Step 1: Choosing the Wood You choice of wood widely determines how the final product will look. Some commonly used woods are: walnut, cherry and maple.
Step 2: Peeling the Bark Bark is peeled from the hickory log to weave the chair seat.
Step 3: Splitting Parts Chair parts must be split from the log using a sledge hammer, wedges, a glut and froe..
Step 4: Shape Chair Parts Using a shaving horse, the chair parts are shaped using draw knives and spoke shaves.
Step 5: Steaming and Bending
Home made steamer used in bending the back legs and slats.
The back legs and slats are now steamed and bent into the shapes that fit the chair type.
A great deal of pressure is require to bend the back legs
The Dominy Style Bending Form from the 1740’s is also used to bend the slats.
Step 6: Bent Lamination Bent lamination is used to bend the rockers into shape.
Step 7: Weaving Hickory Bark Chair Seats
The seat cushion is filled with fine wood shavings and used between the upper and lower weave..
Warp being wrapped on chair frame.
Weft is being woven in a Herringbone pattern.
Clamps are applied to the side of the seat during the initial drying process.