Windsor Chair-Making Classes

2019

        Build a Sack-back Windsor Chair with Steve Bunn

          Over the past twenty-five years I have had the pleasure of teaching a number of people to make Windsor chairs. All of these experiences came about because interested woodworkers asked me to teach them the craft of Windsor chair-making. Every 'class' was different. Some people could only come over on the weekends. One young woman at Bowdoin College talked her dean into letting her apprentice with me in my shop for her last semester in college. Another student, from Oberlin, spent the summer with us, while living in the quarter-scale Cape that I originally built the kids to use as a play house. In past years I blocked out specific dates for classes, scheduling my personal life around dates for which there was no interest. Dispite the lack of interest in scheduled dates for week long classes, I receive questions all the time from folks about taking classes. To accomodate those interested, I am willing to schedule individual classes whose timing is based on both our schedules. If you want to come up to Maine and attend a week long class while letting the rest of the family stay at the beach, or can only come over on weekends I will work with you. Tuition for a week long class is listed below. Weekend or day rates are prorated as we go along.

                        Classes will concentrate on making either a traditional Sack-back or a Tracy Fan-back Windsor chair, your choice. Classes are held at my shop in Bowdoinham. I have space fo up tor three students per class. During your time in the shop with me you will learn to;

Lay out and then cut a seat blank from 2 inch thick White Pine

Drill compound angles for legs, stretchers, and armposts

Carve and shape a seat saddle

Fit and assemble a chair under-carriage (seat, legs and stretchers)

Steam bend ash stock to make your arm and back bows

Make spindles for the chair's back

Lay out and drill mortises in both bows to form the Sack-back profile from which this form of Windsor gets its name

Assemble the finished chair.

                           An awful amount of work for a single week. To make things go faster, I will provide each student with a seat blank, a set of pre-turned parts (legs, stretchers and arm-post), as well as milled out ash stock for steam bending chair bows. I will send enrolled students a list of basic hand tools which they should bring with them if possible. I will have additional tools available for those who need them. I will have on hand the more specialized chair-makers tools such as chair-makers hand planes, tapered reamers, and spindle shaving benches.

Tuition for a week is $1,250.00 with a $100.00 down payment made at the time you sign up for a given class in order to reserve a space in the class. Tuition covers two meals a day.  ,   A light breakfast, coffee, scones or muffins, and lunch.

If you have any additional questions please email or call me. I would be happy to talk with you. STB