The Windsor Chronicles Blog

Running a business in this economic climate requires lots of planning.  When times were fat, we maintained a well stocked catalog building. While we liked it that way, we can’t afford it now. The result is that I look ahead to what we will need for upcoming classes and I order what I need plus a bit more.  The order covers the class; the bit more takes care of sales to the people in the class.  Anything left over goes on a shelf for sale through the on-line catalog.

               As you can see from this description, I am left with small amounts of lots of things. Once that small amount sells out, I do not stock it again until I am running that class again. So, while running a business in this climate requires me to do a lot of planning, it requires the same of you.   The days are gone (although I hope they will return) when you could send an order from the web site for 8 turning sets and have them arrive in a couple of days. Now, you need to check with us as soon as the idea on making more chairs enters your mind.  If you wait until you are ready to start the project, you may be disappointed. In other words, for both our sakes give me as much advance notice as you can.

               We will wrap up 2009 tomorrow, and will not teach the first class of 2010 until March 22. I am not planning on stocking any more inventory until early March. 

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The weak economy has a lot of people concluding they can’t afford to take a class, so they decide to try their hand at chairmaking on their own.  As a result, we have been getting a steady stream of orders for tools and material from people who have never studied with us. I have to inform them that many of our products are part of our program. We developed them for our program so we could teach our classes and provide our students with the wherewithal to make more chairs. We do not sell these items to the general public. As you can see from above, we have trouble keeping the people who have been here supplied. I cannot short change them in favor of someone who is not willing to invest the time or effort to come here. 

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This is the season for gift certificates. If you want to buy someone a class, we can provide you with a gift certificate to put under the tree. You can get a certificate for a specific class date, or one that is open ended and can be used when the recipient is ready. The best way to do it is to use our catalog order form. It will allow you to send us your CC# encrypted.  Be sure to include the information needed to personalize the certificate in the memo section. That information includes the recipient’s name; the names of the gift givers, the event (Christmas, birthday, anniversary, etc.)  If you want the certificate to be a secret and have it sent to another address, be sure to make that clear, and to give me that address. 

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Last post I mentioned Sir Brian Offutt, who his here this week. Sir Brian gave me some other news in regards to his chairmaking. He displayed a settee at two community fairs this summer and was awarded first place and best of show at both fairs; the Shippensburg Fair, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania and the South Mountain Fair in Adams County, Pennsylvania. He is planning to take other chairs to these fairs next summer.  

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I know Windsor chairmakers can’t do math, but this joke allows us to poke fun at our arch rivals the vile and treacherous Shaker chairmakers from Shakermaker U. 

“His Grace Don Harper was passing by a Shaker chair shop as the Shakers were loading a large order of chairs on a wagon. The shakers were busy counting the chairs to make sure they had the proper amount. Hezekiah tried first, but got lost track after 17. Ezekiel tried next, buy lost count at 14. Jonas did not get any higher than nine. 

His Grace looked at the assembled chairs and told the Shakers there were 65. The Shakers were amazed. “How did you manage to do that?” Hezekiah asked. 

“Easy,” Don replied.  “I just counted the legs and divided by four.”

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We are teaching the 2 Kids Chairs class this week.  In this class each student makes a child’s sack back and a matching youth chair for use at the table. I have written before about the joint we worked out to attach the footrest. I am proud of it and the way it snaps together and self locks.  I don’t know of any other place in woodworking where this technique is used. It is unique and only known here.

This class is also our last of the year and wraps up 2009. We end our school year with a ceremony we call the Burning of the Backboards. It occurs late Friday afternoon after graduation when we all gather at the incinerator behind the shop and burn the year’s backboards. Those who have studied with us know that we always ask them to take the time to sign a backboard so they are with us symbolically at this ceremony. The first backboard into the fire will be the one signed by the members of the first class of the year.  It has been hanging on the wall all these months, awaiting its moment of glory.

We have an additional ceremony that will take place just before the Burning. Sir Brian Offutt will be inducted into the Alpha Omega Society.  This is accomplished by attending both the first and last class of the year. It doesn’t happen often. In fact, only nine times previously and the last induction was in 2004. Brian will be given a certificate and a pewter mug with the Greek letters Alpha Omega, his name, and the year engraved on it.

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Recently I mentioned the First Knights. Within days I heard from all of them for different reasons.  Lord Lyndon Gallagher was here for the balloon back. Sir Stig Brandvik is here this week for the 2 kids chairs. And Sieur Vincent Lavarenne emailed me with some of his news.

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Our sandpaper sharpening method, as described a while ago in Popular Woodworking is going international. Sieur Vincent Lavarenne, Premier Chevalier de France, is writing an article about our method in a French woodworking magazine Le Bouver, which means Grooving Plane.  Sieur Vincent has been demonstrating and promoting the method to his woodworking association and through his efforts he attracted the magazine’s attention.

He says he met some resistance to the method from French woodworkers. He converted them with a clever demonstration. He destroyed the cutting edge of a carving tool by chiseling some limestone. Then, in 47 seconds he restored the edge  using our sandpaper method. The 47 included time to clean up and put away his sharpening set up.

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We heard from Lord Lyndon Gallagher, who was here for the Balloon backs two weeks ago. He reports he donated a sack chair to the local Firemen’s Auction for the needy.  The chair fetched $700.  By the way, Lord Lyndon brought us some great Canadian beer that Fred, Don, and I will enjoy after the Burning. We always ask Canadian students to bring us some craft beer from their area. They make great beer, and we aren’t likely to ever stumble across these small local brands down here.

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I joined the 21st century this weekend when started a Facebook page. I’m in the process of building it. Fortunately, I have a talented computer consultant to walk me though the process – my 17 year old son. Otherwise, I’d be lost. I am not sure how I am going to use the page. I’m thinking of keeping this one for my personal use– to stay in touch with my extensive family (I am one of nine kids) and close friends.  Currently, I plan on setting up another for The Institute. If you want to join as a friend of The Institute, that will probably be the place, rather than my personal page. Meanwhile, be patient with me while I sort all this out.

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            File this one under “Why I Love My Job.” The November 16 Balloon Backs chair class is in session this week. In this class everyone makes two balloon back Windsors, an early 19^th century variation on the bow back side chair. Kelly Rothermel is attending the class with her father, His Grace Kurt, Duke of Windsor. Kelly took sack back with her father back in 2007. Since then, she has graduated from college, taken a job teaching in the same parochial grammar school she attended as a girl, and has gotten engaged.

            Kelly plans on marrying her fiancé a year from now. At the Catholic wedding Mass the bride and groom sit on chairs on the ambo, near the altar. Kelly is making the chairs she and her husband-to-be will sit in at their wedding. I get a kick out of imagining Kelly’s decedents cherishing the chairs their ancestor sat in when she was married.  I won’t be around to see, but I bet they fight over who inherits them.

            H.G. Kurt is also making two balloon backs. He plans on giving those to Kelly so that the new bride will start off married life with a set of four chairs around her table. As my wife Susanna says all the time, here at The Windsor Institute, we make memories. There will be many memories attached to those chairs being made here this week.

            We have so many members of the Royal Orders here this week, Kelly will be all alone when she is raised to Master Chairmaker. We are earling Sirs Albert Filo and Lyndon Gallagher this week. Fortunately, our earls have their wives with them. Otherwise, Kelly and Ken Kimber will be the only members of the Assembled Multitude.

          At his earling  Sir Lyndon becomes far more than Lord Lyndon. His elevation to earldom places him in command of all Canadian Knights. Until now, Sir Jean-Francois Theoret, The First Knight of Canada has been in command. Royal Orders regulations pass command to the highest ranking member from a country. Sirs Stig Brandvik and Vincent Lavarenne are the First Knights of Norway and France. Meanwhile, an Australian chairmaker is one class away from Knighthood and First Knight status. These guys underscore why I am never understanding when someone says, “I love to take a chair class, but I’m from Iowa and its such a long way to New Hampshire.”

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            We have had a flurry of newspaper articles about Institute alumni pass over our desk recently. When we tell our students how to go about getting this sort of free publicity we always assure them that they will not end upon page 19 below the fold. Instead, they will be featured prominently, often on a front page.  The guys mentioned below prove that point.

            The above mentioned Lord Lyndon was featured in the Hudson, Quebec Gazette. The article was written to promote the sixth annual Tour des Ateliers de Hudson et de la Region (Tour of Workshops in Hudson and the Region.) A rocking chair by Lord Lyndon was featured in the tour’s brochure and his compass plane and spokeshave graced the cover.

            The front page had a tease with a color photo of Lord Lyndon with a local gallery owner sitting in a group of his chairs. The article about Lord Lyndon and his chairmaking took up an entire page.

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            Roger Engle’s home in Hudson, Ohio and his chairmaking were featured on the front page of the Akron Beacon Journal’s Home section.  The article took up the entire page and had three full color pictures. The text took up a third of the jump page as well. The article promoted the annual Hudson Heritage Society’s Holiday House tour.

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            An article about George Mathews’ chairmaking business took up two-thrids of the front page of the Winston-Salem Journal’s Living section. It is accompanied by five color photos of George working, of his chairs, and of his tools. The text takes up more than half the jump page along with two more color pictures of George.

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            Sir Paul Thomas’ chairmaking business was promoted on the front page of the Buffalo Business First. The article was accompanied by two color pictures of Sir Paul working and another of him standing next to a Nantucket fan back.

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 The November 2 settee class is underway as I write this posting. The students are mounting their arm rails.

 Boy, do I have egg all over my face. Those of you who have made this chair know that when we lay out the seat for saddling we run the compass all the way around the complete shape. This is different than for other chairs. In the rear, this line lays out the groove.  Across the front, it describes the round ridge that runs along the front. 

Fred made the seat on Monday. Tuesday, I was doing the drilling and reaming demo. I showed the class how to lay out all the sight lines and I spent a bit of extra time explaining the placement for the center pair of legs. I showed why they looked so recessed relative to the outer pairs and cautioned the students not to get confused.  I laid out the sight lines for the outer pairs of legs on the tropics. Then, I showed how the lines connecting the outer pairs locate the central pair on the equator.  

I clamped the seat on the bench top so I was standing behind it. I reminded the class that with any other chair this is an anathema, as it puts us out of the chairmaker’s position. With a settee it is necessary to work from behind, but we have to be conscious of our placement in order to avoid confusion.

The students learned the lessons I was teaching.  However, I learned a lesson too. While teaching and talking it is even more important to remain aware in order to avoid confusion. Instead of the required front/center leg placement, I set my bit on the intersection of the compass line and the equator. You know that I should have used the line connecting  the outer front legs. I had completed all three front leg holes and was getting ready to turn the seat to drill the rear leg holes when Sir Dan Santos observed that holes did not lie in a straight line.

Boy, was I embarrassed! The only  thing I can add to alleviate my embarrassment is that although in the hole was in the wrong place, it was a perfect 10 degrees. I did joke with the class that I had meant to add the extra hole. Since Love Seat is a common name for a six leg settee, my plan was to turn a decorative post for the hole and attach  a disk top. Its purpose would be to act as a small tray to hold two champagne flutes for the lovers using the settee  They didn’t buy my story.

Earlier in the week we did give the class a treat. A settee seat is too long to cut easily on a band saw. So, we usually cut the round ends with a scroll saw. After planing my seat blank and showing how to do the layout, I got a bright idea. I took down one of our  26 inch bow saws and cut the seat by hand. I will admit that I have not done that for a while. However, using a bow saw is like riding a bicycle. In short order I was following that pencil line as fast as I could cut on a band saw, and faster than a scroll saw.   

I explained how to use the saw to the class (it’s not intuitive) and had the students cut out their seats that way. For most of them, it is the only time they will ever use this very effective tool.  I think I will do the same with the tete-a-tete class in March.

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The long wait is over and it was worth it. We finally have our new and improved reamer in stock.  It is a sweet tool that cuts with almost surgical precision. I used it for the first time to leg up the staff settee.  I set my cordless on slow and with the chuck just barely turning I cut a tightly curled shaving from the just the right spot to adjust the leg a half of a degree. The reamer has so much control it did the job without making a complete revolution.

The pilot on this reamer has a longer tapered on its business end, which makes it easier to slide into the hole. The pilot has a boss on the other end that fits into a recess in the small end of the reamer. This way, there is no movement on the screw. We also reduced the reamer’s small end to less than 3/8 inch. That makes it easier to start in a 7/16 inch reamed hole in the arm.  It also lets us use the reamer for kids chairs, which have a 3/8 inch hole in the arm. We plan on offering a set of pilots that will allow the reamer to be used with precision in holes bigger and smaller than 9/16.

Our reamer is part of our program and we cannot sell them to anyone who has not studied here.

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To celebrate the new reamer, I have added the chairmaker joke below.

A monk walks into The Windsor Institute.  Mike, Fred, and Don and 14 students were busy roughing out chair seats with adzes. The chips were really flying.  During a lull, the monk introduced himself to Mike as the abbot of the order of Little Brothers of Perpetual Poverty, which had a monastery nearby.

“What do you do with all the waste chips and shavings?” the abbot asked.

“We take them out back to the incinerator,” Mike explained. “we pile them up and burn them every couple of days.”

“Then I have a proposal for you,” the abbot offered.  ”If you’ll allow us, every day at quitting time I’ll send over a couple of novices to sweep the floor and collect all the waste chips.  They will take the chips back to the monastery, and we’ll burn them for heat.  We can no longer afford heating oil.”

Being a kind-hearted and magnanimous man, Mike agreed to a trial period. (Being a canny Yankee he  also like the idea of free labor.) The arrangement soon proved to be beneficial to both parties, and as a result The Windsor Institute began to rely heavily on the work of the chip monks.

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We are getting close to the end of our 2009 school year. In fact, we only have two classes left before our winter break.  I point this out as these classes are a minor change from the schedule on the web site. November 16, we begin the Balloon backs chair class. I have two spaces left. November 30 we run the Two Kids chairs class. I can take a couple of more in this class as well. We are not running either class in 2010.

Mid-summer we dropped the writing arm class.  So, Two Kids will be the last class of the year and those students will participate in the Burning of the Backboards.  

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We just wrapped up three classes in four weeks. I was pretty busy during that stretch and just couldn’t take time to sit down and write. However, I do have a nice story to tell. Sir Ron Tatman just returned from a year serving a year in Iraq. He returned so recently he still has sand in his ears.   As soon as he got back he emailed to ask if he could decompress by helping out at The Institute. I told him we would be delighted to have him work with us to teach the October 5 sack back.  Sir Ron has taken sack back with each of his daughters.  So, I knew he was capable and would be a big help.

Sir Ron spent the week with us while his wife Jill studied. Jill is working on her Master’s degree in nursing.  We have enough faith in Sir Ron’s abilities that we invited him to teach a demo.  He did  the final assembly in legging up our class chair; drilling the leg holes and wedging.  Ron loved the experience so, we had him mount the arm rail as well. We did the joinery, while Sir Ron again did the final assembly and wedging.

Friday, when it came time to mount the bow, I realized that if we had Sir Ron do the final assembly in this last stage, he would have put together the entire chair.  That’s what we did. Fred drilled the bow holes in the arm. Don shaped the bow ends and fitted them. I drilled the holes. Ron put on the bow.  

Before graduation I took the chair out to the bending area and wrote a message on the bottom of the seat expressing the staff’s gratitude to Ron for his help with the class and for his service to our country. One at a time Fred and Don snuck out to sign the chair as well. At graduation we gave the chair to Sir Ron.  He got a little misty eyed.

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It’s been a while we since I posted a good chairmaker joke.  This one is courtesy of Ron Davis.  

His Grace Don Harper is a retired physics teacher and a pretty bright guy. He was driving home one night after a long day of teaching at The Windsor Institute.  The weather was warm, so His Grace had driven his Model A to work. As he putt-putted through town he got the idea to stop at the 401 Tavern. This new establishment  bought out Widow Fletcher’s last winter and His Grace had heard that the new owners had expanded the menu. He was also curious as to whether the 401 would continue to serve the best martini in town. After all, Mike Dunbar had given his secret martini recipe to Widow Fletcher’s and in gratitude the restaurant had named the drink the “Windsor Chair.”

His Grace was pleased to discover that the new establishment had retained Widow’s distinctive interior. He sat at the bar expecting his old friend Lenny the bartender to greet him. He was surprised when a robot bartender came over and asked if it could take his order.  Doubting the robot’s abilities His Grace specified, “A Bombay martini, straight up, three olives, please. Neither stirred nor shaken, but swirled.” He sipped the colorless, but flavor filled liquid. He savored the fragrant taste of juniper berry. He let it linger on his tongue and relished how the flavor was punctuated by the slight saltiness contributed by three crisp queen-sized olives. He though to himself, this martini is as good as, if not a bit better than Mike Dunbar could make.

The robot struck up a conversation. “So, what’s your IQ?” it asked Don.

His Grace was surprised by the question and so answered honestly, “On hundred and sixty-seven.” The robot paused a moment while a row of small red and yellow lights flashed randomly.  The robot then began a long and enjoyable conversation with Don about String Theory, quarks, and cold fusion. When they were done Don left. On the way home he reflected on how good the martini had been and how much he had enjoyed the conversation. However, he was curious why the robot asked him his IQ.

Driving through the center of Hampton the next night, His Grace decided to see if that martini had been a fluke. Was it possible that robot could make another as good as the first? “A Bombay martini, straight up, three olives, please. Neither stirred nor shaken, but swirled,” Don requested. Yes, oh yes. It was just like yesterday’s. 

Just like yesterday the robot began the conversation by asking “So, what’s your IQ?”

This time Don decided to try an experiment. “One hundred and thirty eight,” he answered. Small red and yellow lights flashed. Don decided the robot was changing its programming. The robot then began a long and enjoyable conversation about the stock market, politics, and Faulkner novels.

The third evening Don stopped by the 401 yet again. As he had done the two previous nights he ordered, “A Bombay martini, straight up, three olives, please. Neither stirred nor shaken, but swirled.”

After allowing Don to taste the martini the robot asked. “So, what’s your IQ?”

Don decided to continue experimenting with the robot’s programming. “One hundred and one,” he answered. Lights flashed randomly once again. Then, the robot began a lively conversation about football, NASCAR, and Miss April in the recent Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. The two gave each other lots of high fives and knuckle bumps.

The next night Don went into the tavern for another martini. “A Bombay martini, straight up, three olives, please. Neither stirred nor shaken, but swirled,” he instructed the robot.

After Don took his first sip the robot again asked, “So, what’s your IQ?”

“Sixty-seven,” Don answered with a sly smile, curious to see how the robot would respond.

Once again the small lights flashed rapidly on and off. Then, the robot asked, “So, how long have you been a Shaker chairmaker?”

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            You know the words from that old John Denver song, “Some days are diamonds, some days are stones. Sometimes the hard times won’t leave me alone.” I’ve had my share of stones and hard times, but Monday this week was a gem. We were like the ants in the ants and cricket fable. We were getting ready for winter and part of our preparation was to hold our last splitting party of the year.

            I buy our logs at a local concentration yard. I begin the process by calling up the manager to make sure he has a good supply of red oak logs on hand. If he is not going to be present when I visit, he will arrange selection of logs for me to choose from. He places the logs all parallel, with one end raised on a junk log. That way I can walk around the logs and see under them as well. Being able to see whole logs makes choosing them a lot less risky.

            I felt like a kid in a toy store. I wanted all the logs. There wasn’t a bad one in the lot. However, I only needed a limited amount: enough to get use through the last classes of the year; enough to put aside for sales; and enough to provide for the first class of 2010. I chose the best, but hated to leave others behind.  The quality was that high.

            This Monday, when it came time to split the logs, the joy continued. We cut the first bolt to six feet. There are good reasons why. The November 2 class is a settee.  Each student needs two six foot blanks; one for the arm and one for the bow. The second class that month is the Balloon backs. In this class, each student makes two chairs and needs two six foot pieces. The first class of 2010 is the Tete-a-Tete, and you guessed it – each student will need two six foot pieces.  That is why we started with a six footer; to make sure we had all we needed. If the log contained any unpleasant surprises, we could still cut six foot bolts off the others. 

            The log opened hard; a lot harder than I expected from such a straight piece. This always makes me worry, as a large encased knot or other blemish could be holding it together. It took a lot of wedges and a lot of hammering, but we won. The log was perfect and a beautiful thing to behold. The grain was as straight as an arrow. Only a group of chairmakers would understand why we paused and spent ten minutes admiring the sight. (Okay. Don, Fred, and I are old. While we really were admiring the log, we were also catching our breath after swinging that eight pound maul for 15 minutes.)

            The other logs opened just as straight and clean as the first. Even their hearts were straight. This is unusual, as the heart represents the tree as a sapling, and few saplings are perfect. We usually cleave off the heart and throw it into the firewood pile.  Not this time. Most of it was good enough for bending stock.

            It took about 90 minutes to rive all the logs and split of the butts into firewood. By 10:30 we were ready to cut bending stock on our band resaw. Fred and Kevin usually do this work and they got right to it. Meanwhile, Don and I set to another task. There was a lot of 4 foot stuff left over from our spring splitting party. We decided to make it into arms and bows to put aside for winter catalog sales.  We need to keep these parts in inventory as we sell a lot of pre-bent arm and bows pairs to chairmakers who do not have the capability to bend their own wood.

            The left over stock we worked  was the dregs. Setting up a class, we go through the stock and choose the best pieces.  When someone orders bending stock, we again select the best pieces. By the time we get around to the next bending party, the old stock has been pretty well picked over and only dubious wood remains.  

            To stay out of Fred’s way, Don and I pulled the planer out into the parking lot and went to work. Monday was a beautiful fall day.  The air was dry and the sun was warm. I suggested that Don pitch (pass the wood through the planer) and I would catch (pass the pieces back to him.)  I felt pretty self satisfied with my cleverness.   Don had to do all the thinking as to how the pieces should be placed to pass through the machine. All I did was stand facing the sun, enjoying its light and warmth while I daydreamed.

            As we worked we had the steamer running. We paused from time to time to bend a batch of parts. Nothing beats a good bending day and this one was perfect. There was not a cloud in the sky. The air was warm and dry.  When we make up parts from the dregs we expect a high failure rate. After all, it is lesser quality stock. Monday afternoon, Don and I bent 33 pieces.  Not a single one broke. We had a small delam in one arm and in one bow.  Both will be easily fixed and will end up in sack back chairs. Three arms rolled up slightly, but will be perfect after drying in a vise for a week.  Like I said at the beginning, some days are diamonds.

            The wood was not only of questionable quality; it was also five months old. We had left it standing in a corner all that time and it was completely air dried. Our success bending it puts the lie to the old chestnut about needing to keep the wood wet. It should be a lesson to the guys who wrap their wood in plastic, or store it under water. A good bending day is far more important than moisture content. 

            A day this perfect could only end one way, with a perfect beer. We each had a bottle from a selection Glenn Carter had brought us from a micro brewery near him up in Toronto. You know, those Canadians are as good at making beer as Don and I are at bending.

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Below is a guest blog written by Sir Dan Santos. There isn’t a Windsor chairmaker  who wouldn’t give his eye teeth to have the same opportunities that landed into Dan’s lap. Read and weep. You’ll be jealous.  Mike

“I have been spending a lot of time over the past year studying and making, what  The Windsor Institute calls its the Nantucket Fan Back chair (NFB). But I have not been making copies of The Institutes chair, I have been measuring and reproducing originals from museum collections.

The Winterthur Museum and Country Estate in Wilmington, Delaware commissioned me to reproduce a Nantucket-made High Fan-Back Arm Chair in their collection branded “C. Chase.” The museum wanted the reproduction chair for the exhibition titled “Harbor and Home, Furniture of Southeastern Massachusetts, 1710 – 1850”. The exhibition opened at Winterthur in March and moved to the Nantucket Whaling Museum in July, where it will remain until November 3, 2009.

 A nearly identical chair with Chase’s brand is in the collection at Colonial Williamsburg.  Other type Windsor’s are also known with his brand.  Charles Chase was a house joiner and chairmaker in Nantucket, active between 1780 and 1820.

The NFB chair, also known as a High Fan-Back Arm Chair, is the period chairmaker’s tour de force. You will find one gracing the cover of Nancy Goyne Evans’ tome “American Windsor Chairs.”  They are highly sought after by collectors and bring consistently high prices at auction, owing to their beauty, comfort and scarcity. Design elements include a large seat, turned stiles and arm supports, bracing spindles with joined tailpiece, carved knuckles, and volute-carved ears on a steam-bent crest.

The design for the NFB came originally from Philadelphia, where chairmaker’s for decades had been making a High-Back Arm Chair, based on earlier English designs, known at TWI as a Philadelphia High Back. Owing to the extensive sea trade between the Quaker port communities of Philadelphia, New Bedford, and Nantucket, it is no surprise that these chairs were exported to New England. Philadelphia chairs have been found on Nantucket with long histories of island ownership.

In the Fan Back Arm Chair, the arm bow of the earlier chair was eliminated and structurally replaced by two stiles. The sawn arms are attached to these stiles at mid-length, while the crest is secured at the top. This change eliminated the need for a long steam-bent arm bow and resulted in a more comfortable chair, provided with an array of flexible spindles cradling the sitter’s back. The addition of two bracing spindles allowed the chairmaker to increase the slope of the back, further increasing comfort. These were clearly designed as easy chairs for relaxing or reading versus the more upright and/or armless chairs used for working, dining and/or garden seating.

One of the most interesting design developments in the NFB over the Philadelphia chair is in the seat. The seats on the Philadelphia chairs were smaller and more round in shape with an integral coffin-shaped tailpiece to support the bracing spindles.  Typically the grain is diagonal on these poplar seats. By laying the seats out in this fashion, the chair would benefit from the strength of front to-back grain in the tailpiece with less waste using a narrower board.

Nantucket-made chairs feature a larger oval-shaped pine seat with the grain running side-to-side. A tailpiece with grain perpendicular to the seat is joined with a substantial pinned mortise and tenon joint. This method of joinery was a significant development in the Nantucket chair, as it allowed for a larger seat utilizing 16-inch instead of 22-inch wide boards. Even in the eighteenth century, clear, 2-inch thick, wide pine was scarce and costly, particularly on an island 28 miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. Indigenous original growth forest timbers had been long felled by this time. It is likely that Charles Chase’s training as a house joiner was the source of this timber-framing joint in his chair. Other island makers soon followed his lead.

Last winter, I was commissioned by the Nantucket Historical Association to reproduce a pair of chairs from one in their collection, made originally on Nantucket by Frederick Slade about 1799.  This chair differs from others of this type in that it has more cylindrical-shaped stiles, separated by a series of rings above and below the arms, a larger crest, and very unique carved knuckles on the arms. It is also more upright than most other examples of this type.

Just recently I was asked by Winterthur to reproduce one of the Philadelphia High-Back Arm Chairs in the their collection that is most closely related to the Nantucket examples. I look forward to measuring an photographing this chair to compare it to the Nantucket example with which I am familiar.

I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to measure and reproduce magnificent examples of a single form of chair and to understand the regional characteristics and differences among makers within a region.

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I know. I know.  I have been remiss in keeping up with this blog. I’m pretty excited about the reason why. I have been working on a couple of articles for Popular Woodworking. I can’t tell you the topics. You may have noticed that after an article by me appears in that magazine, the other woodworking mags have someone else write the same article for them.

I take imitation as a form of flattery. However, I cannot allow myself to be preempted. So, I can only advise you to subscribe to Pop Wood and wait. You will not be disappointed. 

I am very excited about one of the topics as it is unplowed ground. I don’t think anyone has written about it previously. I can only give you a hint. It is an area pioneered by us Windsor chairmakers. In sharing our efforts with the rest of the woodworking world, I make sure they know that we deserve the credit.

 It is a major article. There’s a lot to say. I’m closing in on the end of it, and am enjoying every minute. This is one of the things I love about Pop Wood. They are willing to take chances and they give me a long leash. It is such a contrast to my experiences with the magazine that thinks it is finer. There, every idea I had was shot down. The mag is hide bound by a formula andthe editors would never let me step outside that formula’s strict boundaries. 

I like being free of that formula. I like writing about a wide range of topics. If you don’t subscribe to Pop Wood, you are missing the most exciting magazine out there.

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Those of you who subscribe to my monthly newsletter saw the Tanzania chairmaking postage stamp in June and the only American stamp with a Windsor chair this month. Those two newsletters triggered a report from Sir Jim Janicki about the little known Shaker chairmaker stamp.  

Sir Jim writes, “Once upon a time, the post office did issue a Shaker chairmaker stamp. It was rather short lived, though. Lots of people couldn’t get the thing to stick. A month long, $1.73 million study revealed that most people were spitting on the wrong side.”

 * * * *

 A Windsor chairmaker walked into a Chinese curio shop in San Francisco. While looking around at the exotic merchandise, he noticed a very lifelike, life-sized, bronze statue of a rat. It had no price tag, but was so incredibly striking the chairmaker decided he must have it. He took it to the old shop owner and asked, “How much for the bronze rat?”           

“Ahhh, you have chosen wisely! It is $12 for the rat, $100 for the story,” said the wise old man. The Windsor chairmaker quickly pulled out twelve dollars. “I’ll just take the rat, you can keep the story.”

As he walked down the street carrying his bronze rat, the Windsor chairmaker noticed that a few real rats had crawled out of the alleys and sewers and had begun following him down the street. This was a bit disconcerting so he began walking faster.

A couple blocks later he looked behind him and saw to his horror the herd of rats behind him had grown to hundreds, and they began squealing.

Sweating now, the Windsor chairmaker began to trot toward the Bay. Again, after a couple blocks, he looked around only to discover that the rats now numbered in the MILLIONS, and were squealing and coming toward him faster and faster.

Terrified, Windsor chairmaker ran to the edge of the Bay and threw the bronze rat into the water as far out as he could.

Amazingly, the millions of rats all jumped into the Bay after the bronze rat, and were all drowned.

 The man walked back to the curio shop. “Ahhh,” said the owner, “You have come back for story?

“No sir,” said the man, “I came back to see if you have a bronze Shaker chairmaker.”

 * * * *

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Several readers asked questions about our splitting parties. Some were curious as to why we do not rive stock all the way to chair parts. Others asked why we do not have the students do the riving. There is one very important reason – waste. Waste of wood, waste of time, and waste of energy.

When I first started teaching in 1980 I began each class with a whole log. I split the log with a maul and wedges while the class watched how it was done. I split it down small enough to then rive with a hatchet and froe. The work was back breaking. That was okay when I was young and full of energy. As I got older, splitting up a log exhausted me before I even began to teach chairmaking. It was like running a 5K race and then beginning to teach while still sweating and out of breath.

When I was done with the demonstration it was the classes’ turn to make its pieces. When the class began to rive they ruined the entire log. The ground was littered with wasted wood. The pieces were all partially split, but the splits had run out, ruining both sides. Why so much waste? Riving is a hard-to-learn skill. A group of people doing it for the first time are not going to have much success.

Students frustrated by the failed attemtps at riving students began making chair parts from hunks of oak the sixe of 2 X 4s. So, what did not end up on the ground as waste, ended up on the shop floor as waste. To top it off, students exhausted themselves making thin chair parts from huge pieces of stock. The class was soon as exhausted as I was. To top it off, making parts from grossly oversized pieces wasted huge amounts of class time that could be better used teaching chairmaking.

The way we process chair stock now results in no waste. The only wood that does not end up being made into chair backs is the bark and areas of the log that are flawed. Flawed wood has knots, crazy grain, or some other blemish. One hundred percent of the good wood is used.     

By processing the wood in advance, we are able to begin Monday morning teaching chairmaking. Of course we explain to the class how we got the oak blanks to this stage. However, we are able to explain the process by drawing pictures and describing what we do rather than exhausting ourselves.

Our splitting parties are very productive. Four of us can process the wood for many classes in a single day. We also process the wood we sell and ship all over the country. Anyone who has studied here has seen the freezer in the catalog building. We open the top and show off a six foot freezer full of frozen chair parts.

A bit of trivia about riving. Like shrive, shriven; and swived, swiven; rived, riven are both acceptable past participles.  Also, the word Reeve like in the Reeve’s Tale by Chaucer comes from the once common process of riving stock.

* * * *

A Windsor chairmaker suffered a massive heart attack. The family drove wildly to get him to the emergency room. After what seemed like a very long wait, the E.R. Doctor appeared, wearing his scrubs and a long face. Sadly, he said, ‘I’m afraid he is brain-dead, but his heart is still beating.’

Oh, Dear God,’ cried his wife, her hands clasped against her cheeks with shock !!! “He’s become a Shaker chairmaker.”

* * * *

The Shaker chairmaking business was quite slow. A Shaker chairmaker had to earn some more money. He decided hire himself out as a “handyman” and started canvassing a nearby well-to-do neighborhood. He went to the front door of the first house, and asked the owner if he had any odd jobs for him to do.

“Well, I guess I could use somebody to paint my porch,” the home owner said, “How much will you charge me?”

Delighted, the Shaker chairmaker quickly responded, “How about $50?”

The man agreed and told the Shaker chairmaker that the paint brushes and everything he would need were in the garage. The man’s wife, hearing the conversation said to her husband, “Does he realize that our porch goes ALL the way around the house?”

Later that day, the Shaker chairmaker came to the door to collect his money.

“You’re finished already?” the startled husband asked.

 ”Yes, the Shaker chairmaker replied, and I even had paint left over, so I gave it two coats.”

 Impressed, the man reached into his pocket for the $50.00 and handed it to him along with a $10.00 tip. 

“And by the way, “the Shaker chairmaker added, “it’s not a Porch, it’s a Lexus.”

* * * *

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            Is there a woodworker on the planet who does not yet know that Sam Maloof died last month? Every major newspaper and woodworking magazine has or will, run an obituary. They will list his countless accomplishments and make note of his indelible stamp on 20^th and 21^st century woodworking. They will do so in far more detail than I can. So, in Sam’s memory I decided to do something only I can do. That is to tell you my Sam Maloof story. I think it will illustrate how kind and thoughtful he was.

            The incident occurred during the mid 1980s.  I was a seminar speaker for the Woodworking Show out of Los Angeles. I was trying to build up my name recognition among woodworkers. I traveled all over the country. If the show was in a city I flew in too. I spoke a couple of times each day.  Then, I jumped on a plane and flew home. I was on the road 25% of the year. I was a young guy and I was paying my dues.

            My experience occurred at a show in California. After breakfast I went to my room and looked at the show brochure to see what topic I was speaking on that morning. I walked about a quarter mile from the hotel to the convention center with the appropriate carousel of slides under my arm.  When I arrived I read on the easel outside the conference room door that I was speaking on a different topic.  

            Panic set in. If the poster on the easel was correct, I would have to run back to the hotel to get the other carousel. Then, I would have to run back to the conference center. I needed to know what was up.  I found some people from the show staff.  They went in search of the manager. Meanwhile, people began to show up for my lecture. They saw the sign and were confused.  They joined the group asking the same question I had. What was the topic?  The group grew into a small crowd.

            It was chaos with me at the center. Everyone was talking and adding their two cents. Then, like a scene out of a movie my eye focused on  an out stretched hand that had reached over the shoulders of the people standing in front of me. I looked up and immediately recognized the face. Like in the movie, the sound stopped.  The scene went silent. Then it went into  slow motion as I reached out to shake the hand that was being offered to me.

            The owner of the hand said, “Mike Dunbar.  My name is Sam Maloof.  I’m a fan of yours.”  That was it. No more. He modestly left. He left behind a young man glowing from head to toe.

            I don’t remember what happened after that. I don’t remember if I had brought the right box of slides or not. Nothing else that happened during that show mattered and has all evaporated from my memory.  Sam Maloof had gone out of his way to speak to me. He had no need to be so gracious.  He was already at the pinnacle. He was already a giant and a legend. However, he stooped to say something really nice to a guy who was struggling to make a name. When I remember the story I always think, he didn’t have to do that. No one would think any more or less of Sam Maloof if he had simply walked by that crowd. There was nothing in it for him. He did it because he was kind and gracious.  The world was a better place with him in it.

* * * *

I heard from Ron Tatman who is still in Iraq. If you think we’ve had a few hot days this year, read this, written on May 19:  “The trees here have bloomed with much fragrance. With almost no rain and such high temperatures it is amazing that a tree can survive without irrigation. All of the trees were planted when Saddam built his palaces and dug the ponds. There was irrigation when the trees were planted and relics of piping and broken pumps remain.

“The main species are the palm trees which yield a date-like fruit; a tree that looks like a locust or mesquite; a type of citrus; and some pine trees which grow close to the ponds. The roots must be large and run deep. Temperatures have already hit 100. The Chaplin said that it is no wonder that Abraham left searching for a better land.

 “In addition to the high temperatures I am sure that you have seen the news reports of the killings at Camp Liberty. It is only about 3 miles from here. We have been fortunate that there have not been more problems due to the multiple deployments. Many soldiers have family problems resulting from regular deployments and some have resorted to suicide. So far I am thankful that our unit has fared well and hopefully will continue to stay together until the 20 Sept departure date. 

“To  stay sane I am still carving, lifting weights, running or walking in the mornings and even teaching others to carve. There has been a lot of  time to ponder future projects such as the chairs that I would like to build. I have missed out on the Sept. 21 rocking chair class, as I will not return in time.”

* * * *

H. G. Ralph Quick and his wife Caron run a very successful chairmaking business.  One reason for their success is their mastery of publicity. Hardly a month goes by without them getting a hit in another publication. This time, it was Missouri Life Magazine.

It was a great piece and was accompanied by a color photo of Caron and Ralph. The photographer had the presence of mind to put the very attractive Caron in the foreground and His not so attractive Grace way, way, way in the back.  It makes for a much nicer picture.

* * * *

You owe your thanks to Sir Jim Janicki for the following joke:  “A Windsor chairmaker was scheduled to make an important presentation at a prestigious woodworking school located in a crowded city. He was running late and was unable to find a parking spot. He glanced up to the heavens and whispered, “If you open-up a parking spot, I’ll quit drinking. I’ll stop all my carousing. I’ll go to church every Sunday for the rest of my life.”

Miraculously, a spot opened up. The  chairmaker looked up again, and said aloud, “Never mind, I just found one!”

* * * *

To receive my eNewsletter of periodic updates, tips, tool reviews, and new sources, that are in addition to this blog, join our mailing list by emailing me at mike@thewindsorinstitute.com Help us spread the word about this blog. Tell others.