Stick Chair

Lost Art Press Stick Chair Class, January 2022

In January of 2022 I was lucky enough to land a spot at a week long Stick Chair class let by Chris Swartz at the Lost Art Press workshop in Covington Kentucky. This was my first experience with a woodworking class and it was exhilarating and a bit exhausting — I’m not used to being on my feet working 40 hours+. But it was a terrific experience.

Worthwhile takeaways from every class or seminar I have taken break down something like this:

  • 75% good stuff from the leader/teacher

  • 50% worthwhile observations and lessons from fellow participants

  • 50% just being away from your normal routine and devoting all of your energy towards a single pursuit.

Such was the case here. Not only did Chris and Megan Fitzpatrick bestow a tremendous amount of knowledge regarding stick chair building (and other valuable workshop stuff), but being immersed in a workshop, surrounded by other talented woodworkers resulted in a terrific week of woodworking. (And yes, keen observers will note that this totals up to more than 100%. I know that. I trying to make a point here that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Work with me people.)

As a result of Chris’s books, video, and this class I came away with a deeper understanding his methodical, measured process for chair construction.

Day One - Prep and the UNDERCARRIAGE

  • Start with Sourcing the material, with a premium on selecting stock with dead straight grain.

  • Decide where the sticks (long & short), arm pieces, comb, and seat will come from.

  • Glue up stock for the seat blank, cut it to size

  • Drill holes in the underside of the seat for the legs.

  • Shape, taper, and tenon the four legs and stretchers.

  • Dry fit legs with stretchers to seat

  • Congratulate yourself on a productive day 1 (Yes, that will take you a full day . . . At least)

Day Two- Armbow assembly and holes for sticks

  • Complete Day one tasks because you probably didn’t get to everything yesterday

  • Cut, shape, glue, assemble, and sand 4-piece arm bow

  • Using home-made jig (thank you Megan!), line up and clamp arm bow above seat

  • With a spotter (ideally) and laser assist, line up drill and bore holes through arm bow into seat

Day Three- Finish sticks, saddle seat, trim bottom, and make wedges

  • Complete sticks including feathering the long stick to fit in the arm bow, removing arises on short sticks, and cutting tenons on all sticks. All of this can be done using a vice or planing stop on the bench, but the shave horse is a pleasure to use.

  • Saddle the seat. This is my favorite step and it involves roughing out the saddle, pommel, and cups with a sharp scorp (which — and this should blow your mind — is sharpened and honed on the table saw!), before finishing cuts with a travisher, scraper, and some sandpaper until you have a smooth seat.

  • Cut a 3/8” bevel on the underside to give the seat some grace and lightness

  • Make a slew of long grain wedges. How many in a slew? Well, depending on how many short sticks you have, you will need as many as a dozen, so its a good idea to make at least twice that, if not more, so you have different lengths & widths to choose from when assembling.

  • Give some attention to your legs & stretchers in preparation for assembling and gluing up the seat & legs.

  • Get a good night’s sleep and try not to worry about what comes next

Day Four - Glue up seat/legs, level seat, attach arms and sticks

This is the big day. And it can be a bit frenetic — Chris rightly says our IQ drops by a half as soon as the glue bottle is opened. So we’ll take this step by step.

  • First, lay everything out. this way you don't have to think too much about what goes where. Pour out a small about of the hot hide glue and get to work on the tenon holes on the stretchers & Legs. Once that is all assembled, set it aside and do the same for the seat. Assemble, set into place with a couple of whacks of the lump hammer while praying to the grain gods that you don’t split the seat (I’ve done that!) and finally, hammer home your wedges.

  • Next, you have to level the seat and cut the legs. First prop up on spacer blocks until everything is level (side to side) and has the desired slope from front to back. Then, mark and trim the legs. To make sure everything is level and it won’t rock hold it up against a window (flattest surface around).

  • Now it’s time for the second glue op of the day. After test fitting everything take the sticks & arm apart and apply glue to the seat holes, short sticks (tenons on both ends) and long sticks. Carefully put it all together and seat (praying to the grain gods that you don’t split the arm bow —I’ve done that!). Finally, hammer home wedges in the tops of the short sticks.

  • Have a drink. That was a hairy day.

Day Five - Trim sticks, install comb, make nice, And Finish

You are in the home stretch. Just a few things to do

  • Trim long sticks to length

  • Make & install comb. Once glued in place, drill holes and tap in pins

  • “Make nice”, meaning, look at every surface and see if it can be improved, paying particular attention to the parts of the chair that are frequently touched including the arms, seat, seat edges, comb, etc.

  • Apply the finish. I like to use the linseed oil & beeswax finish from The Anarchist Daughter. It’s great stuff.

  • And take a moment to admire what you just built. It will last generations and now and forever you are a “Chairmaker”. Congratulate yourself. Maybe have a celebratory drink.

One more thing . . .

  • Sew on your Chair Merit Badge. You earned it.