You start off with a freshly felled tree. I split he trunk lengthways along the grain into quarters with a club and splitting wedges on-site and haul it back to the workshop, where the fun begins.
I cut the lengths I need and continue splitting down the grain with a club and fro to get the rough sized components for the chair. The result is a ‘cleft’ length of wood with the natural grain fibers left in tact. This method produces the strongest possible component, far superior in strength and flexibility than any sawn, machine made equivalent. After a while, you get a feel for the timber you work and can usually identify which bit of the trunk will suit a particular chair part. Once the trunk is all split out, you’re left with the rough chair billets you need, plus a fair amount of top quality firewood as a bonus.
These billets are further shaped by eye with a side axe, then held in a traditional shaving horse and refined with a drawknife and finally, a spokeshave. Even the shavings don’t go to waste. I rub a dried handful on the legs and rungs along the grain to give them a final burnish and then use these useful shavings for fire kindling.
The back legs, rails and sometimes the front legs are steam bent to the desired shape for comfort, or in the case of a particularly beautiful naturally curved cleft, just left as it is. In some of my earlier chairs, I used natural un-cleft wood in the round for the back and front legs, because of the natural curves. As my riving/clefting skills have progressed, I now prefer to make the chair totally from cleft wood. Arms are very often cleft from one interestingly shaped bough to produce two natural, identical halves.
Rungs are kiln dried whilst the legs are left to air dry to retain some moisture, because assembly employs a very old and extremely effective method of ‘wet/dry’ jointing and grain alignment, which allows for the natural shrinkage of timber. It’s about working with nature. The dry rungs are tennoned and forced into the wetter leg mortices. The access moister left in the legs with swell the rungs. When the whole chair eventually reaches moisture equilibrium in your home, the result is a sturdy and flexible frame with built-in longevity.
The chairs are finished with natural oils and wax to protect, compliment and enhance the grain. Seating, again, uses organic materials – wood, rush, or my personal favorite, a weave from cut strips from the inner bark of Hickory or Wych Elm, a very hard wearing, comfortable and aesthetically pleasing material. Incidentally, the off cuts from the tree bark weave make really useful bookmarks. I give them away to my workshop visitors. Nothing goes to waste in my workshop.
Green wood working, hand crafted joinery and seat weaving skills have been in practice for centuries. I am committed to keeping this heritage alive in my work.
A hand made chair, if looked after and respected, should last a lifetime. A fitting tribute to the majesty of the tree from which it came.
“I sat in your chair in a Gallery and immediately felt totally relaxed and supported up the length of my spine to my head. My husband bought it for me as a special surprise present. It looks beautiful, exudes calmness and encourages meditation. I often sit losing all track of time. The chair seems to embrace me with tranquility. I feel privileged to own it”.
Teresa Wicksteed – Cornwall
