Step-By-Step: Windsor Chair (Part 2)

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After completing all of our legs, stretchers and arm supports in Part 1, its time to focus on the
seat.
There are very few things in life that are more satisfying than making your own chair. From the
design to the making, the fruits of your labour are truly rewarded.

About this project

This four part project will give a step-by-step instructions on how to make a traditional Windsor
chair. It will list all tools and materials you will need at the beginning of each part. Good luck and
happy making!

Before we get started

Undertaking the construction of a Windsor chair is no mean feat and having some experience of
woodturning and working with hand tools is essential. We not only offer a complete 5 day Windsor
chair course, where you take home a chair at the end of the week, we also offer two-day courses
on Woodturning so you can hone your skills in advance.

Tool menu Making and drilling the seat

You will need the following tools to complete part 2:

Bandsaw

Pillar drill

12.7mm Forstner Bit

25mm Forstner Bit

4mm Wood Twist Drill Bit

Adze or Angle Grinder

2 x G Clamps

Arbortech TurboPlane Blade

Saburrtooth Carbide Discs

Spokeshave

Pullshave

Cabinet Scrapers

Japanese Rasps

Mirka Ceros Sander

Abranet Abrasives Disks

Abrasives

No 4 Smoothing Plane

Materials list

2 thick by 19 square piece of ash

MDF for the templates (sizing as above?)

9mm thick MDF half sheets are available

Step 1 Create two MDF seat templates

Mark out seat shape on piece of MDF to desired size and design

Create an inner template for seat for shaping

Cut out with bandsaw

Mark out sight lines on template (the best way to do this is look at a chair you like the look
of and copy it)

Mark and drill 4mm holes in template for where you want your legs

Draw around template on the ash seat blank

Step 2 Cutting seat shape

Using a bandsaw, cut out your design, 6 tpi blade is recommended due to tight radius around
seat

Step 3 Make a hinge board jig for drilling angles

Out of ply rig up a hinge board

Cut angled wedges (these angles can be different depending on preference)

7 deg for front legs (Used on our chair)

20 deg for back legs (Used on our chair)

13 deg for arms

17 deg for side and back sticks

For the board you will need

2 x 500mm square ply

2 x standard hinges

Step 4 Sight lines and transferring them to your seat blank

Sight lines are very important in the design of your chair, getting them wrong can lead to a wobbly
eyesore. Angles of the legs are purely personal preference, find a chair you like and copy those
angles. Dont have a preference? We use 7 degrees for the front legs and 20 degrees for the back
legs.

Place template on seat, find the centre and transfer markings on the seat

Use a bradawl and the template as a guide, mark centre for the leg holes

Using a rule, join up the markings with a pencil line, join lines through bradawl marks

Set depth on pillar drill

Line up sight lines with 25mm forstner bit

Set hinge board at 7 deg and clamp seat to the board (Used on our chairs) drill front leg holes

Set hinge board at 20 deg and drill back holes (Used on our chairs)

Step 5 Shaping the seat

Traditionally the bulk of the material is removed with an adze, the modern (and quicker) way would
to be to use an angle grinder and an Arbortech TurboPlane blade. Tidy and smooth with
Saburrtooth fine carbide discs

Step 6 Continue shaping seat with hand tools

Firstly with pullshaves

Secondly with spokeshaves

Thirdly with cabinet scrapers

Finally, using a Japanese rasp, round off all the edges on reverse of the seat

Step 7 Sand seat back to finish

Using a random orbit sander sand the seat back

Start with 240 grit and finish with a 320 grit

Of course you can do this by hand, but you will need to start at 150 grit and raise to 400 grit. It will
also take you 3-4 hours longer!

Step 8 Drilling arm holes and sticks

We space our arms and sticks 47mm apart, this is again a personal preference depending on the
look of your chair and how many sticks you want.

Clamp hinge board at 13 deg using wedge on pillar drill

Using 12mm Forstner bit drill both arm holes and side sticks

Replace arm wedge with 17 deg stick wedge

Using the same bit drill all back sticks