Windsor Chairmaking in Molong
Words and photos: Geoff Tonkin
In the eleven chair courses we have run here at our Molong workshop in the Central West of NSW, I don’t think anyone has ever participated because they have wanted another chair. It is way more than that – it is a journey for the student, for the tutors and for the tree from which the chairs are constructed. In making this journey Howard Archbold and myself guide and encourage students through the highs and lows of the ancient craft of chairmaking.
Green woodworking, I think, is a mystery to most modern day woodworkers but it does open up a whole new world of discovery in design and construction outside of the modern well-equipped workshop. In saying this, I had the great fortune to complete the Certificate IV in Fine Woodworking at the Sturt School for Wood under the tutelage of the late Tom Harrington. Both these experiences of woodworking I believe have given me great insight into the vagaries of working with wood.
For chairmaking, wood is riven or split from a round green log cut within the last six months. We prefer Robinia pseudoacacia, a North American tree imported by early settlers and planted around shearing sheds and yards to provide winter sun and summer shade. As Australian natives are not deciduous they were deemed unsuitable. The segments are riven with a splitting maul and mallet, broken down further with a froe, shaped on a shavehorse with a drawknife and turned on a foot-operated pole lathe. A major appeal of this process is that it is completely non-threatening and suitable for both the novice and more experienced woodworkers. For the solid seats we use camphor laurel or occasionally elm when it is available, and steam bends are usually either claret or American ash.
A highlight of the course is a Chair Makers’ Dinner held towards the end of the course and to which partners are invited. Newcomers to the course usually start by making a double bow or sack back Windsor chair and on subsequent courses have the option of making the more elegant continuous arm Windsor chair, a Welsh stick chair or a Captain’s chair.
Over the past seven years, 66 chairs, including one settle and 26 stools, have been made at our workshop situated in a rural setting by the Mandagery Creek. We should warn however, that chairmaking can become addictive. Many of our students are returnees including John from Lake Cargelligo, who is returning for his seventh course. Participants in our last course came from country Victoria, Southern Highlands, Wagga and Bathurst. Self-contained accommodation is available in a shared house nearby, but students can also camp on site, stay with friends or in Molong.
Learn more at www.geofftonkin.com.au and at www.rarechairs.com.au
