Build a Chippendale Style Connecticut Side Chair with Chuck Bender

Trapezoidal-seat chairs remain some of the most challenging woodworking projects because they employ so many different disciplines. Most Chippendale chairs involve tremendous carving skills in addition to profoundly-honed joinery skills. This side chair by 18^th century Norwich cabinetmaker Felix Huntington is simple yet elegant and is an excellent choice for intermediate and advanced woodworkers alike. There is enough to challenge any woodworker without being overwhelming. It’s nearly perfect for a woodworker’s first chair. As an added bonus- Chuck is offering an option to make a different style back splat- You may prefer the “interlaced” version rather than the “owl eyes”- it will involve a little more carving.

We will begin the week with a trip to Hartford’s Wadsworth Athenaeum to study the original chair. From this you can get a good sense of the actual chair and what is involved in its construction.  You’ll learn how to accurately measure an existing piece of furniture and how to transform that information into working drawings and patterns. The class then moves into constructing the back, carving the crest and other elements, and finishes with forming and fitting the angled joinery. Depending on the speed of the class you may get the majority of the work done in class but don’t expect to go home with a finished chair! Chuck Bender has been making high end period furniture for well over 40 years and is the 2021 Recipient of the Society of American Period Furniture Makers Cartouche Award. He runs his own school- The Acanthus Workshop in Pennsylvania.

Sign up today- Space is limited. Tuition: $945.00 plus materials ($215.00 plus tax)

Section 071122A: Monday – Saturday, July 11 – 16, 9:00am – 5:00pm 

 Call 860.647.0303 to sign up for any class on this website 

General tool list  (will open in a new window)  

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