Empty Nest...soon

I've been finishing up these three little youth chairs lately. They have a presence that's hard to ignore, something about the fine details and scale makes them stand out. Soon they'll all be gone, and as much as I look forward to the extra space in the shop and less risk of damaging finished pieces while working, I"ll miss em.

I've been posting pics to instagram for a while, frankly it's much more of a hit and run easy way to post, but I just got a new laptop, so here I am in the shop, sitting in my new rocker typing away, hopefully the ease will help get me back in the blog game. Here are the ears before and after burnishing and oiling.

 Besides lots of chairs, I've been working on making a shop dog of Kobe. He's no scruffy shop dog, but as long as I keep a space heater on him and give him a bed, he's good company.
I'll be teaching in a couple of weeks at North Bennet Street, so you can see the mess I'm making doing the turnings.

We've added a class in August, which is my last one this year. I"ll spend the fall at Suny Purchase on an artist residency. This summer I'll be teaching for the first time at Lie Nielsen and shooting a video to boot. If you are going to their open house, I'll see you there!

Getting a Jump on 2015

I hope that you had a great holiday season and are as ready as I am to embrace a new year. I am sending off the last of my images for the book tomorrow and Chris and Linda at Lost Art Press are working hard on getting it all put together. I'm thrilled to see it all coming together and look forward to starting this year with such a big project off my roster.

With that in mind, here is my teaching schedule as it stands now. There won't be a lot of classes for me this year, frankly, I feel like I've kinda earned a break. But, I am excited for the classes that I am teaching so here are the details. You can contact me at peter@petergalbertchairmaker.com or 978-563-1425 to register or if you have any questions.

Early March (exact date to be set) THIS CLASS IS FULL
Balloon Back side chair

3 student class taught at my shop in Sterling
6 day class, tuition $1400
Don't be fooled by the simple looking side chair, it has plenty to challenge new and even seasoned makers looking to raise their skill level. I have taught this class a number of times recently and am convinced that the students learn more, make a better chair and have more fun doing it rather than tackling an armchair. For a 6 day class, armchairs are alright, but the extra time producing twice as many spindles eats into the time for indepth instruction and skill building
All classes that I host require a $250 deposit to hold the spot. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the classes.


I'm very excited to team up with Caleb who will be hosting this class and hopefully many others in the future. I will be teaching the class with the help of Charlie Ryland who has been helping me in the shop and teaching with me for the last year.

May 4th in Greenville, SC at the shop of Caleb James This Class is Full!
Balloon Back Side Chair
6 students/ 6 day class, tuition $1300

I will be back at the Port Townsend School of Woodworking June 15th for a class building the Balloon Back side chair. You can find more info on their website.

I will also be teaching more in house classes at the North Bennet Street School, The Sapfm in Ohio and a series of classes down under in Australia. I might schedule more as the year marches on, but as I said, a little breathing room, and chairmaking/ blogging time seems like just the thing for 2015!

Simpler Sighting

I just finished teaching the continuous arm class at Highland in Atlanta and as usual, the cauldron of the classroom helped with the evolution of technique.

Chair started popping up everywhere on the last day!

 But first, here is a cool photo that Seth Weizenecker took of one of the students.

Seth was indispensable helping me teach this class and now I am recharging at his home in Asheville before our class next week. I'm told that there is still one opening if anyone wants to jump on it, it will be a load of fun. Contact Bill Palmer at herebrooks@aol.com if you want more info.


Watching students work through the process is always fascinating and gives me a chance to rethink or retool to make it simpler. This isn't a dumbing down, it's about expanding what is obvious to me so that I can bring folks onboard. Evaluating the results while reaming is one of the most important jobs in making chairs this way. The trouble is that I have to describe not only what I do, but what I see. During this last class, I thought about the bevel square that I use to sight whether the reamer is at the correct angle and realized that it might be made easier with a very simple tweak.

Here is the bevel square retrofit with a nice wide blade so that you can easily sight down the flat plane. And by cutting out one side of the bevel square base, it's easy to see the alignment line when looking over the top of the blade. The photo below shows looking over the top of the bevel square a bit too far.

Looking over the top at the wide flat face of the bevel square

Here is the correct alignment for assessing the position of the reamer. The arrow on the square touching the line makes seeing, and thankfully teaching, the correct alignment easier.

Lining up the face (and arrow) with the base line shows that the reamer is too far forward

 It's a little thing, but Seth and I saw a marked difference in the ease with which it helped the students "get it", and that's enough for me. I will be refitting all of my square, that I use in the shop, and to teach.

The side view of the set up

As usual, thanks to my friends at Highland for all their help, especially Ed Scent, who makes it all happen.

Nice to Meet You

Since I moved to Sterling, Massachusetts, I've been swamped with projects and traveling and had little time to get to know my community or let them know me. That changed when I talked to Dave Gibbs at the Sterling Historical Society about combining our efforts and interests. The Society has a lovely collection of Windsors that were made here in town as well as a barn full of the old tools from its workshops. The first floor of the barn is relatively empty, and I thought it would be a great location to host some 6 person classes. So, next summer, I hope to schedule three classes there, but I'll post more on that once we work out the details.
To help introduce me to the community, the Sterling Historical Society hosted a demonstration at the local American Legion post and Ross Jones of Harvard Video Productions filmed it for us. Here is the video of the demonstration.
If it doesn't appear on your screen, click here to go to the original site.



As you can see, I am elated to be starting this project. I think 6 is a great number of students for a class. Plenty enough for a group energy and atmosphere but few enough for lots of personal attention.

And if I got you interested in my talk with Dudley Hershbach, here is a great interview with him that I found every bit as engaging as sitting next to him on the plane.



and once again, the link if you don't see the video here.

Distressing, the Easy Way

Last thanksgiving I gave a chair to one of my favorite people. She was 4 1/2 at the time. She is the child of one of my oldest friends and I thought that she might like to sit at the same height as the everyone else at the table.

Keep in mind that this was less than a year ago. When I went to their house for dinner last night, I was thrilled to see that she has obviously sat in the chair A LOT. When I saw it, I filled with joy.

I've got chairs that have been in service for a decade and don't show this much use!

We did some forensic research and it became clear rather quickly that a squirmy 5 year old rubs their head on the bow just right to wear the paint right off. I wonder how many wriggling 5 year olds it would take to make the Grand Canyon? From this impressive effort, not as many as you might think.

Rubbing through the paint in a few spots is normal when burnishing and oiling a chair and I think that we all consider how "natural" the wear should look. Look no further, find yourself a willing 5 year old and you'll get the real thing.

One Last Shot

There is one opening left for the class that I am teaching at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking beginning this Friday. I am excited because we are trying a new format. The class is being broken into two sessions of three days a piece. This will allow the students to finish some of the parts at home which will take some pressure off of the class and give us a chance to rest. If most of my teaching didn't involve long distance travel, I would probably do all of my classes this way. As I said, there is still one opening, I hope to see you there.

Here is a prototype for a Birdcage rocker that I am developing. I has always loved this style and am having a ball making it with all of the techniques and design ideas that I've been playing with for the past few years.

I went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston a week or so ago and saw an amazing Samuria exhibit. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a couple of distinct quirks. I wake up every night for a couple of hours in the middle of the night and I generally use the time to memorize every moment of Akira Kurasawa films, especially the Samurai genre.
I have always admired the Black lacquer of the Japanese, but felt the application would be a pain on my chairs. I decided to paint this chair a solid black, which strangely enough, I don't think that I've ever done before. Coupled with the shellac that I have been using these days, the black milk paint finish gives a nice nod to the Japanese lacquer finish and goes well with the Asian influence of the style.

I used a goldenrod undercoat and cream in the v notches.

I've got another decorative addition, but I'm not quite ready to share!

Dialing it In

I successfully used the new rocker routing fixture to cut the slots in the walnut chair that I am finishing up.

I suppose that a quick word is in order about my reasons for going to the trouble of building this tool. While I enjoy doing many things with hands tools, because they give me lots of control, freedom and results that machines can't match, when it comes to rockers, I have a different priority.
Designing and building rockers is a process full of variables. To rock successfully, rockers must be oriented to each other and the chair correctly. Any variation in the process of cutting the slots and fitting the rockers can make it difficult to refine the design. Also, the references used to locate the slots can greatly affect the consistency from chair to chair.
What this fixture does, is create repeatable and consistent rocker slots based on references that allow me to focus on the other variables that go into making a rocker.  For me, nailing down the relationship between the seat and the rockers is the next step towards a deeper understanding and freedom in rocking chair design.

I am going to show some photos here, and hopefully you can see that while it has some adjustable parts, the fixture is simple and does a simple job. The photo below shows one the primary advantages of the fixture, which is that the two platforms are automatically parallel to each other which insures that the slots are as well.

Here are the slots already routed. The straight edge lies dead flat against the inside of the slot on both legs.

 Another variable that the fixture addresses is the different splay of the legs. You can see this in the photo below if you look closely.

The slot on the leg in the foreground is slightly tilted off the axis of the leg. You can especially notice this if you compare the half circle shaped material remaining at the bottom of the leg. The slot in the leg in the background does the same thing, but in the opposite direction. The reason for this is that the slots must be oriented to split the difference between the splay of the front and rear legs.
Most importantly, the slot is in the center of each leg at the deepest point, for strength. The jig does this automatically. I'll explain how it does this later, but for now, I just want to point out the variables.

The process follows these steps.
First, I measure the splay of the front and rear legs, in this case 13 degrees for the front and 19 for the rear, which gives me an average of 16 degrees. I pivot the central panel to 16 degrees, push the chair up against the jig and position the two platforms. Then I route the slots.
Next, I swing the pivoting panel the opposite direction (16 degrees again), with the platforms still fixed, reposition the chair, and route the other legs.
Using the fixture was a breeze and so many of the troublesome layout and fitting issues that I've always encountered were either eliminated or greatly simplified.

Above, you can see how I measure the slot angles to transfer to my rocker pattern. If all is right, there is no fiddling around or fitting and I can repeat the results on the next chair. I will be shooting video of the process, but I think that introducing the variable over a few posts might make it all more understandable.

A Lesson from Our Flat Friends

I finally got around to completing my glueless continuous arm. I must say, assembly without glue is rather painless. Building the chair wasn't wildly different from my normal procedure, but it did shift my awareness about the joinery and push me to think a bit differently.

With most through tenons, such as the spindles, it's easy enough to slightly shoulder the tenon so that the arm can't slide down any further and then to oval the mortise at exit so that the wedge distorts the tenon and locks it in place. It's a version of the hammer eye joint, with it's hourglass shape that holds hammer heads in on their handles.
Tapered tenons, such as on the ends of the legs don't present a problem because the weight of the sitter in use keeps them tight. But the tapers at the top and bottom of the armposts have more complex stresses and the glueless chair got me to thinking about my approach to them.

http://www.woodworkings.ca/HandWork/Mortise-and-tenon-Joints.html

This is where our flat friends come in. When wedging a rectangular tenon in a through mortise, the practice is to flare the mortise and use 2 wedges close to the edges of the tenon to distort the tenon to fill the flare.

 The usual approach when making a chair is to use a single wedge in the middle, which adds pressure to the fit of the joint, but doesn't create a distinct flare, at least not enough to create a "lock".
So with my glueless chair, I flared the opening where the tenon comes out of the mortise to create the hourglass shape and used two wedges to lock it in place.

You can see here that the tenon, although tapered, easily flared outward to create a "lock"
Here is the top after cutting the tenon flush.

I must say, even though time will be the real judge, I have a lot of confidence that this joint ain't goin nowhere. As I move on into glued chairs, I am definitely taking some lessons learned making this one, now where's that blue paint?

If you'd like to spend a couple of days with me on March 9th and 10th while I demonstrate building this chair, check out the website at the Connecticut Valley School of Woodworking for details.

Here is a pic of Nick Clayton with his recently completed comb back. Nick lives nearby and was able to come to class periodically over a couple of months.

 I think that the quality of the chair benefited from the extra time and relaxed approach we took. Either that or the kid's a natural! It's one of the nicest comb backs I've seen, well done Nick.

Deep Breaths

Fall is here, the leaves are everywhere and the smell of the first fires fills the air. I am loving the transition. I've been plotting and planning to wrap up my responsibilities so that I can spend my time working on my book. Hopefully about this time next year, I am going to be publishing my first book with Lost Art Press. I am writing and illustrating the book which will be a foundation book on chairmaking. This project began years ago, in collaboration with Curtis Buchanan, and has stalled and revved multiple times. Finally, Curtis and I decided to pursue separate projects (you have seen his videos, right!?) and with our different approaches to chair making and communication, I think that we both stand a better chance of seeing the projects through to completion.

So, with lots of text left to write and drawings to produce, I've got my plate full. The only tough part is of course the pull of the workshop at the other end of the house. I've been satisfying my shop needs by finishing the walnut chair that I posted about. With each coat, I see new possibilities for future work.

I am enjoying the gouge marks more than I had expected.

 And this stile to crest joint has me thinking about a dining chair that I've had in mind.

I had to shake it out of my skull and into wood so that I could get back to the computer.

Later today, Jon Binzen, from Fine Woodworking, is coming by to finish up some details for the back cover that they are doing about my shop for the Tools and Shops issue that is coming out in a few weeks. I am very excited to be featured. Jon is a pleasure to work with and always makes me feel like I am far more interesting than I deserve, talk about skill!

In the Cycle

Every year, summer promises to be a relaxing series of lazy days, and of course every year, I pack more into each day than is reasonable. There is just so much to do. Between gardening, building projects, firewood prep (winter is always just around the corner) and of course, chair work, there doesn't seem to be enough hours. These days, the shop is a hotbed of activity. After a decision last year to free the shop from orders to allow time for new designs, I am enjoying the process of realizing new pieces. I've had fun trying out some new geometry and thanks to months of development, I am having no problem creating techniques to make it happen. I've been spending a lot of time gathering ideas and influences from the world around me and trying to stretch my comfort both visually and technically.

Here is a rough mock up of the rocker that I am making. I hope to have it finished for a show that I'll be in next weekend. After the show, I will return to my timberframe shed series.




I have been using some interesting data from the Humanscale 1/2/3 book (which is out of print and impossible to find, so let me know if you have one sitting on the shelf!). The few pages that I've seen have been very interesting and in putting the data to the test, I think that I've made my most comfortable rocker to date.



Since leaving city life behind eight years ago, I have become more attuned to the cycles happening all around me. The may be seasonal, natural or of my own making, but whichever, I am increasingly fascinated. Something feels very right when disparate activities feed into each other. Today, I took notice as I was carving a pine seat. I start with my air dried planks. I cut around the knots to get seat blanks, the knotty sections become bending forms. While carving, I set the shavings aside to use for bedding for my chickens, which someday will fertilize and mulch my garden. The larger pieces cut away with the bandsaw (more sawdust mulch) will burn in my syrup rig in the spring (hot quick fires work best). Beyond the potential of recycling and being a more responsible consumer, the real joy of this cycle is the labor saving. Now that I am immersed in the country, everywhere that I look seems to offer an opportunity. I used to wonder how folks used to live without modern conveniences, perhaps my interest in handtools originated in this curiosity. As I give into my interests and let them expand beyond woodworking, I have a real sense of belonging.

Language

Here is the progress on the bar chair, yes, bar chair. I've resolved the issue of the height of the back by denoting that this is not a stool. I think that there are good points on both sides of the fence for making the back taller or shorter, I guess the aesthetics take over for me. Also, by ensuring that the legs are spread enough and the back is correctly shaped, it is comfortable and can't tip back (or feel like it could).



But this isn't the language that I am talking about. The language is Windsor. The thing that first drew me to Windsor chairs was the technology, then came the use of form and line and finally, the aesthetics sunk in. Over the years, making one chair over and over has given way to pushing this language of woodworking in directions that interest me. I have obviously been pursuing the rodback form and now it is moving into the curved settee that is in rough form in the image below. So much of the technique that I've developed in the side, arm and bar chairs is translating, with a few twists (or curves). I've always wanted to make a curved settee as a means of making a large piece without the park bench middle. I have already come across some new challenges and interesting visual differences as the curves make their way across the piece.



I am working on a bit of a deadline to finish this piece for a show in June (photos in May!) so I'd better turn off this computer and get to the shop.

Getting Straight

It's official, the holidays are over. Like most folks, by the end of the season, I am ready to return to normal life, normal eating and yes, normal work. The reentry into full production can feel awkward, with many fits and starts. I felt lucky today to be able to sit down for a while and just shave some spindles. It was just the kind of quiet time that I needed to feel back in the swing.
The set of spindles, for a comb back rocker, turned out to have quite a life of their own once they went in the kiln. As you can see, they dried in a variety of bends and curls. I thought it would be fun to show what a little time with the heat gun can do.



Here is the result of carefully and slowly heating the spindles while applying pressure to straighten them.



The best way to learn this technique is through trial and error (scorching or breaking!). The idea is to heat the area slowly, imagine trying to heat the piece all the way through, not just getting the surface hot. Then hold with the proper amount of pressure until the piece cools a bit. I always try to err on the side of too little heat and make up the difference with pressure. Remember that the heat can weaken the wood if applied radically.

Often I will put pressure on the piece first and then apply the heat. I can actually feel the resistance to the bend relax as the heat penetrates. Luckily, most spindles don't distort so much in the drying process, but when they do, I must admit taking more than a little pleasure seeing them fall in line.

On Process

The photo above shows the evolution of a spindle from a rough split to a (partially) rounded piece. The process begins with a drawknife, which follows the fibers and creates the shape before finishing with a spokeshave. This is vital to preserving the strength of the piece, but there is more to making good spindles. Developing a process and using your eyes to judge when you've arrived at each stage will create suprising results.
Imagine sitting down to make a set of spindles, picking up the first and completing it, then moving through the rest and completing each one as you go. How similar is the first one to the last? I have found that by working all of my spindles through each stage, before moving onto the next stage dramatically improves my consistency and speed. By focusing on a single task, such as squaring all of the splits, I can set very clear goals of quality and observation that improve as I move through the set. When I move onto the next stage, the order of the spindles will be shuffled and I will see them with fresh eyes. With this exagerrated focus on each stage, I give my sense of judgement a chance to develop.
Your eyes are powerful measuring tools, but only if you are asking very pointed questions. Is it square? Is one side thicker than the other? Does the piece taper evenly? By creating a set process and following it, you can pose the questions that will guide your eyes.
One of the observations that I've made and incorporated into my process, is the relative ease of sizing the spindle while octagonal in cross section versus round. A rounded spindle (actually having too many facets to count easily) is difficult to adjust and takes very careful observation and shaving. This excess time consumption has led me to leave the spindle as an octagon as long as possible, all the way through the drying process and beyond. When the octagonal spindle comes out of the kiln, it is a simple thing to shave the facets, which have shrunk unevenly, to a uniform octagon again. It is also easy to size the tenon ends by measuring from one facet to the opposing facet. After it has been shaved to shape and size, I can round it by shaving the corners of the facets and know that the spindle is near complete. This may seem insignifigant, but it is a real time saver and produces very uniform spindles. Most of chairmaking can be broken down this way, into a series of clearly defined goals. Once you have them in place, you really can just sit back and watch!

More Seat Talk

I thought I'd touch on a few more seat carving notions. The first image shows how far I carve the seat with the adze, using the technique that I describe in the earlier posting. You'll probably notice that the holes for the legs are already drilled, and reamed for that matter. I know this is a minor chairmaking controversy but I can say that I've never dropped my adze down the holes, not once! I do actually have my reasons for proceeding in this order. When in the whole of woodworking, do we ever eradicate our reference face, and then measure off of it. By drilling into a flat surface, I ensure that my drilling is accurate and simple. The idea that the holes will interfere with the carving has never been my experience. The only time that I could see this happening is if you are using a travisher or inshave that has such an extreme sweep (far more than needed and regrettably what is most often manufactured) that it can actually be affected by the holes. This is another of my reasons for using a flatter radius on my seat carving implements.
The second photo is proof in the pudding. It shows the seat after using the inshave and travisher. I wait to scrape the seat until after the legs are in it. The whole arguement of drilling first or not is really quite unimportant, either way, four legs WILL hit the floor! Much more important is to push yourself to ask the tool in your hand to leave a better shape and surface. It is the key to gaining speed in the process. Just remember, learn to do it right, then learn to do it fast.

New student, New Chair

This week I'll be working with a new student, Gerry Moss. Gerry has asked me to also make a chair for him so he'll go home with a pair. What you see here is a sackback with a combback crest. I designed the crest last week, it took two versions until I was happy with it. The first was a bit too small, I think that the key to this chair is making the crest on top look integral to the design and not just an add on. As you can see, even though I generally draw new chairs, I will often mock them up to visualize the real deal. Three dimensions always hold big suprises and it's worth working to see it before commiting. I'll post more images of the process as Gerry and I make our way. A special thanx to my pal Rich for letting me use his computer.

Where to Start? Where to Stop?

I had a visit from a young man who is aspiring to be a chairmaker. He was trying to weed his way through all of the information that he's been compiling and figure outwhere he should focus his attention. I have great sympathy for this position, not only have I been there, but it is a place that I find myself in constantly. Where to begin?
In woodworking and with my students I have a simple answer, sharpening. There is a lot of information out there about sharpening, in fact, too much. This is where the question turns from Where to start? to Where to stop?
When is the tool sharp? I have a simple test that I like to use. Any tool that will shave the end grain of a soft pine board and leave a smooth waxy surface is sharp. The soft pine will tear up with anything remotely dull. Why this test? By cutting the pine, versus shaving hair etc.. I can see the condition of the entire edge, not just that it has sharp areas but is completely sharp. To me this is vital because much of the finish surfaces of my work is straight from the blade, no sanding. Also, a sharp tool is a joy to use and in many instances, the only one that works.
When I was trying to figure out Where to start?, I got some woodworking magazines and read that the handplane could take feathery shavings and leave a perfect surface. Great, so I went to the hardware store, bought a plane, went home, assembled it and pushed it across a beautiful piece of cherry. Of course I mangled the surface. My inspiration was as damaged as the cherry. What they don't tell you on the box is that planes, or any handtool, are sold as kits. It is up to you to tune and sharpen the tool. Some expensive tools need very little tuning while cheaper ones may require hours.
I now know that even a screwdriver can take feathery shavings and leave a perfect surface, if it's sharp.
So after watching me work in the shop for a couple of hours, my visitor left with a list of books and the notion that he needs to learn to sharpen. I am adding the list of books to the blog.