# A week in the Windsor Workshop Final Episode



## Waka

There are a lot of photo's with this, so I'll do it in sections over the next few days.
I and another 5 candidates spent a week with James Muriel at his workshop in Sussex, to make a continuous arm windsor chair.
I have taken a photo of what we are going to attempt to make, so I can compare my result at the end of the week.






For those of you that think I'm going to post some high tech equipment to aid chairmanning are going to be disappointed, James makes his chairs in the traditional way, and surprise, so are we.

The first part was choosing a piece of ash for the continuous arm.






After doing a bit of shaping it's off to the steam room where James will explain how to use the equipment.











The time the continuous arm was to spend in the steamer was calculated by James, this was 12 minutes.
When the arm came out of the steamer, we had very little time to complete the two bends. this made us all a bit apprehensive. I for one was concerned that under pressure I'd mess everything up. But with the expert tuition from James, our minds were put at rest.

The first bend in the arm was to shape the back, it's all done on the same former, but in two stages.
















One or two of us had some slits in the wood during the second part of the bens. Nothing to worry about, this will be dealt with later when the wood has dries.

To assist in the drying, the arms were placed into the kiln. This consisted of a plywood box built over a radiator, again nothing high tech, but very functional. The arms would now stay over the heater for a few days while we got on with the other parts.

I will add some more to this thread later.

Now down to part 2 of the week.

The next job we were tasked with was making the spindles for the back of the chair. Off we went to choose the wood. James did mention that we wanted to choose the pieces of wood with the straightest grain, tis became evident when we stated ha[ping with the draw knife and spokeshave.






We had 11 spindles to do in total and these varied in length, so it wasn't a quick job. I tried to get the spindles exactly the same in shape, but I'm not so sure I was successful. But in the big scheme of things I kept telling myself that it's a hand made chair.

Spindle all done.






It was during day 2 that James gave us a turning demonstration on making the legs. What surprised me was the speed in which he achieved this. Whereas I would take ages James did a leg in a matter of minutes.
I have to say that the legs we choose were actually made in rough form by James, all we had to do was finish them off. The reason for this was time, if we'd turned our own legs then an extra day wold have been required, also many of the students had never turned before so an element of risk would have been introduced.

Now it's onto the seat of the chair. I choose ash for my seat but the other guys were using tulipwood.
I will have to start another thread to continue because it won't let me post more than 10 photo's.


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## IHc1vtr+

Very interesting, bookmarked. Look forward to next installment.

Ian.


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## mindthatwhatouch

MMmmmm looking forward to the next instalment.

and he is just up the road, maybe I have found myself a christmas present


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## Paul Chapman

Good stuff, Waka  Look forward to seeing more.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Sheffield Tony

I'm looking forward to seeing what balance of traditional and modern methods are used. I presume this is all in air dried wood rather than green, and the parts glue together.

Having made a chair using Mike Abbott style greenwood held together by shrinkage without glue, I wonder how "traditional" this really is, or whether it is quite a modern fancy. I know Windsor chair legs of old were turned in the wood on a pole lathe, but the old photos of bodgers I see show large stacks of legs sittting to dry before being transported to a workshop for assembly.

I feel your anxiety at achieving that complex bend with wood that has been only 12 minutes in the steamer ... Not much slack for fumbling with clamps !

Do carry on. Can't wait to see how it all goes together.


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## n0legs

You lucky pipper  :lol: 
Next installment please !!


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## Waka

Sheffield Tony":3c7eqctg said:


> I'm looking forward to seeing what balance of traditional and modern methods are used. I presume this is all in air dried wood rather than green, and the parts glue together.
> 
> Having made a chair using Mike Abbott style greenwood held together by shrinkage without glue, I wonder how "traditional" this really is, or whether it is quite a modern fancy. I know Windsor chair legs of old were turned in the wood on a pole lathe, but the old photos of bodgers I see show large stacks of legs sittting to dry before being transported to a workshop for assembly.
> 
> I feel your anxiety at achieving that complex bend with wood that has been only 12 minutes in the steamer ... Not much slack for fumbling with clamps !
> 
> Do carry on. Can't wait to see how it all goes together.



Tony

The spindles, legs and continues arm are all made from green wood, a lot easier to work with in the early stages. It is dried over an enclosed radiator while other parts of the chair are being made.


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## Newbie_Neil

Hi Waka,

I'm not envious at all. :mrgreen: 

Well done, you are obviously having an excellent time.

Neil


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## RogerM

Nice write up and photos Waka. Looking forward to the rest of this thread.


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## Glynne

Having met James a couple of times, I must admit I'm tempted. Any info on accommodation would be really useful as well as I'm sure I'm not the only one who would need digs for a week.


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## Waka

Glynne":nxecg5xf said:


> Having met James a couple of times, I must admit I'm tempted. Any info on accommodation would be really useful as well as I'm sure I'm not the only one who would need digs for a week.



Glynne

If you go into the WW website James has a list of recommended places to stay. I stayed in the first one on the list, a cottage on a working farm, absolutely fantastic accommodation.

Next part of the thread to follow in the morning.


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## Waka

Ok , so lets continue.
As I mentioned in the other thread the wood for my seat is ash.






This is the profile of the seat after it was introduced to the bandsaw.

At this stage we have to add a lot of lines at different angles before we can drill the holes for the chairs. James has a template for this, so it makes our lives a little easier.






As you can see lots of lines that all have a purpose.
Now it's down to drilling the holes for the legs and arm of the chair. I guess at this stage we were all a bit apprehensive, one hole in the wrong position and the seat becomes a piece of scrap wood.
Also we had to drill the holes on two planes, for this we used a set square and bandsaw jig. Lining up the required line for the specific hole on the jig ensured that we had the right angles. although all a bit worried it all turned out fine.











Now it came to shaping the seat, we had already drilled a couple of pilot holes so we knew the depth we wanted to go too.
We had a quick demonstration from James on the use of the adze, it was really useful because know we knew how not to take our ankle off.






Even though we were told the right stance to make it easy for us, it was still hard work. I don't think any of us had used an adze before, but it didn't take us long to get to the required depth and have a rough seat shape mapped out.

Now we had to take the rough shape and turn it into something that resemble a seat. For this James had developed what is known as a ravisher, I guess you could say it is a curved spokeshave. This is used by pushing the tool across the grain.






After shaping the bum part of the seat we had to shape the other parts, after all we wanted it to look special.
A lot of the lines that we placed on the seat were now becoming clear, the tool we were going to use wasn't.
It was a rasp generally used on horses hoofs, but it did the job in no time at all.






Apart from shaping and sanding the shape of the seat is near enough finished.

I will continue part 3 on a new thread tomorrow.

Hope you all enjoy.


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## paulm

Nice piece of olive ash for the seat Tony.

Is it a ravisher or a travisher ? Ravisher sounds more fun !!!

Cheers, Paul


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## Harbo

I would love to go on the course but we already have a Windsor chair and no space for another.
Did you need to take any tools with you Tony?






Rod


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## Waka

Rod

A;ll the tolls were supplied, as was lunch, teas and coffees. All the wood is supplied part of the course fee, except if you wanted to change the seat wood. I went for the ash rather than the tulip wood seat,m therefore I paid a little extra.

I came away with a medium and small spokeshave that James makes and we use during the week. Out of all the expensive spokeshaves I have I rated these the best I've used, and they were half the price of the very well known makes.

Talking about chairs, the one I'm making is an American Windsor, I already have and Canadian and two English, we are now out of space, well nearly.


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## Waka

Now we have done a lot of work on the seat it's time to fit the legs. The legs have be in the make shift drying box for a few days, so they should be nice and dry.

Using the big pencil sharpener we need to shape the top of the leg to fit the reemed hole in the seat.






Now attach them to the seat and line um the grain for drilling so we can attach the stretchers.






Once we're happy with the fit of the legs we take them to the bandsaw and cut down the end to make way for the wedge.






Not sure if you notice, but we've put tape around the legs where we're going to drill, this is to try and prevent tear out when drilling. Also you might see some blue cord that has been placed under the tape, this cord makes it easier to get the tape off when you've finished, works a treat.






With the drilling completed its time to fit the stretchers. It's at this point that we worry about splitting the legs while knocking in the stretchers, but we needn't have worried because all went well.











All that needs to be done is insert the wedges and trim them off.











It's at this point that you realise that you have a very posh stool which I am very proud of.






The concluding part to the chair making is tomorrow, and dare I say it the most worrying bit of the week.

Hope you all enjoy.


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## paulm

Looks great Tony, lovely job.

Cheers, Paul


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## Waka

paulm":1d8t4ozx said:


> Looks great Tony, lovely job.
> 
> Cheers, Paul



Thanks Paul, next instalment gets a bit hairy, it's make or break.


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## Paul Chapman

Looking really good, Waka.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## n0legs

=D>


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## Sheffield Tony

Questions, questions. 

The legs and spindles seem to have just arrived from nowhere, unless I missed a step. I think I have just answered my question looking at them in the picture; I see the telltale mark of a power lathe's driven centre in there.

I assume from the shape of the "pencil sharpener" that the holes in the seat are tapered with the reamer ? What about the holes for the spindles in the legs - how do you drill those, and get the correct alignment ? I assume they are glued joints ? Does it get assembled (seat / legs / stretchers) all in one manoeuvre ?

Looking forward to seeing how you fit all those back spindles.


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## Waka

Sheffield Tony":1hay8s1v said:


> Questions, questions.
> 
> The legs and spindles seem to have just arrived from nowhere, unless I missed a step. I think I have just answered my question looking at them in the picture; I see the telltale mark of a power lathe's driven centre in there.
> 
> I assume from the shape of the "pencil sharpener" that the holes in the seat are tapered with the reamer ? What about the holes for the spindles in the legs - how do you drill those, and get the correct alignment ? I assume they are glued joints ? Does it get assembled (seat / legs / stretchers) all in one manoeuvre ?
> 
> Looking forward to seeing how you fit all those back spindles.




Did I not mention that James had turned all the legs, otherwise we would not have completed the chair in the allocated time. All we had to do was clean them up and make them fit.

Yes, the seat holes were reamed, thought I mentioned that.

The drilling of the holes in the legs and stretchers are done on the drill press. All the joints are glued and the assembly method is stretchers to legs, legs to seat, wedge to legs takes about 5 minutes.


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## Sheffield Tony

Ah yes, you did say that. I think I missed a bit reading on my phone  
I did wonder how all that would be possible in a week if some had to master turning too !
Good stuff. Did you enjoy the travisher ? It seems to be a very addictive tool among our greenwood group - easy to get carried away with !


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## RobinBHM

Many thanks for the post, It reminds of my first assignment of my furniture production degree course, which was about specialisation of trades in the furniture industry. Windsor chairmaking was centred in the Chilterns around High Wycombe, the chairbodger turned in the woods and sent the parts to the town for assembly. 

There is a chairmaking museum in High Wycombe and the town was once a centre for furniture production with G-plan, Ercol, Parker Knoll, Glenisters all in the town. I was lucky enough to visit the Ercol factory and get shown around the steam bending department. It really is amazing to see how floppy wood can become when steamed!


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## tobytools

excellent waka,  loving these pics and thanks for sharing 
i can't wait to build my stool

TT


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## Waka

Now its time to start putting the final parts of the chair together. First job is to get the arm rest to fit, this is again done with the pencil sharpener.
The get the required height we used some high tech equipment here, it was a thin stick 8 ½ inches long, with these in place we are now able to fit the continuous arm.












Now comes the bit I wasn't looking forward to, drilling the continuous arm for the spindles, I didn't take any photo's of the actual drilling, I think everyone was too tense, get this bit wrong and the arm is ruined and guess what there were no spares made.

Let me try and explain, on the seat of the chair we had marked out where we were going to drill the seat, where the X marks the spot we punched a slight indentation. We now lined up the indentation with the top and the back of the drill over the spot and drilled. I know I didn't understand it either.
It must have worked because we all came out with hole roughly in the right place.

Drilling the holes in the seat was a lot easier, we looked through the hole in the arm and lined up the frill through the holes and drilled.






Now having the holes in all fine and dandy, but will it all go together with the spindles and arm, good question.

Now its time to place the spindles in the seat.






As I put these in I was getting a bit worried, I was expecting them to be in a nice row that would match up nicely with the arm. It looked to me a little like Stonehenge, definitely not uniform.
Oh well onwards and upwards, not much we can do now, perhaps I didn't get the holes as lined up as I thought.

With all the spindles in place, it's time to see if the arm fits.






Panic over, the arm has pulled everything into line, I really a happy bunny at this point.
Got to remove the arm once more and put some glue in the holes.

This done all that remains is to insert the wedges into the splines on the arm and trim everything off.











Now at the beginning of the thread I posted a picture of a continuous arm chair that James had made, now I've taken a photo of mine next to James's. Mines the one that doesn't have any finished on it.






What I haven't mention is the lunches that are supplied with the course, hard to explain so here's a photo.






Trust me there was more than enough to fill up six hungry chair makers.

I guess the question is, did I get out of the course what I was expecting. Well, everything exceeded my expectations and I came away with something that I thought was beyond my skill level. This was all down to James's excellent form of teaching.
Was it worth the money, yes without a doubt, and I think I speak for everyone who attended.
Would I go again, yes most certainly, but I've got to save up first.

I hope you've all enjoyed my week in the Windsor Workshop.


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## paulm

Thanks for taking the time to write it all up Tony, a great read and very satisfying I expect 

Cheers, Paul


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## Waka

paulm":2b7t1m6d said:


> Thanks for taking the time to write it all up Tony, a great read and very satisfying I expect
> 
> Cheers, Paul



Paul

It was very satisfying, the chair now sits in pride of place in the living room.


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## paulm

Did you give it an oil and wax finish, or something else ?

Cheers, Paul


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## Waka

paulm":943xijsh said:


> Did you give it an oil and wax finish, or something else ?
> 
> Cheers, Paul



Paul

I've still to put a finish on it, James recommends a couple of coats of Osmo oil. I don't have any as yet but when it arrives I will put some on.
It should really bring out the grain.

I'll post a pic when I've done it.


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## paulm

That should bring out the figuring nicely Tony, especially on the olive ash seat, look forwards to seeing it 

Cheers, Paul


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## Harbo

Lovely chair and great thread.
I like Osmo.

Rod


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## Paul Chapman

Great thread, Tony - really enjoyed it. The chair looks excellent. Please post a picture when you get the finish on it.

Cheers :wink: 

Paul


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## Waka

Paul Chapman":28798akt said:


> Great thread, Tony - really enjoyed it. The chair looks excellent. Please post a picture when you get the finish on it.
> 
> Cheers :wink:
> 
> Paul



I will Paul, 
it will be in a weaker two.


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## Newbie_Neil

Hi Tony,

Thank you for taking the time to post your wip, I have really enjoyed it.

You must now be the resident chairmaker. :lol:

Thanks,
Neil


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## Baldhead

Thanks for the WIP pics, I've really enjoyed reading this thread, I only wish I had the skill to turn something like this out, a very nice chair indeed 

Baldhead


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## Waka

Thanks for the kind words guys.


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## paulm

Still waiting for the finished pics though Tony 

Cheers, Paul


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## Waka

paulm":2rtayyy0 said:


> Still waiting for the finished pics though Tony
> 
> Cheers, Paul



Just got back from up North, hoping to get it finished in the next couple of weeks.


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## devonwoody

Thanks for a super thread.

devonwoody


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## Waka

devonwoody":2svvzcqy said:


> Thanks for a super thread.
> 
> devonwoody



You're welcome DW, I'm just glad people found it interesting.


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## Alf Beharie

Great result! Who'd have thought there are still people out there making chairs using traditional methods? I had no idea! I'd like to make something similar, but if you think you were apprehensive whilst making it, its not as apprehensive as I feel about trying to do the same! I'm far more of a power tool guy so Travishers and Spokeshaves would be out and Routers with custom made jigs would be in if I ever felt the need to make such a lovely looking project. One thing I think you left out was how much did the course cost you?


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## JJ Woodman

Stunning work! Thanks for showing.

JJ


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## Born2bye

Great post, real hands on skill, impressive


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## Claymore

Excellent post and beautiful craftsmanship, even if your not into furniture making its still very interesting to see how things are made.
Brian


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## Sam_Jack

As a bloke who likes to make ‘useful’ things, I was fairly chuffed with a couple of garden chairs and table I knocked out from skip rescue odds and sods. I now see the folly of my rustic ways; what a difference to the work a few days spent with a master craftsman can make. Beautiful chair granted, but the skills gained making it will now influence future work. There is real value in that course and I do covet that spoke shave. Well done and thanks for sharing.


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## richarddownunder

Great thread and result! Drat, now I'm hooked, another thing I have to add to my 'need-to-make bucket list'

Cheers
Richard


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## Waka

Hi Richard

Worth every penny.


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## Horsee1

I've also made a continues arm chair with James, a great week and he lays on a good lunch.


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## MattyT

Nice work. Look forward to seeing more from you


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## BHwoodworking

very nice indeed.

out of interest was there any glue involved?


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## Horsee1

A lot of the chair we made was wedged and glued.
The braces between the legs were glued but no wedges as they weren’t through tenons.


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