by Elia Bizzarri | Mar 6, 2019 | How-To | 0 Comments
I love learning about trees and wood. Wood is both one of human's simplest and most complex raw materials; anyone with an ax can 'mine' wood, yet wood's chemical structure is so complex that there are many mysteries that still defy science. I...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jan 20, 2019 | How-To, No-Glue joints | 0 Comments
I've talked about this "good-no-good" joint a couple times before. Basically you turn it green, dry it for a couple days in a kiln and drive it into a green mortise. I first saw this joint in Jennie Alexander's collection of old busted chair parts on an 18th C. post...
by Elia Bizzarri | Nov 20, 2018 | Antique Chairs | 0 Comments
My girlfriend and I went up to Brandywine, PA over July 4th to visit friends. One day we walked to a 19th C. three story milk barn that had been converted to an enormous used book store. I spent more time looking at chairs than I did books - they had over a dozen...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jul 2, 2018 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, Classes, How-To | 4 Comments
I recently posted about drill bit varieties for chairmaking and got a number of comments about Wood Owl bits. I had never used them, but someone kindly sent me a couple to try. Here's what I found: There is no such thing as a perfect bit. Designing a drill bit is a...
by Elia Bizzarri | May 22, 2018 | Classes, How-To | 1 Comment
One of my students filmed this short video during his week in my shop building a Continuous Arm Windsor chair. It's fun for me to hear some of the random things I say during a week in the shop. Maybe you'll enjoy it too... I just had a cancellation in my August...
by Elia Bizzarri | May 9, 2018 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, How-To | 6 Comments
The following are my thoughts on drill bits for Windsor chairmaking. Bear in mind that I have used some of these bits (augers, bradpoints, etc.) daily for 15 years and other bits I have used infrequently. In these reviews, I am comparing well tuned examples of...
by Elia Bizzarri | Mar 16, 2018 | Antique Chairs | 2 Comments
My girlfriend Morgan and I went to an estate sale last weekend that had several early 19th C. Windsors, including this settee. I love looking at old chairs - there's so much to learn. It's pretty big, 60 or 70" wide. The seat is too deep for comfort...
by Elia Bizzarri | Jan 10, 2018 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, How-To | 5 Comments
Nearly any wood will work for a Windsor chair seat. It depends on how much work you are willing to do and how heavy a chair you want to move every time you finish dinner. I refuse to use anything but the highest quality and most easily worked materials available. In...
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 29, 2017 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, Chairs For Sale, Finishing, How-To | 6 Comments
The viscosity of milk paint directly affects the ease with which the paint can be applied and the smoothness of the painted surface. True milk paint only comes in powered form and must be mixed with water before use ("pre-mixed" milk paints are really acrylic...
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 8, 2017 | Classes, How-To | 0 Comments
I prefer to size stretcher tenons with a Turner's Gate (Sorby calls it a Sizing Tool). It's major advantage over dowel plates and tenon cutters is that the tenon shoulder can be easily removed using a skew, plus the tenons are always in line with each other. A...
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