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Templates are a critical part of chairmaking for a few reasons. The first one that probably jumps to mind is being able to reproduce identical parts across several chairs. That’s definitely an important reason. After iterating on few variations, I’ve settled on a seat shape that I quite like. It’s a rectangle for the front… Read full post

I finished another chair last month. This is an 8-stick armchair, painted a dark, chocolate brown, with a yellow undercoat which will begin to show through as it wears. Poplar seat with hickory sticks, arms, and crest. For this one, I tried out a more vintage style, with fewer angles and more curves. I was… Read full post

In chairmaking, it’s common to use a variety of wood species, because each part has a different task or working technique. The legs need to be strong and sturdy, to hold the sitter’s weight and be resistant to leaning. The seat gets carved with curved tools, so needs to be easy to work, but otherwise… Read full post

I’ve just wrapped up another chair project, this time a lowback stick chair. It’s made with a poplar seat and hickory for the sticks, arms, and legs. Painted black with a red undercoat, and finished with oil. Read full post

My woodworking shop is located in the basement of a historic building complex in Minneapolis. The complex is currently known as the 2010 Artblok. The building houses a few dozen local artists, consignment kitchens for area restaurants, a couple of screen printing studios, a few pottery studios, a metalworking facility, a theatre company, a mead… Read full post

My workbench is one of my favorite pieces of furniture I’ve built. It’s well made, works great, and (I think) looks pretty awesome. I’ve been using it for almost a decade and it’s built up some excellent battle scars. It’s made from 8/4 white pine, which I bought from a local sawmill. They had these… Read full post

Finished up another project this month. Actually I completed the build back in January, but it’s too cold up here in Minnesota to apply finish then, so I had to wait for a nice Spring day. Now it’s all done and put in its home. This cabinet will store our drinks and accessories. It’s built… Read full post

As I’ve been working on my latest chair, I’ve also been flipping through Peter Galbert’s book, Chairmaker’s Notebook. I noticed the drawknife gets a ton of use in his working method, almost every chapter get some use out of the tool. It even has a chapter dedicated to drawknives and their many uses. I’ve had… Read full post

I store almost all of my frequently-used tools in this toolchest. It’s in the style of the Dutch toolchest that Chris Schwarz has written about quite a lot. I made mine a bit wider than his standard size in order to fit my full-size handsaws. This was actually one of my first ever projects. I… Read full post