Nantucket Fan Back

Hello Folks,

This chair is not complete but as complete as I was able to get it for travel. I came home yesteday from the Windsor Institute feeling refreshed and glad that I was able to attend this class. There were only seven of us in a building that comfortably houses 16 students, which made for plenty of room to spread out and build our chairs. This is a great experience if you are able to save enough to attend one of Mike’s classes. We were the first class for 2009 and I hope for Mike’s sake that this class size is not a sign of the times.

I especially enjoyed this class because the Nantucket is in my opinion the most comfortable Windsor chair. The seat is wide, there is no arm that supports the spindles, and the arms curve makes for a comfortable arm rest. The build was not difficult because of the chair classes I had taken previously, but getting the arms just right was a challenge. Due to the grain orientation of the arm stock, and the pressure that needs to be applied to the stiles with the arm, it is necessary to get a fit that does not stress the arm side to side. The spindles or the arm stumps cannot put any twisting pressure on the arms or they could split. Unfortunately, I was able to witness this first hand as my benchmate had his arm split during installation. This is very disheartening because there is quite a bit of effort put forth carving the knuckles to match the opposite arm. Fortunately, he was able to salvage the arm with some glue and clamps. Seeing this take place will make me very cautious about the test fit of my arms before installation.

I hope you enjoy the pics as much as I enjoyed the class. When my chair is complete I will post more pics. It may be some time from now if my arms don’t cooperate!

-- Fred.... Poconos, PA ---- Chairwright in the making ----