Book Description
The often-intimidating art of chairmaking is explained in this book of expert patterns and tips for creating seven elegant chairs. Through each project, craftspeople learn increasingly complex skills that build upon each other, making the manual a complete education in all of the basic chairmaking techniques. The straightforward plans and methods make the designs—such as a child's ladderback chair and even armchairs—accessible for home woodworkers. Illuminating discussions of construction and design fundamentals, along with an appendix on oils and waxes to give projects the finishing touch, round out this exploration of the art of building comfortable chairs.
Customer Reviews:
Good book -- too bad its out of print.......2006-03-10
I looked all over the Internet for this book a while back and couldn't find it. Used sellers are charging way too much (over $100), so I finally just checked it out of the library (very available and no cost).
This is a good book, and is the only one I know of with general chairmaking info that covers different chair types. The other chairmaking books I've seen seem to be specific to Windsor chairs. I would like to see more books like this ... until then get this one from the library.
Nice book..........2005-07-07
...that provides good information on the basics of building chairs. This focuses more on traditional chairmaking versus "green" chairmaking.
Essential chairmaking resource.......2005-02-03
There are several books on Windsor and country chair design but this is the only one that will let you produce, say, a set of elegant dining chairs. Miller takes great pains to de-mystify the what is a daunting project for many woodworkers. His projects start basic with each one indroducing principles of design and construction that build throughout the text. The discussion clear and thorough.
Excellent resource and reference for personal projects.......2004-03-04
I attended my first workshop (on making tables) at Jeff Miller's studio in the summer of 2003. I purchased this book shortly after completing the class. This book is a fantastic way to take Jeff's clear, creative teaching skills home, and has absolutely everything you need to know in order to build chairs, especially if you're doing it on your own and don't have a master craftsperson to call on for help.
I have referred to this book time and again, and am sure other furniture makers will find Jeff's concise but thorough style a terrific and worthwhile addition to both bookshelves and workbenches.
Pretty much all you could ask.......2003-11-13
This is really an excellent book for a woodworker seeking guidance with the particular challenges of chairbuilding.
Most chapters cover some particular chair of the author's creation. Don't worry about whether Miller's designs will appeal or not. Plans are included, but copying them really isn't the point. They're presented here as case studies in conceptualization and construction, with lessons that are widely applicable. For example, how to accurately lay out and cut angled tenons, how to obtain a flat surface on an otherwise curved leg, how to fashion a slip seat, etc. And throughout, Miller details a bunch of clever jigs and methods of work.
A caution: familiarity with the ABCs of furnituremaking and access to some modicum of shop stuff is assumed here. This isn't a beginning woodworking text, which only makes sense, given the subject.
Book Description
“Ranks as one of the most comprehensive handbooks for handcrafting Windsor and post-and-rung chairs. There are plans and materials lists for a variety of post-and-rung and Windsor chairs, and galleries of old and contemporary chairs...also plans for a shaving horse, a spring-pole lathe, and two simple wood kilns.”—Woodshop News.
Customer Reviews:
Chairmaker's Workshop: Handcrafting Windsor & Post and rung chairs.......2005-12-06
Without a doubt one the best books on traditional chair making I have ever seen. From the tree to the living room !!
Excellent book........2005-07-07
This is quite good and covers "green" chairmaking. There is alot of data in this book and it's well worth the read.
Truly deserves 5 stars.......2005-06-29
Woah, what a book. I don't really know where to begin or what I can add to the many other fine reviews here, they that convinced me to buy this book.
I don't even like Windsor chairs, I think they are kind of ugly, I've seen too many cheap country furniture knock-offs, they make me kind of sick. Some - very few - are stunning. There are a few good ones in this book, and in other books I have on furniture history.
Why I bought this book was for the techniques involved, and reading the other reviews I was convinced it would be worth my money.
AND IT WAS - AND THEN SOME.
I have many, many books on woodworking and it is rare that I am surprised by something new, old or different that I did not know, but this book is so incredibly thorough and covers so many things - well - it blew me away. I am very impressed.
If it introduces a tool, it tells you how to use it, make it, even with plans. It details everything every step of the way. I can't be bothered counting all the things it tells you but I would have paid the money just for info. on building a shave horse and designs for one chair and a bowsaw.
Also, it is a BIG book. Tall, wide, and THICK, 300 pages makes it quite a thick book. PACKED with information, not waffle.
I hope my rambling review helps convince you it is worth it, the other reviews here have more detail, I really just wanted to add my vote. I think everyone gave it 5 stars. I'd say it probably should be on every woodworkers' bookshelf.
Best of its kind.......2005-03-15
This book is an excellent introduction to making chairs. It is an incredibley thorough and clearly written book. I highly recommend it.
We need more woodworking books like this one!.......2003-03-31
There are few woodworking books that cover a subject as well as this one. It isn't so much the depth of the coverage, but the completeness with which this book gives you the necessary information to cover the projects in question.
The book deals with tools, techniques, and has plans for just the chairs the average person drawn to this subject will want. That may sound fairly typical, but take tools. We don't just get a few pictures and lines per tool, we get information on how to build tools like a travishers, shaving horse, how to grind drill bits, or sharpen the specific tools the chairmaker will use. You get all the information you will need, and none of what does not apply to the subject. Drew is a retailer, teacher, tool designer, even takes tours to tool makers, so when he tells you about tools that's it.
Every part of the book has that kind of focus and concision. There are instructions on a workbench, but it isn't the usual kind, but obviously a chairmaking bench. I have a cabinetmaker's bench, and don't need one for chairs, but if you did, it's there.
Drew is an authority on certain chairs, and they're covered here. He isn't perhaps as much of an expert on Windsor chairs. But he brings all the necessary info into the book. I have a set of plans from Dunbar (the authority), but these plans leave all the critical measurements out. To get those, you have to take a Dunbar course. But the dimensions are here, and there is a chapter on how to develop your own plans, with an exhaustive table of angles that you can apply to any design. No nonsense, no holding back.
I wish more woodworking books were like this one. All the necessary information, on a prime topic. No necessity to bring together 5 other books to cover related topic. A large number of detailed plans for the most important pieces. As technical or as direct as you want. This book has book-depth information, with magazine like style (meaty sidebars) and currency of information.
The author holds nothing back, even though every word he writes might take away from his opportunity to sell you a tool, or a course. He just tells it straight regardless.
A masterpiece.
Book Description
Drawing principally on original source materials, Nancy Goyne Evans's elegantly written and extensively illustrated Windsor-Chair Making in America presents an authoritative and absorbing historical picture of the vernacular chair shop and industry. Of the book's five chapters, three deal extensively with the craft shop. Evans discusses everything from structure to tools and equipment, from shop personnel to power sources, and from raw materials to ornament, both painted and stenciled. A chapter on marketing explores the booming Windsor-chair trade in the American coastal South and the islands of the Caribbean, furniture distribution to local, overland, and overseas markets, and general methods of doing business. Another section explores consumerism and the use of Windsor furniture in domestic and public settings.
Students and interpreters of American material culture and life will find here an abundance of new material organized and presented to provide comprehensive insights into craft life and product distribution in America. Evans's book should have pride of place in the libraries of collectors, curators, practicing and amateur furniture craftsmen, and anyone interested in early American studies trades, folk art, and pre-industrial technology.
This book includes an extensive index, detailed maps, an indispensable paint color chart based on more than 1,200 references, a select bibliography, and a wealth of photographic reproductions.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic book.......2003-07-19
This is a fantastic book despite the false claim on the ball and claw foot on the back cover, as the author does not show the reader how to carve a ball and claw foot anywhere in the book, only the hairy paw carving is shown in detail. It is certainly the best chair making book I have seen.
I highly recommend this book.
addendum to my previous review.......2000-01-25
I recommended to buy the plans for the chair. I forgot to say the plans lack of simmetry, hence, use the left hand side for reference to make the templates otherwise you will end up with mismatched pieces!
Better than a time machine..........1998-05-26
When I got this book I couldn't believe what I'd found -- a time machine! Of the few craftsmen of this caliber remaining, few would share their secrets to the extent Ron has... Sure there are other books on 18th century furniture but not written in this much detail and loaded with as many pictures, tips and insights into building such a masterpiece. Everything is covered, all you do is follow the steps guided by the pictures and captions to make a treasured heirloom! All you need to succeed is the ability to follow step by step instructions and a bunch of chisels and gouges...
Very interesting book, but beware of errors........1998-05-13
I am presently building the chair explained in the book. The book is very well written an helpful if you have never built a chair before, but beware there are many (many although the author does not recognize the mistakes) mistakes in the measurements. MEASURE TWICE- READ ALL THE REFERENCES in the book which relate to each piece, or you will have to buy extra wood to recover from these mistakes. There is a set of plans for the chair which you MUST buy or from the tiny pictures from the book will not be able to accomplish the project.
The book itself has plenty of pictures (all black and white except for a gallery of chairs). The cover seems to deliver better quality pictures than it actually does.
The title should say "Building A classic chair" since it only explains how to build just one model. But remember, get the plans, and re-read the book back and forward before cutting any part and buying the wood.
Book Description
Basic, step-by-step instructions for building a comb-back Windsor chair, using traditional methods. With the simplest of hand tools and a lathe, even the amateur can produce a beautiful chair. Each step is illustrated and the patterns for the parts are given, along with measured drawings. Finally, various jigs and specialized tools like the steamer are explained and methods of constructing them given. Jim Rendi has captured all the skill of the colonial chair maker and shares it with his readers. His Philadelphia Chair Company specializes in Windsor chairs of several traditional styles, but this comb back is among the favorite. A gallery at the end of the book shares other styles of Windsors that use much the same methods.
, 200+ color photos, 8 1/2" x 11"
Customer Reviews:
A terrific introduction to chair making.......2007-09-06
I was very pleased to see the detailed steps of windsor chairmaking explained and displayed in the photos. It's not rocket science but I would never have known how to begin this project without this book. Because of the clear instruction given in this fine book I'm going to attempt my first chair.
It's good, but I had help........2007-01-20
I have built two chairs under the guidance of Mike Dunbar. Mike also trained Jim. The procedures are very similar, so this book gives you insight into what Mike is teaching. There are some differences, but I don't think they will matter to you if you can translate the information in this book into a chair. I have shared a couple of images above to show you that it can be done. That chair started as a pile of rough lumber. Now it is one of my favorite chairs.
Very good book and the right format for this process.......2005-11-03
I have never made a chair, but have performed all the fundamentals for this project, but with this book I now have the confidence and a plan.
This book is very well formatted and the pictures are perfect for the process descriptions.
If you want history of these chairs, this is the wrong book for you. If you want t obuild one of these chairs...you've come to the right place.
Good book on Windsor chairs.......1999-12-09
This is an excelent, simple book on making windsor chairs. The format of the book is one of pictures with two or three lines of text describing the pictured operation. A good step by step reference for when you're building a chair.
Customer Reviews:
Dated but still useful.......2006-11-21
Mike Dunbar has probably had more to do with the revival of hand made Windsor chairs using traditional tools and techniques than any other person in the U.S. and his book remains the best single guide to making such a chair. I purchased a copy eleven and a half years ago when I took my first class with Mike and when his book was still in print. I have never regretted the fifteen or twenty dollars it cost. Nonetheless it needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. Even Mike admits there are some serious errors in the book, and some of the techniques he and his students have developed since the book was first published will yield a better chair with considerably less effort. My advice would be to spend the six or seven hundred dollars to take one of his classes plus the cost of meals and a motel room for five days, take copious class notes, and then buy the book as a good reference work for subsequent chairs.
Make a Windsor Chair , Dunbar.......2001-07-09
Excellent book dealing ONLY with the construction of the Windor chair. Dunbar takes the reader through the selection and riving of wood, adzing of the seat and turning of the chair legs, through to the finished construction of the chair. Dunbar also explains the construction of a steaming setup and jigs for the bending of wood(s). Dunbar runs a school on the making of Windors and this would be the textbook students use to learn Dunbar's methods. A "can't miss, no regrets" purchase.
Clear, Concise, & to the point.......1999-12-08
I not only have this book, I have made a chair in Mike's workshop in New Hampshire. Mike has been instrumental both through his writings and teachings in the recent revival of interest in the making of Windsor chairs by hand much as they were made hundreds of years ago. His book is my definitive resource for questions about Windsor chair construction when I am working in my shop. In this day and age where most of our furniture is mass produced by machines using wood composites and other man made materials it is refreshing to see how fine furniture was once (and in certain places still is) crafted directly from the forest with nothing but hand tools and the skilled hands of the chairwright
Average customer rating:
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Chairmania: Fantastic Miniatures
George M. Beylerian , and
David Revere McFadden
Manufacturer: Harry N Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Furniture Design
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ASIN: 0810931931 |
Books:
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