Craft your own CHAIR

You don't have to have had woodwork experience to make a Windsor Chair with me. I'll guide you through the process and be on hand to help you every step of the way. I provide all the materials and tools. And you’ll walk away with a beautifully finished Windsor Chair!

All classes are taught by Peter at his workshop in Reydon, nr. Southwold. Participants learn the fundamentals of green woodworking (working with wood that has not been kiln dried) to build their own Windsor chair using one of Peter's original chair designs.

The process: Making a double bow Windsor Chair

Day 1 - Steam bending

First job is to bend two bows for your chair - you'll set these aside to dry and fettle and shape them later in the week when you build the upper carriage of the chair.

Day 2 - Lathe turning

Next is turning the the legs on the lathe. Don't worry if you haven't turned before, I'll guide you through the whole process.

Day 3 - Drilling

You'll set out the hole positions in the seat and use a hand brace to drill for the legs and arm posts, then ream the holes to create a tapered mortice to house the tenons.

The legs, stretchers and bows need drilling too. I'll guide you through the process to get the hole positions and depths right.

Day 4 - Carving

After drilling for the legs and arm posts you carve the seat using a range of tools; adze, travisher, spoke shave, planes, cabinet scrapers.

You'll plane and shave the two bows to their final shape.

Day 5 - Assembly

Bringing it all together, fitting the undercarriage, wedging the tenons in the seat, fitting the spindles and securing them with wedges. The chair is then finished by sanding the surfaces and applying Danish Oil.