Building Gragg’s “Elastic” Chairs — Harvesting the Wood 1
Much like the recently concluded account of replicating the early 19th Century legislator’s writing desk, over the next few months I will run a series of posts recounting the c.1810 Gragg “Elastic” chairs I am currently replicating in the shop. Though I have posted on Gragg chairs several times over the life of this blog I am hoping this series will renew your interest in them.
The story for these chairs (I am building two commissioned by clients and another for myself) goes back to a couple years after the completion of the original replica I finished in 2011. I published the proceedings of the project in that year’s American Period Furniture, the flagship publication from the Society of American Period Furniture Makers, you can read that article here. I am still pleased with that article but en toto these posts should be dramatically more complete in both my descriptions of work, with the continued refinement of technique and process, and my reflections on the challenges of making these chairs.
While reverse-engineering Gragg’s methods I learned a lot about not only how he worked, a combination of sinuous elegance and brute force, but also the kind of wood that would be best suited for making these iconic chairs. Like Gragg I confirmed the material that suited the project best was something like air dried red oak from very large trees (he used red oak, white oak, ash, and IIRC hickory). I remain so fascinated by the form that I continue exploring other routes to the same end point and will comment on those paths as appropriate.
A bit over a year after finishing my first full-blown Gragg my neighbor Bob told me he was having several over-mature oak trees removed from his yard. Though still mostly-healthy their decline was underway and it was only a matter of time before they became an imminent threat to his house. When the lumberjacks arrived I asked if the boles could be sectioned into five or six foot pieces and left intact on the ground for me to harvest. I had to be elsewhere for much of the day so I did not get to watch them bring these behemoths down.
When I returned home later that day I inspected the bolts with anticipation, and spoke with Bob (and his teen-aged grandchildren who were lounging around) that I would be arriving after dinner to begin the harvesting. I’m not suggesting the yutes did not believe me when I showed up with a sledge and a bag of steel wedges and wooden gloats and told them I would be turning these 5,000 pound hunks into manageable pieces from which I would eventually make chairs, but truth be told the looks on their faces indicated they did not believe me. Over the next couple of days their eyes bugged wide more than once.
Finally got to see a Gragg over the weekend at Historic Deerfield in Deerfield, MA. It looks more daunting in person than any photo can portray. Quite the challenge.
Yes, it is a compelling artifact/artwork. I find the challenge invigorating. I recall being asked by my videographer how many people were building these chairs today. I replied that counting me, the answer was two.
It’s on my list. Are there decent drawings available? I believe Gragg patented his chair, so I didn’t know if the US Patent Office would have any valuable info.
To my knowledge the only set of complete drawings for the chair are the ones I made, based on my full scale tracings. I am contemplating making these available after the completion of the “Make A Gragg Chair” video.
Why “very large trees”?
So that the grain is as straight and homogeneous as possible.
Hi Don,
Will you also be addressing in this series of posts the repair of the Gragg chair that lard butt broke?
-Patrick
Absolutely. I started that thread of the fabric a while ago and will take it up again.