WWA Info Exchange

Hey folks,
Hope everyone had a great holiday season.
Here's the chair I made in Russ Filbeck's class at Palomar College last semester.







Fresh cut Oak logs brought by Russ from Kentucky. We rived the parts then used shavehorse, drawknives, spokeshave, and only hand tools to cut mortises and tenons. The back legs and the slats were steam bent. The seat was woven (herringbone pattern) from fresh hickory bark soaked for 20 minutes in boiling water. Oil finish applied with 220, 400, then 600 grit W/D sandpaper. Gotta feel it to believe how sensuous the texture is
Comments/questions welcome.

Don

Nice job there Don.

The woven seat looks awesome too.So thats the trick is to soak in for that time.



Have Fun
Francois

_________________
Its the quality that counts not the quantity.
If you want creative workers give them time to play.

Thanks, Francois. Yes, that is hickory bark and it is cut and coiled into rolls until ready to use. Then it must be soaked for at least 20 minutes to make it pliable. We bring the water to a boil and pour it into the container (5 gallon bucket) with the bark. After 20 minutes we take it out and begin to weave the seat. It must remain wet so if you have to take a break while weaving (can take an hour or hour and half to weave the seat) it must be covered with a wet towel. As soon as the seat is woven oil is applied to the exposed side of the bark. This causes the bark to dry on the unexposed (underside) side thereby the cupping associated with the drying will cup away from the visible (touchable) surface. The edges of the bark in the seat are smoothed easily with the finish.
Russ showed the class a chair like this that was a hundred years old. They were made to last back then.

Don

Don,
That's real nice!!
How can you ever let anyone sit in it?
I'm very impressed.
Thanks for sharing.
Zulu

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Zulu's website
http://www.jmelledge.com

Thanks Michael. Means a lot coming from a craftsman such as yourself. Easy to invite folks to sit in this chair.....it is not only sensuously smooth...it conveys great strength.....and comfort. There are some nuances that make it a pleasure to use. For instance....when finally assembled the seat is level with the floor.....so....we chop a half inch off the back legs causing a slight (but very powerful) tilt that allows the equilibrium to relax the back muscles....and the slats are amazingly aligned to fit the back for amazing support. Everyone who has sat in this chair....wants it. Makes me very happy

Don

Hey Don,

That looks just like the chair that Jenny (John) Alexander wrote about in, "Make a Chair from a Tree". It there a connection between your instructor and J. Alexander?

Cheers,
Tom

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"There is no path to peace, peace is the path."
Mohandas K. Ghandi

Hey Tom,
Yes, Russ Filbeck got on the bandwagon when (John) Alexander wrote the book and performed some interesting investigation into the heritage of the green wood chair making process himself. He teamed with Brian Boggs to develop methods to make jigs and molds to create the 2 slat, 3 slat and 4 slat ladder back chairs. Their methods are similar but have distinct differences as they continued to develop better methods and practices that reflect their personal settings and goals. Russ has taught the class at Palomar College for many years....retired in 2009 and came back for one last class last semester. Now he teaches at his home.....here's his website http://www.russfilbeck.com/index.html
He is truly a master.

Don