BIPOC Introduction to Chairmaking: Make a Milking Stool with Charles Thompson
Join us for a hands-on, BIPOC centered workshop taught by Charles Thompson. Participants will learn the basics of staked furniture by way of making their own three-legged stool with hand tools. They’ll learn how to make tapered chair legs, either by hand plane or draw knife. They’ll figure out seat layout, splay angles, and discuss what those mean in relation to design and function. Lastly, they’ll saddle a seat and join them to the legs with a tapered mortise and tenon joint.
Please bring a lunch. If interested in housing accommodation, we have two tent platforms and a small cabin available. Please reach out to danielle@carpentersboatshop.org
Students aren’t required to bring anything but should feel welcome to bring any tools present on the tool list should they prefer to use their own.
Tool List:
- Jack plane
- Block plane
- Spokeshave
- Drawknife
- ⅝” chisel
- Travisher
- Japanese pull saw
- Sliding Bevel
- Electric drill or Bit Brace
- ⅝” Brad point drill bit or if possible a ⅝” center point or jennings bit for brace
- Dividers or compass
- 12.8 degree tenon cutter (I have one of these, but if you have one on hand we’ll use it too)
- Mallet
Charles Thompson makes chairs and carvings in a humble workshop on a hill in western Massachusetts. His work reflects on vernacular forms, and uses a mixed vocabulary of techniques, patterns, and materials that speak to the efficacy of hand work. He typically works straight from the log, splitting, bending, manipulating, then rejoining wood in a process that leverages personal intention and celebrates common materials. He is the recipient of the 2024 John D Mineck Fellowship. Visit his website here