Updated April 5, 2020
Building a Boggs side chair usually begins with selecting and milling a log. This approach puts you in control of the process all the way back to the log. If you do not have access to logs or a sawyer I will talk about alternatives at the end of this post. There are a variety of wood species that work well for this chair—maple (soft or hard), walnut, cherry, white oak, red oak, ash, and hickory. Since chair wood requires very straight grain I look for logs with these characteristics:
very straight with no bends, as close to a cylinder as possible, although all logs will taper from one end to the other
the furrows in the bark should run straight up the log. If the furrows spiral up the log it is often an indication that the grain within is twisted
no indication on the surface of any large branches
15″ to 18″ minimum diameter, larger if possible
Here is a nice walnut log ready to be sawed.
I have been very fortunate to develop a relationship with a local sawyer, Rick Herbine of Herbine Hardwoods, in Leesburg, Virginia. He knows the species and characteristics I am looking for and lets me know when he has a log that matches them. Then at his mill he saws the log while I’m there so that I get exactly the cuts I’m looking for.
It is critical to have straight long grain so the first step, after selecting a log, is setting it on the mill and leveling the centers at each end relative to the path of the blade. This is very important as it ensures that, at the center of the log, the board is cut exactly parallel to the long grain. Here is an oak log that has been sawed in half. This log has a pronounced taper from the larger butt end on the left to the smaller diameter of the end on the right. If you look under the right end you’ll see a block raising it up so it’s center is at the same height above the bed as the end on the left. The surface of this cut is now parallel with the long grain of the log.
In addition to straight long grain, the other goal when cutting the log is to get boards with the correct end grain orientation for specific chair parts such as slats and rear legs. Slats use quarter sawn wood (growth rings roughly 90° relative to the width of the board), and rear legs use wood that is rift sawn (growth rings that are 45° or less relative to the width of the board). The grain orientation does not matter for front legs and rungs—those parts are round in cross section and can be rotated to the proper grain orientation at the time of rung mortising or assembly.
Here’s how I mill a log into boards.
If you have any doubt about your ability to cut accurately and without waste you should consider milling the boards at the thicker dimensions shown above.
After milling slats from quarter sawn boards and rear legs from rift sawn boards there is usually wood left over that can be used for front legs and rungs.
I generally leave the bark edge on the boards—the best and straightest wood runs parallel to the bark edge which becomes a reference when milling leg, slat and rung blanks.
An 8/4 or 10/4 board that is 18″ wide and 8ʹ long is very heavy, especially when it is green. Recently, on thicker boards I’ve been having the sawyer cut the boards lengthwise down the center along the pith and cross cut them to length. This reduces a large board to several smaller pieces which are much easier to handle. For an 8ʹ to 9ʹ long board I cross cut in half to 4ʹ to 4-1/2ʹ. For a 6ʹ long board I cross cut at 4ʹ and 2ʹ. And for a 10ʹ long board I usually cross cut two boards at 4ʹ long and one at 2ʹ long. You can get any chair part out of a 4ʹ long board. And you can get rungs, front legs, and slats from a 2ʹ long board.
Once the boards are milled you’ll need to sticker them and let them dry. For wood that will be steam bent the ideal moisture content range is from 12% to 20%. You can accelerate the drying for rear leg blanks by cutting rough blanks, roughly 2″ x 2″ x 48″ and letting those dry. The exposed wood on the sides will aid in drying more quickly. If you must use wood that has a moisture content higher than 20% be sure to add about 1/16″ in dimension to the width and height of the bending blank to account for additional shrinkage.
Here is one of the boards milled from the walnut log—beautiful, straight, long grain that will be perfect for chair parts.
Milling your own boards from logs that you select is the best way to get great chair wood. But what is the alternative if you can’t find a sawyer to work with. For rear legs and slats it is best to find a source of air dried lumber. It is possible to bend kiln dried wood and I will be experimenting with that in the near future, but air dried wood, if you can get it, is always the better option. When using kiln dried wood be sure to look for boards with straight long grain and the correct end grain orientation—quarter sawn for slats and rift sawn for rear legs. Also, with any boards with a sawn edge, don’t assume that the long grain runs parallel to the sawn edge. Always look at the long grain of the board and if necessary saw a new reference edge parallel to the long grain.
Here are two sources of chair wood. They will both will ship wood if you are not close to them.
Herbine Hardwoods, Leesburg, Virginia. Rick Herbine is wonderful to work with and over the years I have bought many logs, all milled to my specs. Take a look at his web site or give him a call at 703-771-3067.
Robert Carran, Asheville, North Carolina. Robert used to work for Brian and has an intimate understanding of milling logs for the best chair wood. Give him a call at 828-319-7756.
Side Chair Build Series Links:
Next Post: Milling Blank Parts, Part 1 — Rear Legs
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