My Windsor chairs attempt

[Rob Keeble]

Ken is the chair seat all one piece and was it part of the same tree the spindles came from? If its glued up i cannot see the line.

Great progress I bet the edges on those tools dont last too long gouging out that white oak eh?

[ken werner]

Rob, the seat blanks are pine. They are not glued up. I went to my Amish sawyer acquaintance and asked if he could find me a board about 2.25" thick, 20" wide, and 10' long. He did. It was green and roughsawn when I put it up in my attic a year ago, after crosscutting it into suitably long blanks and sealing the ends. After air drying for a year, the moisture content is around 8% or so. Before I start shaping the seat, I flatten one face, then plane the other face parallel to it at 1 7/8" thickness. The pine is nice to work. Many chairmakers glue up the seat blank, but I like making it from a single board, and that's how Elia taught me.

Windsor chairs are typically made of a few different woods. The legs are maple, the spindles and continuous arm is white [or red] oak, or ash, and the seat is a soft wood, usually pine, but could be poplar. The chairs are usually painted, alleviating any funny looking wood combo appearance.

[ken werner]

Better the mind than the butt, which is what you'll have in the gutter once the chair is done.

Vaughn, touche, or should I say tushy?

[Rob Keeble]

Thanks Ken had me fooled. Looking forward to see it all done.

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[ken werner]

Using a drawknife, inshave, spokeshaves, travisher, compass plane, scrapers and a bit of sandpaper, the seat top is just about done. I have to say my little wooden compass plane is a real gem for this work.



Next step is to shape the underside of the seat. Note that the wood to the rear of the deck is still there, gives me something to clamp on to as I work. A holdfast would be nice, but I don't have one, and my bench top configuration isn't suited to one.

[Vaughn McMillan]

That looks like it's going to be real comfy, Ken.

[Bill Satko]

Using a drawknife, inshave, spokeshaves, travisher, compass plane, scrapers and a bit of sandpaper, the seat top is just about done. I have to say my little wooden compass plane is a real gem for this work.

Ken, that does look very comfortable. How about a little closer look at that compass plane when you get a chance? Did you find it out in the wild?

[ken werner]

I don't remember which forum, SMC or woodnet, but someone had it and the travisher for sale. Both made by Crown. The travisher is nice, but tricky to use, I have not yet mastered it. The compass plane is a joy in the hands. It is radiused along both length and width. Just a few inches long.




And just as an aside, my father was not a woodworker, and had no tools to leave me. But a previous owner stamped my dad's initials "JW" on the compass plane and travisher. So I get a chuckle when I see them.

[Mohammad Madha]

Cute little thing. You made a nice perch for it to rest on.

[Tom Becnel]

This chair is really looking great!!! One of these days I'll muster up the courage to try one. When I do I'll remember what I learned from your thread here for sure!

Thanks for taking the time to post the build!