When it comes to slouchy comfort, there are few chairs that answer that call better than the Morris chair. But when it’s 70 degrees, the sun is shining and you just want to get out of the house, you need a special Morris chair. An all-weather Morris chair. Say no more! This is the newly-updated … Read more
My favorite project is usually the last one I’ve finished, or the one I’m about to start. The cover project for the April 2011 issue of Popular Woodworking Magazine will likely stay a favorite for a long, long time. It’s a reproduction of a Gustav Stickley No. 369 bent arm chair. Gus knew what he … Read more
Combine five 2x4s, a handful of screws and a long afternoon to build a handsome and sturdy sitting spot for your deck or garden. By Christopher Schwarz & Kara Gebhart Pages: 80-83 From the April 2004 issue #140 Buy this issue now My father always has had a knack for doing more with less. He … Read more
A one-of-a-kind table reappears after 100 years. By Robert W. Lang Pages: 56-61 From the November 2006 issue #158 Buy this issue now Most original Gustav Stickley furniture can be easily identified by model number. This was, after all, factory-made furniture and pieces were designed to be made in multiples. When you come across an … Read more
Steam-bending or bent laminations can be used to make this eye-catching design.
By Michael Fortune
Page: 26-33
From the February 2011 issue #188
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The design of this table is part of a series that I revisit from time to time. The original concept for the series was based on a pinwheel (a common example of which is a child’s pinwheel on a stick that blows in the wind.)
This shape lends itself to repeating one design element several times then attaching them together, an efficient approach when making furniture. So far I’ve made several different stools, cabinets and even massive boardroom tables based on the same pinwheel motif. Generally speaking, I come up with an idea then problem-solve how to do it, often relying on the well documented history of furniture making in books and magazines.
For this table I revisited a sketchbook that is 25 years old. At the time I had completed a commission for stacking
tables with Australian lacewood tops and steam-bent cherry frames. In my design exploration there were several sketches that I thought had some value but didn’t work for that particular commission so so I filed them away for use at a later date. My old sketchbooks have become an idea bank that I’ll make a withdrawal from when I’m casting about for something to make.
Web Site: See more of Michael’s work on his web site.
Web Site: Find out when Michael is teaching at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking.
To Buy: Purchase Michael’s CDs on various aspects of design and construction.
In Our Store: The “Sourcebook of Modern Furniture.” Read more
Born on a bayou, this sought-after American table is spiced with both French and Canadian influences. By Christopher Schwarz Pages: 66-73 From the February 2007 issue #160 Buy this issue now Until recently, Creole-style furniture was a bit obscure, known mostly to a handful of furniture collectors who specialized in pieces made in the Mississippi … Read more
Inspired by the agricultural tools of rural England, this massive oak table is awash in hand-worked details.
By Don Weber
Pages: 60-65
From the February 2009 issue #174
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As a young fellow growing up in the countryside of Wales, I clambered over many a farm wagon, climbed into many a loft in barns that were jointed and pegged, and tripped over many a hay rake on my adventures.
I have always appreciated the simple, utilitarian, yet pleasing design of the vernacular woodworking of the countryside. My inspiration for furniture forms has always been the work of the wheelwright and coach maker. And the inspiration for how to build things came in part from Sidney Barnsley and Ernest Gimson.
Barnsley and Gimson were men of the Cotswolds school of craft architects. They were part of a group of London architects who moved to the countryside in the 19th century and set up what is known today as the English Arts & Crafts movement (along with William Morris at Kelmscott Manor).
These free thinkers broke away from convention and began to design not only the buildings, but the furnishings as well. And they turned to the rural countryside for their inspiration.
The hay rake table built for Rodmarton Manor was an example of how Gimson and Barnsley adopted details from farm wagons, carts and farming implements that were still in use in the Cotswolds.
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