Peter Galbert’s hoop-back on the left, and perch on the right. He uses these two seating forms to teach you the foundations of chairmaking in his new video series.
Part one (available now) focuses on kiln-dried wood and Pete’s “perch” – a stool with a decidedly modern look. In this episode, he discusses chair design and ergonomics, and introduces all the tools and techniques to get you started in chairmaking. And he shows you how to make the perch, of course.
Part two (available soon) will focus on green wood and making a traditional Winsdor hoop-back stool (what some might call a sack back), and introduce some more advanced techniques.
Pete says that his overall goal “is to remove whatever is limiting you from making your chairs. Because really, this technology is as simple as drilling a hole, and whittling a peg to fit in it, and knocking it home.”
The tools Pete introduces/shows you how to use.
Altogether, Pete says there will be 8-10 hours of video instruction in this “foundation” series (all included in the $69.99 price). By the time the series is complete, you’ll have a solid foundation in chairmaking tools and techniques, as well as design and comfort considerations, to make many kinds of seating – and you’ll discover that chairmaking isn’t scary at all!
This link will take you to all of Pete’s Vimeo videos (including his recent series on using milk paint), as well as Vimeo videos featuring Pete’s work (I’d forgotten about that video Chris Schwarz did of “Chairmaker’s Notebook!). To sign up for his new series, click on the trailer for “Foundations.”
Raney has assembled and finished the last of the Crucible Improved Pattern Dividers that were on hand and is offering them for sale through his website. There are not many available. So act now or forever hold your tongue.
The good news is that Raney is working on a way to bring dividers back into production, which he discusses here.
Raney has also made a batch of nice-looking plane-adjusting hammers, which are for sale in his store. This first batch comes with both walnut and rawhide striking faces.
The chair above has sold. Thank you for your interest!
The chair shown here is one of the projects for the forthcoming “The Stick Chair Book.” The editorial purpose of this chair is to demonstrate how to transform a design by using vintage details. Unlike most of my chairs, which are about chamfers and sharp lines, this chair gives off an “old school” vibe.
That means this chair has a lot of soft curves and texture, instead of glassy surfaces. Other details:
All the sticks are shaved with planes and have faceted surfaces.
The undercarriage is low to the ground and the stretchers are shaved and faceted.
The legs start out as octagons at the floor and gradually transform into round as they enter the seat.
The underside of the seat is rounded.
The arm features old “hands” – round shapes that are off-center on the arms.
The comb is an old shape. It is triangular in cross section and features curved ends. All of the sticks are pegged into the comb.
The “doubler” (the top laminate on the arm) is heavy and rounded over for comfort.
All curved surfaces have been shaped with rasps and scrapers. There are subtle scratches on all curved surfaces.
The chair is made entirely of Ohio black cherry. All joints are assembled with hide glue so the chair can be repaired if things ever become loose long into the future. The finish is an organic boiled linseed oil and beeswax finish, which is non-toxic and easily repaired.
The seat is currently at 18” high, which is the modern standard seat height. I can remove as much as 3” from the legs if you like. Overall the chair is 43” high.
The chair is set up for relaxing. The back pitches back at 20°, which makes it ideal for reading, talking or enjoying a drink by the fire. Yes, you could use it for dining or keyboarding (I have a couple customers who like being able to sit back after a meal). But that’s not its primary purpose.
This chair is available for sale. The price is $1,300, which includes the crate, plus actual freight charges anywhere in the continental U.S. I’ll be happy to deliver it within 100 miles of Cincinnati for no extra charge.
If you’d like to purchase the chair, send an email to Megan Fitzpatrick (fitz@lostartpress.com) with the subject line: cherry stick chair. We’re happy to answer any and all questions, but the first person to say “I’ll take it,” gets it.
My most recent commission, a built-in for the living-room alcove of a 1920s house, has been as rewarding to design and build as it has been a challenge with respect to budgetary constraints and safety during a pandemic.
My clients, Anke Birkenmaier and Roman Ivanovitch, have a minimalist modern aesthetic, with hardwood floors, pale walls and modernist furniture, some of it from the mid-20th century. Their home’s exterior is solidly American Foursquare, with painted clapboards, original windows and the original front porch, which has a limestone foundation and several limestone steps up from grade. Inside, the original plainsawn oak trim remains, some of it stripped of paint applied by a former homeowner. In contrast, the fireplace surround is more forward-looking in historical terms, a Jazz-Age design with geometric motifs. This focal point provided precedent for something more streamlined than the original built-ins that are typical of my clients’ neighborhood.
Before. The built-in was for the alcove to the right of the fireplace.
Roman is a professor of music. A piano presides over about a third of the living room’s floorspace. Anke is a professor of Spanish. The cabinetry would store musical scores, sheet music, CDs, family board games and lots of books.
I draw inspiration from all sorts of historical sources, but in this case one particular built-in came to mind: a wall of cabinetry and open shelves I’d long admired in a book given to me decades ago, “Contemporary Furniture: An International Review of Modern Furniture, 1950 to the Present,” by Klaus-Juergen Sembach. The modular ensemble was designed by Mogens Koch, a Danish architect whose designs are still produced today. Koch was in his early years of professional practice when what is now my clients’ house was built.
An original piece designed by Mogens Koch. (Click here for source.)
The orderly divisions of the upper section appealed to me and seemed ideal for the kinds of music-related books I’d seen on the freestanding shelves when I first visited the house. After I drew the piece to scale the clients suggested they’d like walnut for the lower cabinets and paint for the uppers.
Almost done. Before I installed the CD shelves and door knobs.
Budget-friendly Details
Unlike those who built Koch’s designs in solid hardwood, with traditional exposed joinery, I was working with a budget that required me to use affordable materials, as well as choose carefully how I invested my time. The final built-in reflects the following considerations:
1″-thick slab doors are far quicker to make than frame-and-panel doors and complement the streamlined aesthetic.
Because they’re quick to install and facilitate adjustment, European hinges are considerably less costly than traditionally mortised butt hinges, which feature in many Mogens Koch designs.
The casework for the base sections with doors is made using an efficient method, from 3/4″ prefinished veneer-core maple plywood with solid walnut faces (using the same basic technique as I describe for kitchen cabinets in “Kitchen Think”). The central base section with open shelves for sheet music is made from 1/2″-thick walnut-veneered veneer-core ply, the shelves fitted in dados.
The upper sections are made from Baltic birch plywood, which could be painted without requiring solid lippings or veneered edges.
A Few Aesthetic Details Worth Noting
For dynamic rhythm I divided the space into three sections across its 96-1/2″ width.
1/2″-thick shelves and verticals (instead of my customary 3/4″) preserve the lightness of the Mogens Koch design. Where verticals are doubled up between modules, the extra thickness visually emphasizes the structure.
The ensemble has a strong central focus, with a section of the upper cabinetry subdivided for CDs, a 1-3/4″ bump-out at the base, and graduated horizontal lines of open shelves for sheet music.
Each of the uppermost three sections increases in height toward the top for happy proportions.
To lighten the appearance of this large built-in, the kicks are slightly recessed.
The scholarship is open to “women and those who identify as female both nationally and internationally and is part of the school’s ongoing efforts to increase diversification in the craft.”
The school and woodworking community worked together, raising more than $7,000 via a raffle. Prizes included handmade furniture, equipment and a deluxe copy of “With All the Precision Possible: Roubo on Furniture”. Proceeds from the raffle will fund seven week-long class scholarships.
• Name and date of the class you’d like to attend (plus two alternates if your first choice is not available)
• 100-150 word description of why you’d like to attend
If selected, your scholarship will cover the full tuition of the class and, when deemed appropriate, a small travel stipend. Apply now through January 30. Scholarships will be awarded via email between December 31 and February 28. Check out all the details here.
To learn more about the Florida School of Woodwork and its founder, Kate Swann, check out Nancy Hiller’s two-part interview series here.
