I worked some in the past week or so on the brettstuhl, or board chair. I didn’t want to copy my first carving exactly, so I just drew up part of it and dove in. The butternut carves like…well, butter. This board is quartersawn which makes it even more cooperative.
In the photo above, I’ve made it halfway up the back. The designs and elements are taken from my 17th-century studies of oak furniture, just super-imposed on a different form. I didn’t shoot any photos beyond this one til I got one of the finished carving.
Then I switched over to turning the leg tenons. I left them oversized and will turn their final dimension when they are dry.
I followed that gouge with a skew chisel.
I made eight of these legs, so if all goes well I’ll make another chair after this one. If all goes poorly, I have some extra legs just in case. Here’s set # 1. They’re in the kiln now.
So while those tenons dry, I got out some very long-stashed 6/4 white oak to make the battens that slot into the seat board. There’s two options (at least) for these – one is a shouldered sliding dovetail, and one is just a long bevel to form the sliding dovetail. I’ve opted for the bevel. Below I set the batten between bench dogs and tilted it over so the planing was pretty much just as it normally is.
Here’s one edge done. Next time I work on this chair, it’ll be time for the bottom board – to make the tapered, beveled housings for these battens.
Hello Peter,
Our youngest daughter (now 36) took ownership of two wainscot chairs from her grandparents, we refer to them as king and queen chairs. Solid oak, I believe, and in relatively good condition. At some point in time, our daughter may wish to sell them, their languishing in our basement now. I would like her to know the true value of the pieces. Is there a reputable appraiser you could refer me to? Any help is appreciated!
So the battens are tapred? Do they go all the way through, or are they stopped? That’s the first time I’ve seen you carve acanthus.
Beautiful work.