Woodcraft Ninjas

I just finished up a stick chair inspired by old Welsh ones I study. This chair’s stretchers are particularly low and oval in cross section. The armbow is rounded throughout (using spokeshaves) and features elliptical coves on the ends of its shoe. Plus the stick arrangement is quite Welsh, with negative space between the short…

One of the gratifying things about teaching others to build stick chairs are the woodworkers who embrace the craft and grow to work at the same level (or even higher) than the teacher. One of those woodworkers is Claire Butler, who lives outside Seattle, Wash. Claire has assisted me in teaching two chair classes during…

In a 1937 Chips from the Chisel column, which is also featured in “Honest Labour: The Charles H. Hayward Years,” Hayward wrote, “The influence of mind upon mind is extraordinary.” The idea being there’s often room for improvement. (You can read the entire column here.) Recently, one of Chris’s chairmaking students, Lo blue, sent us…

This comb-back stick chair is built entirely in American red elm, with the seat, arm and comb made from figured red elm, some of the most difficult wood I have ever saddled. The chair is raked back for lounging, reading or sitting by the fire. The chair’s features heavily shaped arms, tapered octagonal stretchers and…