The intersecting schedules of two different programs at the Sam Beauford Woodworking Institute in Adrian led to an unusual event in February: for one week, there were 27 artisans building 27 handmade Windsor chairs in the same building. These included 20 students who are part of a 40-week college program in furniture making; five students who traveled from across the country for a seven-day intensive course in making Windsor chairs; and SBWI founder Luke Barnett and instructor Noah Smith. 

Here, students start their journey by splitting a white oak log for spindles, using a wedge and hammer to ensure they are following the grain of the wood:

In the following photo, Joe Davin of Moutain Rest, South Carolina, shapes a white oak spindle that will become the back of his chair. The back will go into a steam chamber to make it soft enough that it can be bent around a form; from the moment the wood comes out of the steam chamber, the artist has about 60 seconds to get it bent around the form before it dries. After the back, spindles and legs are formed, they will go into a kiln which dries the pieces out, making them shrink slightly. Then, once they are inserted into the chair seat, normal atmospheric humidity will make the wood expand again, locking them in place so that no hardware is needed to hold the chair together.

Here, Craig Courter of Bloomfield Hills fits spindles into his chair seat on the final day of the weeklong Windsor chair intensive course: