STL294: The Chair Geeks – FineWoodworking

question 1:
From Rex:
Over the next two years, I plan to visit museums in New England to see furniture from the period. You want to prepare a tool bag with tools and checklists to help you efficiently observe, obtain, and document the features, features, and dimensions of your selected furniture and prepare reproduction drawings for use.

George Walker, in Copying Museum Works (FWW No. 186, September/October 2006), describes obtaining permits for, observing, measuring, documenting, and reproducing drawings of tall case clocks in Ohio. Excellent discussion of the processes and tools used in preparation.

Technology, conditions and museum practices such as the common use of mobile phones with cameras and flashlights change over time.

Will the panel discuss the tools, best practices and procedures used to inspect, measure and document the furniture while in the museum?

	Copying Museum Artwork Bring the right tools, enter with respect, and go home with a precise plan.
	Measuring period objects Many museums, collectors and antique dealers welcome furniture makers looking to learn from and even replicate furniture, but be sure to use your time and tools wisely.

Question 2:

From Peter:
I took a chair class exactly one year ago. I made a modern Windsor chair. I am in the process of building more pieces using the techniques I learned in that class. I created a bending rig and followed the template exactly. My elbows came out a long time ago, but I noticed something… I feel like the bend in the chair I made a year ago has loosened. The arm of the chair is about an inch wider than my new bent (even when I put the template over the original chair, it’s made from the same template. The chair still looks nice and looks nothing) is wrong or out of place. It’s just wider now. Is this common? Is it common for the elbows/crest rails on steam bent Windsor chairs to loosen over time? If so, is there any way to deduce how? The wood for the chair is kiln-dried ash, but I made the new bow out of both kiln-dried ash and Greenribn’s white oak.

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