Nearly all vernacular chairs use straight (not tapered) cylindrical tenons throughout. Before I owned a tapered tenon cutter and reamer, I used a 1”-diameter auger to make the mortise in the seat, and I shaved the tenons on the legs to size with planes. This requires great care. You can greatly speed the process by…
Read moreI haven’t built a four-stick chair for a long time. Not because I don’t like the form, but because I have been focused on chairs from “The Stick Chair Book.” But as I sorted through the load of beautiful bog oak I got from fellow woodworker Andy Brownell, I realized something. I could squeeze two…
Read moreThis cherry six-stick comb-back chair features some new elements that I’ve been experimenting with during the last six months, including hexagonal legs, a mitered arm bow and splayed back sticks. This particular example is set up as a chair for dining or working at a desk, with a fairly upright back at 11° off the…
Read moreOne day in the 1990s, a few of us at Popular Woodworking Magazine were talking to Troy Sexton – one of our contributors – about table saw blades. We asked Troy what blades he liked. “Thin kerf,” he said. “Always thin kerf.” One of the other editors scoffed a bit. “Why would you need a thin-kerf…
Read moreSince the publication of “The Stick Chair Book,” I’ve received many complaints that some of the tools I use in the book are expensive or there is a wait list to receive them. Most notably, the Veritas Tapered Tenon Cutters, Veritas Tapered Reamers (Large) and Veritas Power Tenon Cutters. Also, people gripe about the expense…
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