Ladder Back Chair | Eric Cannizzaro

A great introduction to the basics of chair making using air-dried wood.

In this six-day class, students will learn the fundamentals of Ladderback chairmaking.

Using a mix of hand and machine processes, you will make Eric’s two-slat side chair, with an emphasis on how these processes can be used to make a chair of your own design.

For most of the class, you will have a drawknife or a spokeshave in your hand, shaping the tapered octagonal legs, rungs, and slats of your chair. You will also learn how to use a drill press to bore rung mortises and a router to cut slat mortises.

While green woodworking principles will be central to the class, we will use dry pre-bent leg and slat blanks to facilitate the build. You will get hands-on practice with multiple steam bending demonstrations that cover a variety of ways to bend and dry material.  You’ll also learn about light bulb kilns for drying wood and managing moisture content.  In addition to moisture content, you will also gain a deeper understanding of grain orientation and how it impacts every joint.
At assembly, every joint will consist of a super-dried tenon and an air-dried mortise.

Resources on finishing and seat weaving will be provided for students to do at home.

Key Learning Points:

• Material selection – log vs. board
• Shaping with the drawknife and spokeshave 
• Steam bending
• Kiln use -moisture content and joinery 
• Sharpening – drawknife, spokeshave, scraper, drill bit