Iain Whittington, a woodworker and retired army engineer, along with his wife, Evaline, a professional retired translator, have published a new book, “WoodCarving: A Norwegian Textbook.” This book is a translation of Odd Fauske’s “Lærebok i treskjæring,” a compendium of project plans for woodcarving and folk art first published in the 1970s.
The book includes full-size carving patterns for furniture, fittings, architectural components, 14 different spoons, eight mangle boards, and traditional Norwegian household items. Originally a monochrome text used as a guide for teaching woodcarving in Norway, the book provides instruction for both the beginner and advanced carver. This edition, which presents the translated English text alongside the original Norwegian text, also adds a new introduction, index and bibliography. “WoodCarving” provides a wealth of information and patterns for woodcarvers, spoon carvers, illustrators, embroiderers and folk artists interested in classical patterns.
To learn more about the book and order, go here for U.S. customers. In the UK, go here. In the EU, here.
Whittington doesn’t want to profit from sales of the book. Instead, funds generated by its sale will go directly to SSAFA, the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association, a UK charity that provides support to men, women and veterans from the British Armed Forces, along with their families and dependents.
We had to relist our one copy of Deluxe Roubo on Furniture from the Blem Sale (along with a copy of “By Hound & Eye,” plus we still have some “Book of Plates.”) So IF YOU ARE LOCAL or are willing to travel tomorrow:
The books are listed here in Chris’ eBay store. They are all 50 percent off retail. They are listed for pickup only with no shipping options. If you buy one, you (or your spouse, child or buddy) must pick it up on Dec. 23. We can’t ship it to you – we don’t have the boxes or packing material here in Covington. If you beg me (Megan Fitzpatrick) to mail you one, I will say no. So please, please, please don’t make this uncomfortable or weird for us. And especially don’t email help@lostartpress.com. They are dealing with holiday craziness and don’t have anything to do with this blem sale.
The two project chairs featured in the book: the balloon-back (left) and the fan-back.
I love going to the Lie-Nielsen Toolworks Open House (almost) every summer for a number of reasons, but one of the best is getting to hang out with chairmaker extraordinaire Pete Galbert for a few days. He’s been there at every event I’ve had the pleasure of attending.
Pete is one of those people who always puts a smile on my face, because there’s always one on his. He’s just so darn nice and fun to be around. And he’s an extraordinary teacher – I was blown away by his presentations at Woodworking in America (back in my former life).
Hopefully I’ll get to see him in person next summer (if not sooner). But for now, I’ll have to make do with seeing him on his spindle turning and milk paint videos. And, of course, reading from his book (for which he also did all the gorgeous drawings).
Obviously there is a long history to the Windsor chair. And along the way, I’m sure that just about every imaginable technology has been used to build them and all sorts of design innovations have been tried. I am neither a historian nor a wood technologist; luckily, there are a number of good books on both subjects. In setting out to write this book, I wanted to make chairmaking accessible and open a door into a gratifying kind of woodworking.
Looking back, I recognize that my own transition into working with green wood took place in stages. I remember simply wanting to see what a drawknife could do, and I didn’t care if it was on a split piece of oak destined for a chair or a 2×4. I encourage you to act on your impulse to explore and play. These are vital steps in the learning process.
Even though I could simply lay out a single path to success for making a chair, I recognize that each of us comes from a different background, workshop and skill set, so I’ve tried to stress the principles that you’ll encounter, knowing that you will apply the information that best suits your ability and interests.
I’ve structured the information so that the basic concepts are illustrated, and if you want to go deeper into the topic, you can delve further into the text. Illustrating the book myself was an obvious choice for me because not only do I enjoy drawing, but I also hope to impart as much visual information as possible. Plus, the chairs, with their thin lines and crisp silhouettes, translate beautifully when drawn.
The project portion of this book details the process of building the two chairs shown below. While the process for building a chair is simple, there are many opportunities to learn more about the materials, tools and techniques.
The project chairs were chosen both for their similarities and differences. Besides some aesthetic elements, the chairs are structurally identical from the seat down. That way, making one chair will give you experience that will serve you in the other. From the seat up, the difference is both aesthetic and technological. If you have access to green wood, you will find the balloon-back attainable. If you are limited to sawn (hopefully air-dried) lumber, you can make your way through the fan-back, which lacks the extreme bend, yet it has slightly more complex joinery in the crest.
Another reason that I chose these chairs is that they point the way toward two different families of design within the Windsor tradition. The balloon-back is a great introduction to the classic forms, such as the continuous-arm, sack-back and comb-back.
If your interest runs more toward more modern options, the fan-back leads to other designs with clean Asian-influenced lines, such as the birdcage and the step-down-crest styles. My unpainted contemporary designs are mostly rooted in the technology that begins with the fan-back form.
Drawing of two “families” of chairs to which each project chair belongs.
I also cover options for building these chairs using the lathe in a limited way, or without using a lathe at all. While turning is the most efficient way to make the legs and joinery, not having experience with or access to a lathe should not stop you from making a fine chair.
In this book, I’ve tried to address the questions that riddled me as I ventured into chairmaking and share some of the lessons and discoveries I’ve found helpful along the way. I spent most of my earlier years as a woodworker poring over books to squeeze out the information that I needed. One thing that struck me was that I got something new each time I returned to my favorite texts. My goal here is to not only demonstrate ways to achieve the tasks, but to show some of the common problems you might encounter and how to address them. Because of this, some of the descriptions might make more sense to you once you’ve worked with the process and found a problem for yourself. If the depth of the information here ever seems daunting, take a deep breath and rest assured you can make a chair that will exceed your expectations with only the basic concepts in hand. Once you’ve grown comfortable with them, the rest of the information might be more inviting.
Even for experienced furniture makers, each process will likely introduce new challenges. From splitting wood to turning, steam bending to carving, it’s a different way of looking at making a piece of furniture. While there are many steps involved in making a successful chair, and mastering the process can be a lifetime pursuit, a little effort and resilience will pay off at each turn.
My hope is that the information here encourages you to build your first chair, or perhaps just your latest.
Here’s the problem: I gave my low, eight-legged workbench (based on a fresco at Herculaneum) to Brendan Gaffney. That bench is (I think) somewhere in New York state. Then I loaned the low bench I built that’s based on the world’s earliest extant workbench at Saalburg, Germany, to Dan Raber at the Artisans Guild in Millersburg, Ohio.
Then, while dishing out our family supper on my Loffelholz workbench in our dining room (which is too high for the Colonial Williamsburg demonstrations) I barked my shins against something. A Swedish sitting bench I’d built in 2010 for Popular Woodworking Magazine. The bench is from the Älvros Farmstead, a group of buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries that were moved to Skansen, Sweden, which is a living history museum.
The Skansen bench’s top is 11” wide, more than 2-1/2” thick and 72” long. The bench’s seat is about 19” off the floor.
Hmm. I guess I do have a Roman workbench here.
Today I started to add workholding to the bench. First up: A twin-screw vise based on 14th-century French benches. I made a couple screws from maple and threaded them with my 28mm threadbox from Dieter Schmid. The tool works brilliantly, is expensive and never gets loaned out. The threads are about 7” long, and have a 1”-diameter x 5”-long tenon on the other end.
I drilled a couple quick holes on 22” centers in the side of the Skansen bench to receive the tenons. This spacing allows me to hold and shape a chair seat. The vise chop is made from 2” x 4” x 30” red oak. The chamfers reduce the weight of the chop without reducing its grip (thanks vector forces). The vise nuts are maple.
To make the vise grip better, I looked around for coarse leather to glue to the bench and the chop. I am presently bovine-free. So I took a tip from the late Jennie Alexander and lined the vise with Safety Walk anti-slip tape. You can buy it at any good hardware store. It’s designed to stick on ladders and such to improve your footing. I use it on handscrews and the like. It’s not period-correct (the French used sturgeon swimbladders to line their vise jaws, JK), but I just forgave myself for the lapse.
All the parts are finished with linseed oil and beeswax.
Tomorrow I’ll add an adjustable planing stop, a “palm” and a chairmaker’s shaving stop.
Finally, I’ll chain this Roman workbench to a heavy object in the library so it doesn’t escape.
— Christopher Schwarz
If you are wondering what the hell I’m talking about in this post with low workbenches and “palms” and swimbladders, you haven’t read my book “Ingenious Mechanicks.” It’s all about early ways to work wood without a complex bench.
We are holding a special sale of slightly blemished books that can be picked up in person at the Covington, Ky., storefront from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Dec. 23. We have about 100 books that have been piling up in my cellar, and I need to get them out of there.
Here’s how this will work.
All the books are listed here in my eBay store. They are all 50 percent off retail. They are listed for pickup only with no shipping options. If you buy one, you (or your spouse, child or buddy) must pick it up on Dec. 23. We can’t ship it to you – we don’t have the boxes or packing material here in Covington. If you beg Megan to mail you one, she will say no. So please, please, please don’t make this uncomfortable or weird for us. And especially don’t email help@lostartpress.com. They are dealing with holiday craziness and don’t have anything to do with this blem sale.
Once you’ve bought and paid for the book through eBay, come to the Covington storefront anytime between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Dec. 23, 2020. The storefront is at 837 Willard St., Covington, KY 41011. We’ll have everyone’s orders bagged up. We will be wearing face masks. We ask that you wear a mask, too. (I do not feel like getting mortally ill because of a blemished book sale….)
At the front door, tell us your name. We’ll put your book(s) on the front stoop, and you can go on your merry way.
All these books have small amounts of damage. (Books that were unsalable were recycled.) Most of the damage consists of a bumped corner. Some of the books suffered small scuffs to the cover cloth. One or two have some small patches of water staining on the exterior of the block. All of the books are functional and readable. And after a few years of use, I suspect you won’t be able to discern the damage.
There are some great books in this sale, including 37 copies of “The Book of Plates.” If you can make the trip and are willing to follow the rules, there are some deals to be had. I know some of you are feeling like you are being punished for not living in the lovely Tristate. All I can say is that there has to be some great advantage to living here – and maybe this sale is that advantage.
Remember: You have to first buy the book in our eBay store before coming on Dec. 23. We won’t have any stock to sell on Dec. 23.
