by Elia Bizzarri | Apr 15, 2020 | Chairmaking Tools and Supplies, Spoon Bits | 7 Comments
How do you get a spoon bit to keep from wandering? What's the best way to prevent tear-out with a spoon bit? We are all victims of a post-industrial mindset and we all ask these questions. But these questions miss the point. Lets look at some photos...
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 24, 2019 | Antique Chairs, How-To | 0 Comments
This post continues my adventures as I figure out how to attach the arm to my copy of a 1800's writing arm chair for Williamsburg's Working Wood in the 18th Century conference. My first post is here if you missed it. The old chair had the post notched to receive the...
by Elia Bizzarri | Oct 22, 2019 | Antique Chairs, How-To | 2 Comments
I am copying this 1810-1820's KY writing arm chair for the Colonial Williamsburg symposium in January. Seth and I spent two days measuring and photographing it at Williamsburg's furniture conservation lab, and now two months later I'm trying to piece it all back...
by Elia Bizzarri | Aug 2, 2019 | How-To | 1 Comment
I got a load of green white pine seats a few months ago and Seth and I stacked them for drying. Here's what we did:
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...
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