The making of the Winsor chair pt1

Building of the green wood Winsor Chair 2nd yr design arts degree, 2007.

The timber is delivered and rough sawn with the chainsaw. The process that follows would prove to be one of the most enlightening experiences in the wood furniture genre.

Shaping of the seat base from campher laurel and using the pole lathe to shape stock for legs and rails.

Once the legs and rails are turned you then rapid dry the tenon sections of these components in hot sand. this enables you to shrink the tenons which when placed into the mortice will draw moisture from inside the mortice and expand the tenon, locking it tight. An amazing exponent of working with green wood. This process has been known and used for centuries. The rest of the process will follow…

foundations

The foundations of the wood workshop at ANU is built around the knowledge and learning gained from the first set brief, or project. This project being the breadboard.

This project is about learning the intimate relationship between the craftsman and the tool, in this case the plane. Bring stock to size from rough sawn, and unsquare pieces by hand takes alot of practice to achieve an amazing finish and is alot harder than the process seems at first glance. Every step of this process is completed by hand, apart from cutting the splines into the widening joins.

An amazing learning curve and a fitting way to be introduced to the furniture workshop.