Chairmaking woods

[Tyler Bancroft]

I'm planning on trying my hand at making some staked chairs/stools. I don't have easy access to green wood, so I'm considering seats out of big box store SPF (probably eastern white pine, around here) and legs out of riftsawn kiln-dried yellow birch or hard maple. Does anyone see any issues with that combination? (I have no experience with chairmaking, so would rather not end up sitting on the floor surrounded by shattered wood.)

[Prashun Patel]

That will work fine. Rift sawn legs won’t matter if you are turning them. Just make sure the legs are straight grained with no runout. Riving the billets is a good way to ensure this.

[Bruce Haugen]

Windsor chairs have been made for a couple hundred years using that combination of woods. Just be sure there is some decent thickness to that seat blank.

[Brian Holcombe]

I’d use rift/VG ash or oak for the legs, something that still rives ‘ok’ when dry. Maple doesn’t split well so I wouldn’t use it.

Box store pine is going to be difficult to carve, use a wood that carves well so it can be chopped out with ease.

Wood choice is extremely important in chair making, not just species but quality.

[Tyler Bancroft]

That will work fine. Rift sawn legs won’t matter if you are turning them. Just make sure the legs are straight grained with no runout. Riving the billets is a good way to ensure this.

No lathe, so just planning on shaping them with plane/spokeshave. I've never taken an axe to KD wood - planning to saw, hence rift-sawn.

As for wood choice - I have plenty of maple on hand, and no oak/ash, and dimensional SPF may not be perfect, but for first attempts (that will probably never reside anywhere but my workshop), I'm okay with that. (Plus I'm sure it'll make me appreciate green wood more if I can get my hands on some...)

Thanks to all who replied.

[Bruce Haugen]

No lathe, so just planning on shaping them with plane/spokeshave. I've never taken an axe to KD wood - planning to saw, hence rift-sawn.

As for wood choice - I have plenty of maple on hand, and no oak/ash, and dimensional SPF may not be perfect, but for first attempts (that will probably never reside anywhere but my workshop), I'm okay with that. (Plus I'm sure it'll make me appreciate green wood more if I can get my hands on some...)

Thanks to all who replied.

Rift-sawn won’t matter if the legs are round. It matters only in a flat orientation.

[Brian Holcombe]

Rift-sawn won’t matter if the legs are round. It matters only in a flat orientation.

It helps in preparation since you can better see how the grain runs through the billet. I don't have easy access to green lumber so I usually just take rift sawn material, strike a line going with the grain on two faces and saw along those lines.

[Bruce Haugen]

It helps in preparation since you can better see how the grain runs through the billet. I don't have easy access to green lumber so I usually just take rift sawn material, strike a line going with the grain on two faces and saw along those lines.

It might matter in preparation but it doesn’t matter at all in the appearance of a round leg. One orientation of that leg will always be rift grain.

[Prashun Patel]

I've never taken an axe to KD wood - planning to saw, hence rift-sawn.

I have not split maple, but I've split red oak, walnut, sycamore, cherry - all KD. You don't need an axe. You need a small hatchet and a deadblow hammer. You'll get extremely consistent, long grain this way.

Besides saving all that ripping work, riven lumber really makes using drawknifes, spokeshaves, and planes a joy. A key reason for tearout during planing is that we are almost always working with grain that has some small bit of run out. With riven stock, this is minimized. You can sometimes even plane/shave in either direction with great results. My two cents. I don't hear a lot of non-Windsor chair makers talk about using this method for their legs, but it's the best (for this hobbyist).

[Brian Holcombe]

It might matter in preparation but it doesn’t matter at all in the appearance of a round leg. One orientation of that leg will always be rift grain.

Certainly, I agree Bruce just making the point for anyone working from KD material like I do.

[Tony Shea]

I personally think you should try it. I agree with Brian about the big box store SPF being a tough wood to carve. It is going to splinter and chip out like crazy due to the extreme differences in early and late growth rings. Having said this I would still try it out. Just make sure your tools are very sharp.

I also think you will be more than fine using maple for your legs. Just try to use as straight as grain as possible. I don't own a lathe and made cigar style legs using hand tools only. It took a bit of time to get them perfect but is very doable. They came out amazing and I especially like the feel of the tiny facets left by the spokeshave. These facets are not noticeable by looking at the stools but can be felt while sitting and touching the legs.

I say just do it if nothing else for an exercise in windsor chair making. It will be a great learning experience and you may end up with a beautiful chair when you're done!

[Tom Bender]

Stools are normally very different from chairs.

Good idea to not expect much from your first chair. You might even plan to scrap it, that way you will not work so hard to get those first lessons. You can leave things uncorrected.

Your second chair will be much better, you'll keep that one.