Handcrafting a Windsor chair in the traditional method is a labor intensive
task. The short description below will begin to
acquaint you with the chairmaking process. It will, we hope, offer
enough information to help you evaluate construction, and appreciate the
craftsmanship involved.
Start with the log.
The delicacy of handcrafted Windsor chairs is possible
only because the grain runs continuously through the parts. Saws
ignore the grain and tend to cause cross-grained weak spots. A
continuous straight grain can most reliably be achieved by carefully splitting
the wood from a green log. Traditional Windsor chairmakers use oak
or ash for the bent pieces such as the bow-back, and arm rail because of
its ease in bending. The log is split lengthwise with wedges, then
continually split again using a froe to obtain pieces of proper size for
the bent bow (back), arm rail and spindles. The splitting of the wood ensures
that the spindles and other pieces are formed of wood that is very straight
grained, which makes it very strong, and is referred to as riving the
wood. Read a description and images of the importance of
hand crafted techniques.
Images: Splitting ||
Riving
Shaping the wood. The split
wood is shaved to size on a shaving horse or in a vice using
a drawknife before being planed to the sizes needed for the back,
arm rail and spindles. Images
Bending the wood. The back and arm
rail are then placed in a steambox. They may sit in the steambox
for up to an hour to become pliable. Then they are quickly bent (within a
minute) around a wooden form to make the shape for the back bow and arm rail.
Pegs hold the bent rail in place, and a wedge is added to achieve the
proper curvature. The rail then cools on the form
.Images
Shaping the spindles. The spindles
are shaped with a drawknife and spokeshave to the size desired.
The spindles of most handmade Windsor chairs vary slightly in
size and shape because they are shaped using hand tools. Some chairmakers
turn the spindles on a lathe. Whether a spindle is shaped by hand or turned
on a lathe is less important than whether the wood from which it is shaped
was sawn or riven. Riven wood gives the straightness of grain that ensures
strength. Images
Adding the handrest to the arm. A
piece of hardwood is glued to the side of each end of the armrail.
This block of wood will later be shaped in a curvature with a coping
saw or carved into a knuckle (see Chair
Features for illustrations).
Turning the legs, stretchers
& armposts. Straight grained blocks of wood
are turned on the lathe to the desired shape. Traditional Windsor chairs
often use maple or birch wood for these because of its strength.
Traditionally, Windsor chairs may have bamboo style turnings
or more elaborate baluster turnings (see Chair
Features for illustrations).
Images
Shaping the seat. The seat
of the Windsor is made from a slab of wood 2" thick, which is shaped into
an oval (in the case of sack-backs) or a shield shape (for continuous arm
or hoopback chairs). For ease of hollowing and comfort, the seats are
generally made of a softer wood such as poplar or pine. Chairmakers typically
use a gutter adz to remove the bulk of wood. They may then use
a variety of tools to refine the shape of the seat including
inshaves, scorps, travishers (curved spokeshaves), compass
planes and scrapers. Images
Putting it all together. Once
the seat is shaped and smoothed, tapered holes are drilled for the legs.
The legs are placed in these holes and aligned. Then the stretchers are cut
to length and placed between the legs. The legs, which extend through the
seat, are glued and wedged for maximum strength.
Images
The armposts are aligned and similarly set into tapered holes drilled into
the seat. The armpost holes extend through the seat, and are glued
& wedged from beneath. Aligning the armrail, bow and spindles requires
careful calculations and is done by eye. The spindles extend
up through the bow through carefully drilled holes and are also glued
& wedged. Images
Finishing the chair. Once assembled,
the spindle and leg ends are trimmed with a chisel. The rough areas are smoothed
with hand planes, scrapers and /or sandpaper. Many chairs are finished with
milk paint, which is a nontoxic paint that offers similar colors, and a
low luster finish representative of old Windsor chairs. With use, it
forms a nice patina. Some chairmakers will use layers of milk paint of different
colors, so that as the paint wears with age, the underlying color comes through,
giving an antique appearance. Other chairmakers have developed antiquing
processes that give a chair a seasoned look. If painted with milk paint,
a top coat of boiled linseed oil, or polyurethane and/or wax is often used
to give a protective coat. Images
