Two Welsh Bebb chairs I built in black cherry. I love this chair form because it's so compact and comfortable.
Both chairs have a wolf's tooth protection glyph carved above the decortive ogee.
Both chairs will be up for sale next week via my substack.
Photos by @furniturebykale
Finally. Our first working pre-production model of our redesigned lump hammer.
The heads are being milled now. It won't be long before we start assembly and finishing.
Why redesign lumpy? We wanted it to look more like our other hammers (the Exeter and Warrington). And we wanted to engrave some good-luck peasant symbols to assist in you when bashing.
A life of excitement.
Every week, I spend about three hours signing books for customers.
My handwriting sucks. My kids say my signature looks like: C+Star+Slimy.
Spent last week teaching @gpenningtonwindsorchairs outside Nashville. If you ever get the chance to, definitely take a class there.
The students built some fantastic chairs using quartersawn cherry from @alexander.brothers . And I couldn't have done the class without the help of assistant @cb.woodworking . She is quickly becoming one of the best stick chair makers I've ever met.
This week I assisted Chris Schwarz (@lostartpress ) in his comb-back stick chair class at @gpenningtonwindsorchairs . The students produced a great looking group of chairs in under 4 days, with extra time to make a small welsh stool!
I had the best time helping the students throughout the week and doing a few demos along the way! Thank you Chris for helping me grow as a woodworker and teacher. Forever grateful for the opportunities to be a part of these classes.
And a big thank you to Greg for being such a generous host and providing delicious lunches throughout the week! I hope to be back ✨
This morning, Claire Butler (@cb.woodworking ) and I went searching for weird slabs with curved grain. We found this soft maple chunk for $40 (thank goodness, because I had only $45 on me).
We broke it down into pieces by following the grain lines and managed to make two armbows and a comb. These combs are incredible strong stuff made with naturally curved grain.
Tomorrow we head to Greg Pennington's (@gpenningtonwindsorchairs ) to teach a stick chair class together.
Life could be worse.
A few images of the yellow pine slab that I used to make the naturally curved armbow. This yellow pine grew very slowly, and the wood is as heavy and dense as hard maple.
Finished up this experimental chair last week.
The arm began with a three naturally curved bits from a yellow pine harvested in Xenia, Ohio. I assembled the arm using scarf joints and pegs. The curve of the grain determined the shape of the arm.
The rest of the design flowed from the arm's shape, including the seat and the comb. Stick placement was determined by the position of the scarf joints.
This is how old Welsh chairmakers made the best chairs. And it's how @welshchairmaker makes his today. No short grain. Difficult. Thanks to Chris for continuously pushing the craft forward.
(The finish is artist pigment and linseed oil.)
An experimental chair coming into shape on the bench this week. Working in the vein of Chris Williams (@welshchairmaker ) and the old Welsh chairmakers, the arm is made from a crooked tree. And it has dictated the design of the remainder of the chair.
