custard
Established Member
Thirty odd years ago I had a go at being a professional furniture maker. I trained as a cabinet maker and made domestic furniture but specialised in Windsor Chairs. It didn't work out and I threw in the towel and got a "proper job", but after a different career I decided a few years ago I'd give it another shot, so re-trained and for the past few years I've been doing it all over again.
Recently I was contacted by a lady who had bought some children's chairs from me thirty years ago, Elm seats and Ash for all other components. Children have become grandchildren and she wanted to order some more, identical chairs. I don't make windsor chairs anymore, but it was impossible to turn this job down, especially as I still have stocks of the same English Elm which I used for the original order!
I went around to measure up the originals and was delighted to see the joints were still firm and the chairs still sat level.
What was disappointing was just how grubby the Ash components had become, as the very open grain has filled up with dust and dirt. It had a simple oil and wax finish when first made. You'll hear that only happened to Ash in the days when people had open coal fires, but this chair has sat in a modern, centrally heated home and is nearly as bad as antique Ash. Lesson learned, I'll never use Ash again without thorough grain filling.
Here's the seat blanks for the next batch.
There was a glut of English Elm in the 1980's due to Dutch Elm disease. But apart from the occasional bit of Wych Elm from Scotland or the far North of England you hardly ever see any Elm these days. Working it again reminded me what a very great loss that is. I don't have a huge amount of Elm, especially of the 2 1/2" thick, very wide boards that would allow an adult sized windsor seat to be made in a single piece. But there's enough for a few very special windsor chairs, all I need now is a commission for a pair of gothic style windsor with cabriole legs, and then to find some boards of clear, beautiful Yew to make them from!
Recently I was contacted by a lady who had bought some children's chairs from me thirty years ago, Elm seats and Ash for all other components. Children have become grandchildren and she wanted to order some more, identical chairs. I don't make windsor chairs anymore, but it was impossible to turn this job down, especially as I still have stocks of the same English Elm which I used for the original order!
I went around to measure up the originals and was delighted to see the joints were still firm and the chairs still sat level.
What was disappointing was just how grubby the Ash components had become, as the very open grain has filled up with dust and dirt. It had a simple oil and wax finish when first made. You'll hear that only happened to Ash in the days when people had open coal fires, but this chair has sat in a modern, centrally heated home and is nearly as bad as antique Ash. Lesson learned, I'll never use Ash again without thorough grain filling.
Here's the seat blanks for the next batch.
There was a glut of English Elm in the 1980's due to Dutch Elm disease. But apart from the occasional bit of Wych Elm from Scotland or the far North of England you hardly ever see any Elm these days. Working it again reminded me what a very great loss that is. I don't have a huge amount of Elm, especially of the 2 1/2" thick, very wide boards that would allow an adult sized windsor seat to be made in a single piece. But there's enough for a few very special windsor chairs, all I need now is a commission for a pair of gothic style windsor with cabriole legs, and then to find some boards of clear, beautiful Yew to make them from!
