life and about 1950 they contacted the Nässjö Chair Factory to manufacture the conceptual chair. The Åkerblom Chair required exact engineering, including steam-bending. At this time, the Nässjö Chair Factory was already one of the largest chair factories in the Nordic countries. Nässjö had started producing stick chairs and rocking chairs in 1870, so by the time they were contacted by the two young designers, they already had 80 years of experience under their belt.
The Nässjö Chair Factory photographed in 1932A chairmaker at work at the chair factory, working beside a mountain of chair seats. The photo was taken about 1950-1960.
During the years 1949 to 1958, more than 120,000 Åkerblom Chairs were produced and sold. All were made from solid Swedish birch and had the same conceptual features. Gunnar Eklöf designed several variants of the chair, including side chairs, dining chairs and arm chairs. The most popular model was the “SZ03,” a light and elegant armless stick chair that had all of Åkerblom’s ergonomics baked into the design.
The best selling SZ03 Åkerblom Dining Chair
An ad in a Swedish magazine for Åkerblom Chair variants, listing the scientifically proven features that guarantees comfort to the sitter.
The one I found in the barn however, was the Åkerblom Karmstolen – the armchair version of The Åkerblom Chair. It features a so-called “captured arm,” where the outer back sticks are mortised through the back part of the armrests. This is a common arm joint, but it is most common in old Irish stick chairs. The armchair is made from both solid and laminated birch. The seat is glued up from several pieces of solid wood. All of The Åkerblom Chairs had a maker’s mark under the seat to prove their authenticity.
Åkerblom Karmstolen – The Åkerblom Armchair in original paint, made around 1950 at Nässjö Chair Factory
So, How Does it Sit?
I’m pretty sure Dr. Åkerblom meant for his sitters to be upright and working at a desk. I’m not a desk guy, and I usually sit like a sack of potatoes. So I figured I’d put the chair to a test and sit like an office worker. And let me tell ya, it was dang comfortable. I almost felt like having a Swedish meatball and humming “Dancing Queen.” And for a Norwegian, that ain’t bad!
I don’t know how, but somehow we’re going to lose money on this poster. It’s just my fate.
So after selling out of our first run of “The Family Tree of Chairs” letterpress poster, we said we might do a second run in green ink if we had enough interest. Y’all spoke up, so we placed an order for 200 posters in green.
There was some miscommunication at the press, and they used black ink and shipped those 200 to us. I refuse to pulp these gorgeous posters because they are the wrong ink, so starting today we are selling them in our store. They are $33, individually numbered by Megan and are ready to be shipped from our warehouse in Indiana. You can place an order here.
The green ink poster, which will be for sale next week.
The printer insisted on doing the job correctly (thanks Boxcar!), and so next week will also have this poster in green ink. It will be the same price. And also numbered by Megan. So if you want a green one, just sit on your hands for a few days.
In other news, we asked our retailers if they wanted to carry the poster. Classic Hand Tools in the UK said yes! It will take some time to get them shipped across the Atlantic, so stay tuned if you are overseas.
— Christopher “Never Doing Another Poster Again” Schwarz
A detail of the green ink. So as for you to see how green it is.
During my 25 years in the woodworking business, I’ve seen a lot of toolmakers both big and small disappear suddenly and unexpectedly. In the 1990s, I could not have guessed that Record Tools would self-implode and become a shadow brand of Rubbermaid.
I’m 53, and I hope to have at least another 25 years at the bench. A couple years ago, I started thinking about what I would do if I lost my Tite-Mark marking gauge and if Kevin Drake stopped making them for some reason.
So I immediately ordered a back-up Tite-Mark.
Since then, I’ve slowly acquired doubles of the tools that I would be lost without. It’s not a big list. I know I’ll always be able to get a Starrett 12” combination square or an old Stanley No. 5 at auction or at a tool swap. But if Lie-Nielsen disappeared because a flying saucer stole the factory, I think it would be tough to find replacements. Note that I don’t think of any of these toolmakers as particularly vulnerable to disappearing anytime soon. I just know that if they did disappear, getting a replacement would be difficult.
Here’s the list:
Tite-Mark Cutting Gauge. This tool is an extension of my hand, much like a marking knife. I am so attuned to it that I make micro adjustments almost unconsciously. Don’t accept imitations.
Lie-Nielsen 60-1/2 Block Plane. I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again: The Lie-Nielsen 60-1/2 is the best block plane I’ve ever used. Full stop. No qualifiers. I’ve worn off all the paint on the top of the sidewalls. I wore out the blade it came with and am well into the second blade.
Lie-Nielsen No. 3 Bench Plane: The No. 3 fits my hand better than the ubiquitous No. 4. I have tuned up my bronze one to the point where I don’t even look at other smoothing planes on the internet or at tool stores.
Veritas Standard Reamer: It’s easy to make a tapered tenon cutter, so I’d hate to lose my standard reamer, which I use on most of my chairs. I have such a good feel for how it cuts that I rarely ever stray from my desired angle. In fact, I have to deliberately go off-angle when I teach others how to correct a hole that has gone astray.
Blue Spruce 16 oz. Mallet: The resin-infused mallet is another one of those tools that feels like I was born with it in my hand. I’m told the round mallet is for carvers, not joinery. Hogwash. This small tool packs an impressive punch and is incredibly durable. Blue Spruce is now owned by Woodpeckers, which is too bad because I like Dave Jeske so much, but it is still an excellent mallet.
Chris Vesper 4” Sliding Bevel: No surprises here. I have Vesper Fever. And the only known cure is to buy all of his tools. I have a full set of the sliding bevels and doubles of the 4” bevel.
You know what comes next: This is not a sponsored post. I bought these tools with my own money. And we don’t do affiliate programs or anything slimebally.
Robert Wearing’s “The Essential Woodworker” was the second Lost Art Press book, and it was a lesson for us in how badly publishers treat authors. First, let me say that Wearing’s book is one of the most important books on out there on hand-tool woodworking (read about my first encounter with it here).
The original publisher of the book had let it go out of print. When that happened, they were supposed to return the photos or drawings to the author. But they didn’t. And then they claimed they had lost all the original materials – breaking one of the essential covenants of publishing. Wearing, in the meantime, was living on a fixed income in an assisted-living facility.
So John and I went to work. We wrested rights from the original publisher and set about to rebuild the book without any of the original materials. We typed the entire book back into the computer, scanned and edited every illustration and recreated all the photos that had been lost. And we created an entirely new layout.
The process took a couple years, but we are proud to say that Wearing then received a royalty for every one of the 37,000 copies we’ve printed since 2010. And his estate now receives these royalties.
For me, “The Essential Woodworker” was the landmark book that connected all the dots about hand-tool woodworking into a cohesive explanation as to how the craft works. You can read it in an afternoon, but its lessons will stick with you for the rest of your life. The illustrations are brilliant.
Bringing Wearing’s book back into print led us into our first massive republishing project: The Woodworker series by Charles H. Hayward. You can read more about that series of important books here.
The following step-by-step instructions on how to hinge a door are perfectly indicative of Wearing’s clear instructions and illustrations. We miss Robert, but we are happy that his book lives on to help others.
— Christopher Schwarz
Hingeing a door
The majority of doors are fitted with butt hinges (Fig 434) – for best-quality work they should be solid drawn brass not folded or merely plated. The illustration shows the two styles: the manufactured, broad suite (B) and the narrow suite (A), the second being more commonly used for furniture. The broad suite type is useful when a door is slightly outset, because in this case if a narrow suite hinge is used, the screws are liable to come too close to the carcase edge.
Three gauge settings will be used in the marking out (Fig 435, A, B and C). Three separate gauges, though not essential, save time and re-setting. Note that in setting A the gauge point should be just short of the hinge pin centre; 1mm (1/32in.) is about right.
The location of the hinges is important, particularly for their appearance. On a framed door the hinge lines up with the inside edge of the rail (Fig 436A). On a flush door the hinge is generally placed at its own length from the end (Fig 436B). The same rules apply to the hinges on a planted door (Fig 437). Hinges let into both door and carcase (Fig 438A) interrupt the straight line between door and carcase. In Fig 438B the hinge is let into the door only, preserving the continuous line, a more pleasing effect.
Mark the door first (Fig 439). The length is taken from the hinge itself and marked with a knife and square. Gauge the hinge width, A, on the edge and from the outside, i.e. the true face. Gauge the thickness, B, on the face. It is vital that this size is not exceeded otherwise the door will not close fully; if it is slightly undersize, the lesser evil, there will be a gap between the door and carcase which can be corrected. An overdeep socket will need packing up with veneer or card, or filling in and a fresh start, all unsightly.
The socket is formed by making a number of sawcuts (Fig 440) then removing the waste with a broad chisel (Fig 441). Notice that the socket reduces in depth towards the back where it finishes to a depth C, the thickness of the hinge leaf. Obviously this cannot be gauged, it must be found by trying the hinge. A socket too deep here will not affect the door closing but only its appearance. However the knuckle end is most critical as has already been mentioned. A block cramped to the door will prevent the chisel from accidentally bursting through.
Brass hinges need brass screws. With very hard woods it is easier to insert steel ones first, preferably one gauge smaller; these are replaced by brass when the hingeing is completed. Hinges sometimes need extra countersinking to ensure that the head does not stand proud. Provisionally fit the hinges to the door with only one screw in place.
The door with its hinges is located in the carcase, standing on one thickness of the packing card. Mark the hinge position on the carcase and remove the door. Square these marks onto the inside and gauge the hinge width, A (Fig 442). Chop a chisel lightly across the grain in the manner of the sawcuts in Fig 440, remove the bulk of the waste and trim back the socket carefully to the lines. The maximum depth (Fig 443B) is the total hinge leaf thickness (Fig 435B). Again slight excess will not harm the fitting. Nothing must be removed at the carcase edge. Fix the hinge with one screw. Note that pilot holes for the screws must be drilled at right angles to the sloping bottoms of the sockets not to the face of the carcase.
Try the door for fit; a strip of thin paper should just pass down between the hinge stile and the carcase. The closing stile may now need easing, at a slight angle. The odd shaving may still be needed elsewhere but with accurate marking and careful working this should be minimal.
For the best-quality work the hinges should now be unscrewed and rough scratches removed from the knuckles with successively finer grades of emery cloth, then metal polish. At the final screwing on, use brass screws and line up all their slots the same way.
If a stop is needed it can be made in the same manner as a drawer stop.
Common faults when fitting doors are that either the door is ‘screw bound’ where protruding screw heads prevent the hinge from closing, or ‘hinge bound’ where the socket has been cut deeper than the total hinge thickness.
