Last year, after attending a two-day woodworking conference in Williamsburg, Limond Grindstaff returned to his office in a frenzy of excitement. Nationally reknowned chair-maker Curtis Buchanan had been a featured presenter, and Grindstaff could not stop talking about it with his co-workers.
"The focus was on Windsor chairs, and Curtis Buchanan demonstrated how he makes the chairs, and it was absolutely fascinating," said Grindstaff, who lives in Great Falls with his wife.
Grindstaff recently retired from his position as Senior Vice President of Network Engineering at Nextel/Sprint, and his co-workers — remembering his enthusiasm — all pitched in to buy him a chair-making class with Curtis Buchanan.
Grindstaff returned from the 10-day workshop last weekend, and said that his experience had been "fantastic."
"The beauty is that you're using old tools, old drill bits, spoke shavers and drawing knives, and it's just so much more relaxing working with wood, and not beating it up with power tools," said Grindstaff. "You can actually feel the wood and tell when it's cracking, so it's really nice and pleasant."
THE FIRST ever Traditional Windsor Chairmaking Workshop was held at North Bennet Street School, a trade school in Boston, Mass. Twelve students, including Grindstaff, hand-built a Comb Back armchair under the instruction of Buchanan, who has been building chairs for three decades. Buchanan's chairs are in the permanent collection at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home.
"Building these chairs is a big challenge, especially doing one in just 10 days," said Hubert Jessup, director of external relations for North Bennet Street School. "The greenwood is the key to the technique."
The students followed the chair building model designed by Curtis Buchanan, which uses a combination of contemporary and traditional 18th century tools and unseasoned greenwood.
"It's amazing to see this technique and think that people used to do this 100 years ago," said Grindstaff. "You realize how smart they were."
Grindstaff said that he was also amazed that many of the old Windsor chairs did not even require glue. Chair-makers would use a dry hole, allowing the wood to expand naturally with moisture. This would cause the wood fibers to crush each other and form a bond.
GRINDSTAFF said that he has always liked working with wood because he appreciates the process of creating something.
"It's just so totally enjoyable," said Grindstaff. "You start working with wood and your hands, and you're using your chisel, and the wood is peeling back, and it's just a total state of Zen — it's so relaxing."
Grindstaff has only recently gotten into making furniture. He started out making Queen Anne stools, and is now finishing up a Chippendale chair which is made from rough cut lumber that has been kiln dried. Creating a Chippendale chair is a very different process from building the highly styled Windsor chair.
"They're two totally different styles, but they're both fun," said Grindstaff. "I wouldn't say one is more primitive than the other."
Windsor chairs were prominent in 18th century American history. Thomas Jefferson used them, and members of the Continental Congress sat on Windsor chairs when they met in Philadelphia's Independence Hall in 1776 to deliberate the Declaration of Independence.
Grindstaff said that he finds chair making to be a pleasantly challenging task.
"You want to make a chair that will allow you to sit in it and not break, but that also looks good, so in my opinion, the chair is the most difficult thing to make."