Adirondack/rustic furniture

[Mike Holbrook]

I am on a quest to learn how to make furniture in the Adirondack or rustic style that is popular in the North GA mountains where we just bought a home. This furniture is made from actual "sticks" with the bark still on the wood. The little I know so far suggests that the joinery uses round mortises and tenons in the wood pieces to join them. I think simple round/cylindrical or tapered joints are used.

I have taken a couple chair classes that used similar joinery for connecting legs and spindles to seats and chair arms. I have also been referring to Pete Galbert's and Drew Langsner's books on making chairs and Chris Schwarz's new book "The Anarchists Design Book". They each do their joinery a little differently.

There are a number of tools used to make this joinery. I am wondering specifically how/with what tool to make the tapered mortises and tenons as I expect they are the strongest. Lee Valley makes several different reamers to make mortises and tenon cutters to cut the tenons. I am trying to figure out which of these tools might work the best, or if I should invest in one of the different custom made wood versions I see? I am hoping someone posting on the Neander pages has done this and has experience to relate.

[Mike Holbrook]

I believe hickory is the preferred wood/sticks. At least a good deal of what I have seen seems to be hickory. I went searching on our property and found a veritable plethora of small to medium sized hickory trees. I marked them with tape so I know which ones to take even after the leaves fall.

I am planing to make a low temperature drying kiln in the large garage shop at our new residence. I suspect sticks of the size needed should dry to a usable state in a week or two. I have a gallon of end grain sealer ready to seal ends with. I have a 5'x10' trailer and truck so moving sticks & logs to the new location want be a problem.

The wife plans to take a class on caining/weaving class, so she can make chair seats.

[Mel Fulks]

I don't think hickory is durable and I doubt the end grain sealer will help. It's possible that your information on the regional furniture is correct ,that it did not last long, then they just made more. And the interior furniture was rustic too.

[Phil Mueller]

There's a rustic furniture store in mid Michigan. You can look them up: Attic Treasures (Houghton Lake, MI). They use a variety of wood; walnut, pine, cedar, hickory, oak. It'll all hold up if constructed well. I think most is Amish made.

[Mike Holbrook]

Hope you are wrong about the durability of Hickory Mel. I spent a good while in a Welsh Stick Chair made at least partially from Hickory. It was made by John Brown, author of "Welsh Stick Chairs", when he was at Country Workshops teaching a class, many years before the class I took. It was a fairly old chair at the time and looked like it could have been made the week before. I think Hickory is used less for chair parts mostly because it does not bend well. The chairs I see in North Georgia are more post and rung designs which do not use bent wood. I think the bark on young hickory trees is relatively durable, which may be a reason it gets used, assuming I am right about the species.

There are small furniture manufacturers around where I will be living that make these chairs. Unfortunately I have been up there mostly on weekends and Mondays when they are closed. They sell this furniture at premium prices so I suspect it lasts at least decently. There are some nice restaurants in the area that have all the tables and chairs made in this style. There is some furniture that is simply nailed together that does not look real sturdy to me., which is why I am researching the joinery techniques.

I think the "style" is also called "Camp" after old Northern mountain retreats that had to be built from the materials found in the area. I have seen entire cabinet sets, bars...which had their entire surfaces covered in "sticks" with the bark on them. I searched for pictures to post but all the ones I find are stores selling commercial furniture. I will take pictures next chance I get so I have something to post.

Phil, there is an Amish furniture store in the area. I just have not been there when it was open yet.

[Phil Mueller]

Mike, here's a complete dinning set made from hickory (Attic Treasures Rustic Furniture). Their website says hickory is very strong, yet flexible.

Hickory%20Trestle%20Table.jpg

I think you're going to be just fine.

[Mel Fulks]

I was useing "durable" in the often seen sense of "rot resistant". Since the project was refered to as Adirondack ,and end grain sealer was mentioned I thought the subject was outdoor furniture.

[Joe Tilson]

Mike,
Back in July you talked of using what is available as wood supply. We have seen furniture made from rhododendron and what we call, peach laurel. Laurel has a bark similar to dogwood, but a little smoother. I would use the wood available in your area. The furniture may not last outside for very long, a year or two, and you get to find out what works in your area. Then again, you can build fresh furniture and keep up your skills. Best wishes.

[Karl Andersson]

If I understand what you want to make, do a web search for "twig furniture" or "Twig chair".

I've seen a number of late Victorian/ early 20th century American "rustic' furniture, mostly intended for porch or garden use, and the joints were often untapered round mortises with nails through them to hold the joint - but those usually had many failed joints and repairs. Wedged tenons would probably last longest, but I've only repaired old mistakes, not made new. A lot of it was made with willow as well- both straight and bent.

Amazon has a book titled "rustic construction by W. Ben Hunt" - it's a reprint of a 60-year-old book, so it may have some good neander tool advice. The related books at the bottom show there are a number of modern books on the topic.

have fun,
Karl

[Mike Holbrook]

I probably should have qualified what I was thinking about better Mel & Karl. The wife would like a rustic table and chairs in the dinning room of the cabin/house, which is my current target project. Phil's picture above is closer to what I am thinking, although we are thinking woven fabric within a mortise & tenon frame. I would like to build Windsors but I have had some issues with my hands and I am currently trying to build up tougher skin doing easier projects.

We made a trip to a place we knew made this type furniture. They were closed so we were checking out what was on the porch and peering through windows. I am specifically thinking about making the particular pieces we want, for the inside of the house. There is a 40 foot back porch on the house that has a roof and is screened. This area is outside but protected from the wind rain, snow and sun. We plan to spend a good deal of time on the porch/outside. I agree that it looks like a good deal of the furniture of this type made for outside use is made more for short term use and then replacement. I think some of it is made more for decoration than function too.

The sealer is more to reduce splitting until the wood gets dry enough to use. It is often used to keep "green" wood logs green longer too.

I am trying to apply techniques I learned in Windsor/Welsh Stick chair classes and general woodworking to the construction of "rustic" furniture. I am currently living on 12 acres that has an abundance of wood of many types on it. I am harvesting a little to take to the new residence, which is only about an hour North of where we live now. There is an actual saw mill near the new home that I plan to buy rough lumber and logs from. I am interested in the rhododendron and laurel growing at the new place more for lamps, hanging light fixtures, coat racks and to embellish stair cases. There is hardwood at the new location too, but Hemlock is the dominant species. Unfortunately the Hemlocks in the area have been plagued by disease.

Karl, yes twig furniture is another name I hear in regard to this type furniture. I think the twig work may actually use smaller limbs/trees though. The wife got a copy of "Rustic Construction" by W. Ben Hunt, Tauton's "Rustic Furniture Basics" by Doug Stowe and Dan Mack's book "Rustic Furniture Workshop". Although there is construction discussion in these books the joinery discussion leaves a little to be desired. They seem more interested in artistic design than joinery.

[Mel Fulks]

Mike, that is good clarification. I look forward to seeing some finished pieces. Please take a look at photos of exterior pieces made from still growing trees ,there are some fanciful examples. Consider Osage orange ,I have just one that I grew from seed. I've been cutting stalks from it and saving them for some kind of exterior seat. The plan is to use a drawknife to remove bark and sapwood before build.