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Thomas Jefferson Swivel Windsor Chair

comments (1) May 18th, 2010 in Reader's Gallery

PineHillPrimitives PineHillPrimitives, member
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Thomas Jefferson Swivel Windsor Chair. I made this pretty faithfully to the one Jefferson designed and used to write the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. I used plans made by Craig Bentzley and Robert Whitley. It is all made using traditional tools and joinery. I split Red Oak and Maple logs to get several of the pieces and then using a drawknife and spokeshave to shape the back spindles and crest rail. The crest rail is steam bent and shaped to a very tight radius that mimics the seat diameter. The seat is carved out using an adze, inshave, travisher, and a spokeshave. The Chair is finished with a red milk paint under a black milk paint, followed by Linseed oil, and finally a top coat of wax.


Design or Plan used: Robert Whitley/ Craig Bentzley
posted in: Reader's Gallery, tool, chair, period interpretation, carving, tenons, wood turning, maple, steam bending, shellac, windsor, poplar, oil, red oak
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Comments (1)

PineHillPrimitives PineHillPrimitives writes: I've had several requests for construction details of my chair. If you're interested, full-scale plans are available from Craig Bentzley (cbentzley@verizon.net).
Posted: 5:40 pm on August 13th

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