Fernhurst Furnace 2009 - The Chairmaker

Stephen Allberry makes fine handmade chairs and furniture from his home workshop in Rogate near Petersfield. His chairs really are handmade, he doesn't use any power tools. He's not too difficult to find, indeed you can't miss it, his polelathe is in his small front garden right on the A272 as you pass through the village.




Stephen brought a selection of chairs and stools to the show, the armchair at the back is primarily made from Hawthorn with cherry for the arms. The wood he uses is all local and quite often what would otherwise be waste from woodland management. You can see from these chairs that Stephen likes to let the natural shape of the wood work with the design, and the resulting chair is very comfortable, indeed almost too comfortable - if you sit in it you might not get up again in a hurry.



I was very interested in the method Stephen has developed to join the elm bark strips when weaving the seating of these post and rung chairs. We had to turn the chair upside down for a better look. I'm developing the strange habit of turning peoples chairs upside down for a closer look these days. The ends of the bark strips are joined in the same way as leather with a slot and key approach, which works whilst the bark is supple and once dried is rock solid. Much neater than using knots.



When I interrupted him he was working on a pair of back legs for another side chair using a very neat miniature spoke-shave.



Here you get a better appreciation for the size of the spoke shave as Stephen and Dave discuss it's merits.

You can find Stephen and his chairs on his website Fyning Unplugged.