WINDSOR CHAIR-MAKING for WOODTURNERS Five Instructors David M

FEATURE WINDSOR CHAIR-MAKING FOR WOODTURNERS Five Instructors David M. Fry

t first glance, the familiar Windsor largely from the strength and longev- chair beckons to turners as a ity of parts rived straight from the log, A natural, if ambitious, project in with little grain runout and high resis- furniture building—an elegant array of tance to breakage under load. (Factory flaring spindles elevating a sculpted seat chairs rely on sawn stock more vulner- and curving back rail. The underlying able to fracture.) Consequently, courses reality, however, is more complicated. usually introduce students to greenwood Among hand-built antiques, for example, tools such as maul and splitting wedge, those slender back spindles likely took drawknife, and shave horse (although shape under a drawknife, not a turner’s some makers prefer the bench vise for chisel. And the legs, stretchers, and arm whittling). Other unfamiliar tools may posts were typically turned in small shops include the adze, scorp, and travisher for and woodland huts at a remove from sculpting the seat, and steam box, clamp- the businesses that assembled them. The ing strap, and bending form for shaping late-twentieth-century revival of arti- the back rail. Often the instructor dem- sanal Windsor construction did bring onstrates the use of the tools and builds a turning, bending, carving, and assembly chair alongside students. together under one roof, but teaching of Chair class is not the ideal setting the craft in short courses has often sepa- for hand-duplicating turnings for the Fan back Windsor side chair by Pete rated lathe work from “chair-making” first time. Novices can practice before- Galbert; mixed woods, milk paint, and oil. The simple turnings blend well with once more. Some authorities, including hand on simple leg designs, such as the modern furnishings. modern Windsor pioneer and educator bamboo or double-bobbin form. With Photo: Dana Duke Michael Dunbar, believe that turning these, roughing gouge and parting tool duplicate legs, stretchers, and arm posts is may be sufficient to produce accept- too time-consuming and challenging for able profile fidelity and surface quality, most Windsor chair students. His insti- perhaps with light sanding. Those tute, which runs a school and publishes attracted to fancier baluster shapes need a monthly online newsletter, supplies some command of the detail gouge and course participants with pre-turned parts. skew/bedan. Fortunately for woodturners, a number Students should come mentally pre- of top-tier makers still incorporate hands- pared to grapple with a few mistakes. on turning within their instruction. They It is easy to drill the wrong angle for a manage this by holding small classes, seat socket or miscalculate the length scheduling ample time (six to fourteen of a stretcher. Participants favoring a days), and steering novices toward simple natural finish should keep in mind the chair leg and frame designs. The benefits miraculous power of milk paint to cam- are obvious. Foremost is the opportunity ouflage botched and plugged mortises. for participants to claim ownership of the In the end, students may learn that Brian Cunfer (right) watches a student chair from the floor up. good craftsmanship does not always put the finishing touches on a carefully installed undercarriage. With no 90-degree have to mean perfection. angles in sight, boring seat sockets What to expect in class Following is information on five accurately without a drilling jig requires reference gauges in two planes. The one-off Windsor chair derives its Windsor chair-makers who offer Photo: Courtesy of Brian Cunfer superiority over store-bought models hands-on instruction.

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35_WindsorChair.indd 35 3/10/15 11:57 AM GUDRUN LEITZ // HEREFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND

About 100 miles west of London, benches, tool sets, cleaving brakes, Course details: Gudrun Leitz runs a green-woodwork- and bending equipment. Support Three intensive nine-day classes for up to ing school practicing the 250-year tra- facilities include camping pitches, eight students each during June, July, and ditions of nearby High Wycombe and open A-frames, and a well-run August 2015; beginners through advanced; the Chiltern Hills—hallowed ground kitchen with clay oven, although stu- tuition at £620 ($970) plus £10-60 ($15-$90) for Windsor chair enthusiasts. It was dents may opt for catering and B&Bs for materials; various styles of Windsors; here that village woodturners, or not far away. international students can arrange special “bodgers,” once produced thousands Gudrun’s program is the only one chair shipment with air carriers. Visit of chair parts in forest encampments among those featured here requir- greenwoodwork.co.uk. and shipped them off to assembly ing Windsor chair students to use shops for product completion. At a pole lathe, which improbably Gudrun’s school, students tackle the exploits wood itself, in the form of a entire process and take home a chair resilient cut sapling, to power wood- made completely off grid. turning. A treadle tethered to the Trained and initially employed in work piece and flexed pole initiates fine furniture making, Gudrun even- a reciprocating stroke that propels tually grew alienated from the sounds spindle rotation and recovery. With and space, and even the work, of the interrupted cut, fluency takes a modern shops and decided to pursue little practice. It is safe to say Gudrun her interests in outdoor woodcraft. long ago mastered the technique by Eventually, she and some partners pole-lathing 500 oak balusters for the purchased a deciduous woodland Shakespeare Globe Theater. close to Ledbury, where she has run Before starting, course participants summer courses for the last twenty have an opportunity to select a chair years. In addition to newcomers, style among samples on hand. Some these sessions attract loyal veterans may elect to make a simple dining who, along with staff assistants, help chair, while the more accomplished the struggling. The canopied, open- and determined can look to finish Gudrun Leitz on her sprawling woodland campus with shave horses, pole lathes, drive air site features a generous assortment an arm chair. English Windsor styles frames, and canvas-filtered sunlight. of pole lathes, shaving horses, work can sometimes make the American variety look genteel by featuring more robust spindles and rails, as well as a squarer posture (with less leg rake and splay). Occasionally a wide back splat decorates these heavier frames. The general lines and heft of such chairs may seem rustic to American eyes, but a suite of them produced by a group of Gudrun’s students won acclaim at the fashionable Milan Furniture Fair. Solidity and truth to materials have (Above) Gudrun’s classes typically incorporate a variety their appeal. Although both American of styles based on student preferences and abilities. and English chairs were commonly painted green in the eighteenth (Left) Pole-lathing takes the woodturner’s dance to a new level. Lacking bearings and a hollow, century, English Windsors today tend threaded headstock spindle, this ancient contraption to have a natural or stained finish. nevertheless enabled a bodger to produce up to 144 chair parts a day. Gudrun’s chair-making instruction includes the use of the pole lathe. Photos: Courtesy of Gudrun Leitz

36 American Woodturner April 2015

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DAVID SAWYER // WOODBURY, VERMONT

In the pantheon of American Windsor The course usually begins with Dave’s technical skills are chair-makers, few have exercised as riving an oak log, followed by complemented by his deliberate much influence in recent decades as shaving spindles and bending mindset and deep knowledge of Dave Sawyer, whose students have the back bow from the splits. Leg wood and engineering. Former occasionally risen to the top of the and stretcher turning comes next, student Stephen Long reports that field and become well-known teach- with inexperienced turners pro- his teacher never seemed to be in a ers in their own right. An MIT-trained ducing bamboo-like spindles, and hurry and insisted on sharpening engineer who left a corporate career the more accomplished sometimes tools whenever needed. Not one to behind, Dave has since built more opting for baluster-style legs and hover over course participants, Dave than a thousand chairs. His work posts. Abrasion-resistant maple believes mistakes can always be appears in the Boston Museum of serves as an ideal undercarriage fixed. In addition, he “reads wood Fine Arts and the pages of leading wood. Eastern white pine is the grain as easily as I read a newspaper, woodworking magazines, and his northern wood of choice for easy and he sees subtleties and nuances teaching has left its mark at Colonial seat boring and carving, which in chair design and construction Williamsburg and a number of college normally takes place after turning that only someone with an eye for and independent craft programs. the undercarriage. Careful assem- beauty could see.” Having recently turned over pro- bly, sometimes with the coaxing duction to his family, Dave continues of a mallet, represents the moment Photos: Courtesy of David Sawyer to lead the Windsor Graduate Course of truth after tricky mortise drill- at his home shop, where students ing, bow execution, and spindle can work one-on-one with him dimensioning. At the end, coats Course details: or, as needed, his son George. The of milk paint unify the different Seven-plus days for one (occasionally two) instruction runs seven days or more, woods to create a sculptural sil- students; beginners through advanced; depending on the student’s skills houette. Because of the flexible tuition begins at $1,200 for balloon back and chair style preference. Dave will pace, most students manage to chair (more for arm chairs); various styles of build a similar chair in tandem with complete their chairs or at least a Windsors. Visit sawyermade.com. the student. dry fitting of the finished parts.

Dave Sawyer eyeballs a chair leg angle. A Hand-sculpted knuckle of an arm chair. Baluster-style turnings ready for socket drilling. balloon back side chair nearby awaits finishing. Coarse woods like oak present something of a carving challenge.

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35_WindsorChair.indd 37 3/10/15 11:58 AM PETER GALBERT // STERLING, MASSACHUSETTS

Like many American Windsor builders, videos on YouTube, including many on Caliper, Travisher (a small spokeshave), Pete Galbert lives in the Northeast, where lathe technique. The clips on Windsor and Drawsharp edge restorer. These colonial furniture remains popular. His Chair Leg Turning succinctly capture innovative devices see regular use by impact as an educator, however, extends how to observe and break the rules of other professional builders. far beyond. Teaching now takes up half spindle turning. The educational videos Such a range of accomplishments is his time through one-on-one and three- are complemented by his Chair Notes noteworthy for someone who entered student sessions at his shop, and in larger Blog and the new Chairmaker’s Notebook the field only fifteen years ago. Trained classes across the country. He has served as a (Lost Art Press), with more than 450 of in painting, sculpture, and photogra- guest instructor at Penland, Arrowmont, the his hand-drawn illustrations and com- phy, Pete had developed exhibits for the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, and a plete instructions on building bow back Smithsonian before setting up his own half-dozen other well-known craft schools, and fan back chairs with simple tools. shop in a small New England town. The as well as at individual builders’ shops. Besides chair-making, teaching, and traditional Windsor has since anchored Like his mentor Curtis Buchanan, publishing, Pete designs and markets his production, but his background in Pete has posted some fifty chair-making specialty tools, including the Galbert art and fine craft has also stimulated design variations. Some are occasion- Pete Galbert ally reminiscent of Sam Maloof’s chairs demonstrates drawknife in the use of swept arm rests and crests, technique. flattened back spindles, and hardwood Although it seats. As Pete has refined his forms, he obviously cannot replicate the has also analyzed the building process— lathe’s automatic not just for his own efficiency, but for symmetry, it does not deflect transmission of the craft to others. rubbery back Although Pete teaches turning by spindles and can cut quickly demonstrating on the lathe and oversee- with, rather than ing hands-on student practice, he does across, the grain. not expect them to produce finished Photo: Glen Rundell spindles for their projects. This policy sets him apart from the other instructors profiled here. He does, however, allow participants to turn parts to specifica- tion before they come. He also offers private turning instruction to help get students up to speed for his classes.

Course details: Six days for six students at the shop of Caleb James in Greenville, South Carolina; beginners through advanced; tuition of $1,300 each for balloon back or fan back chair; April 20–25. Six days for three students at Pete’s Sterling shop; beginners through advanced; tuition of $1,500 each for balloon back or fan back chair; flexible start date. Six days of tailored instruction at the Sterling shop for one experienced student; tuition of $1,950 for While sculpting the seat, a student uses a scorp to smooth Student savoring his sack back advanced chair designs; flexible start date; the rough tracks of an adz. with comb. individual turning instruction at $375 per day. Photo: Pete Galbert Photo: Pete Galbert

38 American Woodturner April 2015

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WILLIAM MORRISON // EAST MONTPELIER, VERMONT

Having produced more than 5,000 gained from years of restoration and not only the fortunate, but also legs, stretchers, and arm posts for new production work. wounded veterans, the economi- chairs and innumerable restorations, William’s extensive experience cally challenged, and those with William Morrison has yet to grow working among clients with dis- developmental disabilities. Part of jaded as a woodturner. Use of a dupli- abilities has prompted him to begin the plan is to provide total shop cator has never tempted him, given shifting his production and teach- access that complies with the the satisfaction of shaping crisp, ing business to nonprofit status. Americans with Disabilities Act well-proportioned spindles freehand. His ultimate goal is to establish an (ADA). Adopting the same approach, his stu- educational center for traditional dents can usually turn a decent set of crafts like chair-building that serves Photos: Courtesy of William Morrison bamboo style legs and stretchers for the first time within a few hours. In the early 1990s, William Course details: apprenticed with a master Windsor One or two students, 7–10 days, depending on type of chair and skill level; spring through fall; chair-maker after years of restoring, tuition at $1,500 per person ($2,200 for two) in beginning class on balloon back side chair, designing, and building furniture on $1,600-$1,700 ($2,400-$2,600 for two) in advanced class for sack back or comb back chair with his own. Soon thereafter, he secured carving and advanced turning instruction; sliding scale for economically challenged individuals, an architect’s commission to build with scholarships available for those with developmental disabilities. All materials and tools sixty-five side chairs for a five-star provided. Visit morrisonwindsors.com. inn. Working alone, he completed the task within a year. That job led to other commissions to produce chairs for the architect’s residential clients. Eventually, he developed relation- ships with galleries, interior design- ers, and hundreds of homeowners from San Diego to New England. Along the way, apprentices came on board and students began enrolling in intensive courses to make their own chairs. In addition, William demon- strated the craft annually in historical settings like Canterbury Shaker Village and served as a full-time staff member at Old Sturbridge Village. In (Top left) Functional furniture recent years, he has branched out into as sculpture. boat building and home renovation but has continued making Windsors (Top right) Balloon back Windsor by William Morrison; and leading classes. milk paint and oil. This chair William works and teaches primarily charms through its incisive turnings, deeply contoured out of his Vermont shop on an organic seat, and sinuous, channeled farm. (He also occasionally sees stu- bow. Polished grain in the seat advertises its source. dents at his Cape May, New Jersey, property.) To avoid toxic chemicals, (Bottom right) William Morrison (left) coaches a student turning he uses traditional milk paints and a on a vintage Delta lathe. petroleum-free oil developed by his wife, an herbalist. Course participants can exploit his knowledge of finishing

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35_WindsorChair.indd 39 3/11/15 7:40 AM BRIAN CUNFER // KIRKWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA

Although Brian Cunfer lives only example, the workshop schedule pro- about an hour from Philadelphia, the vides enough time for beginners to historical center of American Windsor turn bamboo or double-bobbin style chair-making, he learned the craft in components. If advanced students the Great Smoky Mountains at the John prefer a different profile, Brian supplies C. Campbell Folk School twenty years a pattern and material to be turned ago and, later, in the shop of master before the workshop. Course projects builder Curtis Buchanan. Now Brian is follow a defined sequence: loop back an instructor himself at the Campbell for first-time students, continuous arm School, as well as a teacher at his own for second-timers, and the double-bow production studio in Lancaster County, sack back for the next step up. Once where he is assisted by an apprentice. veterans have completed a set of four In recent years, a number of honors Windsors, they may be invited to make have come Brian’s way. He was selected a trestle or tavern table for the cost of as one of America’s Best Traditional materials only (no tuition). Craftsmen by Early American Life in both Brian’s shop now has the capacity to 2008 and 2014. In 2009, the Spartanburg accommodate four students at a time. Brian Cunfer and a student examine end-kerfed (South Carolina) Historical Museum He feels that participants who work in back spindles that will be wedged and trimmed engaged him to make two reproduction teams of two retain more information flush. The continuous arm chair’s strong but flexible frame has often been compared to a Windsor chairs. Closer to home, the during the week. If someone would suspension bridge. Lancaster County Planning Commission rather learn one-on-one, such sessions designated him as a Heritage Craftsman, can be arranged for an upcharge. and the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen invited him to lead workshops Photos: Courtesy of Brian Cunfer at its Lancaster headquarters. Brian takes great satisfaction in the David M. Fry turns wood and writes near details of traditional chair-making. Using Washington, D.C. time-tested methods, he splits out and steam-bends chair backs from wet white oak logs and turns legs and arm posts from green sugar maple. Drawknife and spokeshave shape the slender back spindles. An antique tool enthusiast, he flips a switch only for the bandsaw and lathe. Classes are structured according to the skill levels of participants. For

Course details: Five-day workshops for up to four students; May 4–8, Loop Back/Continuous Arm Workshops; July 13–17, Sack Back Workshop; August 17–21, Loop Back/Continuous Arm Workshops; September 21–25, Loop Back/ Sack back rocker with carved knuckles Continuous Arm Workshops; November and ears by Brian Cunfer; milk paint and varnish. A marvel of design and 9–13, Sack Back Workshop; tuition at $1,200 execution, this chair demands that bows for all classes, with individual instruction and crest all line up amicably. by arrangement for an additional fee. Visit pachairmaker.com. Bird cage Windsor by Brian Cunfer; milk paint and varnish. The dark seat channel plays off the faux joints of the bamboo.

40 American Woodturner April 2015

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