Modern cabinetwork furniture and fitments

Considering the importance of the Craft of Cabinetmaking, it is surprising that no work has been published dealing fully with its modern developments and progress. During the last twenty-five years remarkable changes have taken place in methods of production as well as in taste and fashion as they affect house furnishing, and to-day the term "Cabinetmaking" covers a much wider scope in craftsmanship than it did formerly. It has been the aim of the authors to produce a book which illustrates step by step the practice of the craft in all its applications, from the making of a joint, to the preparation, setting out, and complete construction of the numerous and various types of furniture and woodwork which the Cabinetmaker is called upon to make. They have also endeavoured to combine essential features in good design and construction with modern processes and materials.

It is hoped that the book will meet the needs of the Craftsman and others engaged in the trade, as well as a numerous and increasing public interested in furniture. Much of the material has been prepared in connection with lectures given during the past few years at the L.C.C. Shoreditch Technical Institute.

The craft of chair making, embracing, as it now does, settees, couches, divans, and numerous small and arm chairs, is most comprehensive, and is usually practised as a distinct craft. It is divided into sections, such as stuff-over frame work, arm and small chairs. Many cabinet shops, however, still require the cabinetmaker to be skilled also in chair work, which is then practically confined to the reproduction of old examples, seats, and framing, occurring in domestic and ship fitments.

The history of chairs dates back to the earliest times, but it was not until the fifteenth century that they became an accepted type of furniture. To enumerate all the kinds of chairs and seats, ranging from the rude forms of primitive stools to the elaborate settees, divans, and chairs of the present date, and even including thrones and chairs of state, would be a long task, but the chronological list given in this chapter (Plate L.) may be consulted for general reference.

Identification of Chairs. - To recognise the development of form and detail in chairs, a study of historic examples is, of course, necessary, and it should prove a rich source of information as to their respective styles. Certain typical shapes, generally the outcome of changing conditions in social life, custom, or dress, are always characteristic of the period. The diagrams given on p. 313 will be found of some assistance in determining dates and styles of chairs produced under the best masters.

The Jacobean chair back with lunette shaped top rail and acorn pendant is typical of that period. Frequently the backs were of solid stuff carved with semicircular headed panels, and also with spindles or pillars as illustrated. James II. high back chairs with cane seats and backs are a further development of Charles II. chairs, a period which marks the introduction of scroll form carvings and twisted turnings. Queen Anne chairs and settees have "centre splads" in the back. This is the most prolific period for chairs of singular beauty and proportion, and is essentially an English style. Queen Anne or Georgian types have also been aptly described as "of great purity." Chippendale brought about the next important development in chairs, and the evolution of the Queen Anne splad is clearly shown in his examples. The introduction of mahogany proved superior to those woods previously used, and elaborate carved "open work splads" (see riband back) were possible. Chippendale chairs always have the splad or centre part connected to the seat rail, part of which is visible above the seat (see also wheat sheaf pattern). Hepplewhite introduced curved backs of heart, shield, and oval forms, with tapering and spade toe legs. Sheraton reverted to a style of design more chaste and refined than the ornate types of Chippendale, and, incidentally, more suitable for the satin-wood he chiefly worked upon. Many of his chairs are rectangular in outline, and there is nearly always a distinguishing feature in the bottom rail of the back, placed about 2 in. above the seat (see "lyre" and "lattice").


Practice of Chair Work.

Chair making, practised as a separate craft, requires long experience to become an adept, a position generally accomplished by close specialisation in particular branches. The best chair work was undoubtedly executed during the eighteenth century, and with but slight modification and additions, the examples made during that period decide present-day proportions, as well as being the basis of modern chair-work design. For economic reasons, chiefly speedy production, division of branches in chair-making has been brought about, although the principles and practice of each branch vary but slightly. Tools, appliances, and methods are general. The special tools required in a chair maker's kit are frame saws of various sizes used for ripping out stuff, straight or curved arms, legs, and segments. The saw is worked by fixing the material flat on the bench, and manipulating it as shown on p. 314. A leg vice is also necessary for holding curved arms and sweeps (see p. 315) during the processes of shaping, filing, and moulding. Loose wooden jaws are fitted over the vice heads to prevent the iron surface bruising the stuff (f. 1 opposite). Routers of various shapes for scratching mouldings round framing arms, &c, with a variety of spokeshaves and scraper spoke-shaves (see f. 2, p. 315), are important items of equipment. With efficient mastery, this last mentioned tool will act quicker and cleaner than the ordinary type. It consists of a piece of thin steel, bevelled and sharpened with a scraper edge, fixed between two pieces of stuff, secured by screwing, an escapement being cut as shown in diagram to dispose of the shavings. Special cramps are also necessary in chair work, types of which are illustrated in f. 1, 2, 3, with the jaws made longer than the cabinetmaker's patterns, e.g., an iron tee cramp and wooden cramps. The use of a chair maker's cramp is obvious in cramping curved work where the additional jaw space allows the cramp to fit over curved rails. Band cramps are also illustrated. Fig. 1 along- side is used for cramping oval or circular seats, and consists of a flexible iron band fixed on two wooden horns, which, when cramped together as shown, effects an equal distribution of pressure round the seat. Another pattern is shown in f. 2, a more simple kind, used only for horseshoe- shaped seats. In this case cramping blocks are fixed to an iron board and a stout wooden bar is placed at the front, the extra length serving as a grip when cramping up. Both cramps are required for this, as shown in diagram, and the pressure is applied by screwing them up simultaneously. A more expensive and effective band cramp is shown in f. 1, the wooden bar of which is interchangeable and made to fit any size seat, the screws being bored through this piece and pressure applied by turning the handle.

Templates. - The method of making templates, an important feature in chair work, is described in Chapter X.; this procedure holds good in chair as in furniture making, but cardboard templates are the general rule, wooden templates only being used for repetition work.

Shaping and Moulding. - The shaping of frames for stuff-over work is straightforward, but in the more complex and highly finished forms such as Chippendale and Sheraton arm - chairs in hardwood it is more difficult in character, and, generally speaking, can only be successfully accomplished by experimenting with softwood models or when copied from a given pattern.

The preliminary processes of marking and cutting out the stuff is proceeded with, the segments are roughly shaped, then dowelled or mortised together and carefully spoke-shaved and fixed to obtain the necessary "feeling." A working drawing cannot adequately show this, and the senses of sight and touch must be relied upon.