New BBC4 Series 'Genius of British Woodworkers'

[Yorkie]

Col,

I meant the (I suppose) Reproductions that were being made.

Alan

I was quite impressed by the Chippendale 'workshop' where they make Chippendale style chairs etc, and teach the craft skills that go with it. I think perhaps that's what you are referring to Alan. Though I marvel at the craftsmanship, I'm not a great fan of Chippendale style furniture - I much prefer 'Arts and Crafts' furniture. There's an outstanding permanent display in Cheltenham Museum and when we go down to Cornwall to visit an elderly aunt, we always stop off there.

I don't know if you spotted a young lad scooping out a chair seat of a Windsor chair. He was using a tool called a 'travisher' - a sort of convex plane held with both hands. It was most likely made by Tom Thackray who runs chair making courses at his workshop near Doncaster and exhibits and demonstrates at woodworking shows, and lectures in America and Japan at furniture schools. I attended one of his 5-day courses for my 60th birthday treat back in 1999. Most who attend have no skills of any sort, but after five days tuition with Tom, everyone takes home a chair that they’ve made under his expert guidance. (He only takes one person at a time, but if pushed will take two).

There’s a picture of his ‘travishers’ and a ‘rounding tool’ used for turning square timber to round for making chair spindles. He always has a waiting list for them.

http://www.tomthackraywindsorchairs.co.uk/Tools.htm

It was most enjoyable being trained in the techniques used 200 years ago, using mostly rudimentary tools. The spindles are made by knocking a length of 1” square ash into a jam chuck in the lathe headstock, with the other end running free, steadied by the hand (ouch!), then using rounding tools rather like a pencil sharpener run along the length of the wood to take the corners off, then using a smaller diameter rounder to reduce the diameter.

Windsor chairs were never made in Windsor – they were made by chair bodgers who coppiced woods and took them to Windsor market to sell, which is how they got their name. Originally they were commonly used as garden furniture rather than for indoor use, and were generally painted green rather than varnished. Painted chairs are rare and valuable because in the post war years, many were rubbed down and given a couple of coats of varnish, destroying forever the authenticity of the chairs. They became hugely popular in America.

The chairs use three steam-bent ‘bows’ – one for the back, one for the arms, and one underneath known as a ‘crinoline’.

As to woodcarving, there are some wonderful carved panels made by Yorkshire woodcarvers which make up a 'tableau' depicting WW2 scenes at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. (Free entry). Also of interest to woodworkers are English long-bow yew bow staves, which were the 'WMD' of their day, used at Agincort and elsewhere to devastating effect. (That's where the 'two fingered salute' originates from - to taunt and goad the French, English archers used to wave the two fingers they used to pull their bowstrings, because if caught, they had those fingers chopped off. How refined of the French - the English just used to club anyone they caught alive with a lump hammer. (allegedly!))