Summer 2024
July 15-19

This six-day class is an introduction to the art of post and rung chairmaking under the direction of New York-based woodworker and educator Kelly Harris. Students will explore the thoughtful design of the iconic Jennie Alexander ‘’Make a Chair from a Tree’’ chair, through the process of building it. To learn more about Jennie please click here. This class is designed as a fun exploration into the aspects of green woodworking that allow us to shave, shape and bend material with ease, and to use varying levels of moisture to create interlocking, time-tested joinery.

Students will leave this six-day workshop with one completed chair and the ever-accessible foundational knowledge and practice of building it. Techniques rooted in Alexander's “Make a Chair from a Tree” book will be explored and practiced with an emphasis on working with wood through an informed understanding of its structure as a material. Students will learn about riving parts from lumber with the use of an axe and froe, shaving and shaping wood with drawknives and spokeshaves, steam bending rear posts and slats, and creating mortise and tenon joinery with chisels, spokeshaves and drill bits. In this class we will be using kiln dried ash (often more accessible than a green log) that is soaked in water to yield results that are comparable to those of a green log. 

Jennie Alexander wrote her book ‘’Make a Chair from a Tree'' so that anyone who wanted to could approach chair making. She studied the post and rung chair with an unrelenting depth of focus and related all of that information in a very accessible form. It is with the spirit and hope of accessibility that this class is centering on an LGBTQ+ classroom.

Students will be provided with a demonstration of seat weaving and the materials needed to weave the seat on their chair.

Tools

Required Tools

• Personal protective equipment

• Notebook

• Pen/pencil
  

Recommended Tools

• Drawknife

• Spokeshave

Prerequisites

This class is open to all skill levels. You do not need to have woodworking experience.

Class Information and Registration

Class runs from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday in Building 315 at Fort Worden. Map
Please read our What to Expect page for general information about the school.
Please also read our Registration Policy.

Class size: 10
Cost: $1,075
Materials Charge: $200