I’ve been pretty immersed in JA chairs lately, having just finished teaching it for 6 days. And talking about chairs most every moment of those 6 days. Above is a chair I just assembled back here at home. I had made part of it before the class, intending to use it for all the demos – but eventually I bailed on it – there was enough going on, I didn’t need to be making a chair too. But I had it all bored and tenoned – so just assembled it, then made slats yesterday. Today I began weaving the hickory bark seat.
I have two chairs for sale – both made leading up to the class. The white oak one I took with me, to serve as an example (I also brought one of JA’s last chairs for the same purpose.) Both of these chairs use a mixed bag of wood – oak, hickory & ash. Linseed oil finish. Over time all the different woods mute to a nearly single color – it happens pretty quickly.
If anyone wants to claim one of these chairs, leave a comment or send an email. I can send a paypal invoice (plus their fee) or you can mail a check – the old-fashioned way. Questions? – fire away. Peterfollansbee7@gmail.com
Ladderback chair
White oak posts & slats, hickory rungs, hickory bark seat.
$1,400 includes shipping in US
it looks like red oak in the photo, but it’s white oak – a little browner than this reddish cast. The rungs are a mish-mash of hickory sapwood (the white ones) and heartwood (the cinnamon-colored ones) Here’s the bark seat on this one – my favorite, the inside half of a split strip of bark.
overall height: 33 1/2″ overall width (across front posts): 17 1/4″ seat height: 17 1/2″ seat depth: 12″
Ladderback chair –
Ash posts, red oak slats, hickory rungs, hickory bark seat
$1,400 includes shipping in US
The bark on this chair is the top half of the split – a different look, still a great seat. the more you sit, the better it looks.
Another view of the ash chair – there will be more of these, I have an ash log I have to open up before it goes bad…one of my favorite woods.
Meanwhile I’m writing up some notes about the boring method we used in the class – developed by Charlie Ryland. Those will show up here soon. I’m updating the chair-making video too – so people who signed on for that will get a notice when that’s posted. Then today I decided to re-shoot the seat weaving video section of that project. I made a few small tweaks to how I do that – one simple one being standing upright instead of hunched over. A world of difference. Below is today’s seat, now set to dry and shrink before I weave in the last bits.
PETER FOLLANSBEE: JOINER’S NOTES 
For many years ash, along with alder, has been the favored wood for Fender solid body electric guitars and basses. Mahogany yields a very different sound and is the Gibson favorite.
The chair I made at Country Workshops is of red oak and is easily among the best pieces of furniture in my house. Sadly, the chair even when strung up properly, makes for an awful guitar.