Books & Videos for Deep Dives
Angles and Drilling
Sharpening & Tool Care
Infrastructure & Parts Prep
General Info
Finishing
The Chairmaker's Notebook (basically an encyclopedia of the whole process)
The Stick Chair Book and/or The Anarchist's Design Book (a great overview of the simplest and cheapest ways to make chairs)
Make a Chair from a Tree (a great book by Jennie Alexander capturing the technique and spirit of working from trees)
Now I Sit Me Down (a history of chairs from ancient Egypt to the mass production of plastic lawn furniture - a surprisingly fun read)
The Chair by Galen Cranz a great piece about ergonomics and the culture surrounding chairs
Galen Cranz article on chair ergonomics (see page 86)
Peter Galbert's vimeo series "Foundations of Chairmaking" is a really thorough and clear introduction to greenwood chair making. It costs about $100 but covers *everything* - we also have scholarships for it on The Chairmaker's Toolbox website if the $100 is a barrier <3
Sightline ruler & videos on sightlines and use of the ruler
short old video that I kinda like more
A blog post on bit grinding from Pete as well as a video clip - the key info is from 21:30-29:05
If you’re going to grind your own bits make sure you buy High Speed Steel (HSS) bits so that you don’t need to worry about them loosing temper or bluing
Grinding a drawknife - I think that the jig is too fancy but the hold and approach to the wheel is right
Sharpening a scorp with Lucian Avery
Sharpening a scorp with Chris Schwarz
A Fine Woodworking video on curved card scraper sharpening
Check out Tim Manney's Shavehorse Plans
Check out George Sawyer's Shavehorse Plans
Check out Mark Hick’s fancy Shavehorse Plans (kind of too fancy I think) with a fancy aluminum racheting thing (nice but also $$)
Folding/collapsable shavehorse plans!
Video from youthful Chris Schwarz on how to make wedges (not necessarily the way I taught it but it works!)
Curtis Buchanan free chairmaking bench plans
Curtis Buchanan free and pay-what-you-can plans
Curtis Buchanan free riving break plans
Do we really want fast growing oak and ash? YES. Peter Follansbee explains.
This is a purchasable (and exhaustive) video on milk paint. There’s lots of great info but maybe too much…Anne made a blog post about it and I’d agree with most of it except for the spray thing. I was there when she did it and I wouldn’t recommend it!
There are two major milk paint companies - I think Old Fashioned Milk Paint is slightly easier to work with but I prefer the colors available through Real Milk Paint
My finishing preference:
Equalize the surface (sand all or scrape/cut all surfaces)
Mix milk paint - Mix it extra thick and stir every 10-15 minutes for a few hours. Then refrigerate. Some people like using additives like an anti-foaming agent.
Strain the next day through a filter. I use these filters that are often free at auto stores. You’ll loose a lot of material in the filter. Let it go! It’s unintegrated pigment and foam, you don’t want it.
Add water until the paint is the texture of milk.
Apply a thin coat. Let it dry and cure overnight.
Sand lightly if needed. Otherwise buff with a Gold Mirlon pad.
Apply a second coat. Seal with a super thin coat of shellac if you want to apply a different color on top.
Apply second color (as many coats as needed with a full night in between each coat if you want to guarantee no dissolution of the lower layers).
Buff final layer with burlap or something softer like a 3000 grit trizact pad (also from the auto store).
When happy with the color, it’s time for the top coat! I like osmo most. It’s durable, easy to apply, etc.
Final coat - optional clear wax (I like putting this on all my finished work).