When I first saw the Roorkee Chair in an episode of the Woodwright’s Shop, I knew it was a project that would go on the build list. I later bought Chris Schwarz’ book Campaign Furniture and read through it several times. I really can’t recommend the book enough. It explores a forgotten style whose influence can be found throughout contemporary furniture. I have plans to build several pieces in the style, including a campaign chest/secretary. I decided to make the…
After a quick detour this weekend to participate in the Turn for the Troops event held at Woodcraft stores, it was back to the garage to try to make some progress on the chess table. I started to turn the post for the chess table. As planned, I decided to use some 4x4s leftover from building a cat tree about four years ago. The wood is good and dry, and more importantly, is the right size to work with. Unfortunately,…
I recently watched Into Great Silence, a documentary about the lives of Carthusian monks at the Grande Chartreuse monastery in France. Each monk lives as a hermit in their own cell within the monastery. Each cell includes their living area as well as a small work room. This workbench appeared for only a few seconds in the film. Unfortunately, the quality of the video I was watching was not great and this was the best that I could do for…
I’ve been turning the post for the chess table inefficiently. I’ve generally done one step at a time on the post: bringing to round, turning the tenon, cutting down the area that will receive the sliding dovetails, etc. Unfortunately, I bungled the layout and won’t be able to use it in the final table. Since all wood is good wood (so far), I decided to use this piece as a chance to practice skew work. Long planing cuts were the…