{"product_id":"chairmakers-notebook","title":"Chairmaker's Notebook","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003ci\u003ewritten \u0026amp; illustrated by Peter Galbert\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003ci\u003eYou can download an excerpt from this book \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chairmakers_notebook_excerpt_.pdf\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chairmakers_notebook_excerpt_.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhether you are an aspiring professional chairmaker, an experienced green woodworker or a home woodworker curious about the craft, “Chairmaker’s Notebook” is an in-depth guide to building your first Windsor chair or an even-better 30th one. Using more than 500 hand-drawn illustrations, Peter Galbert walks you through the entire process, from selecting wood at the log yard, to the chairs’ robust joinery, to applying a hand-burnished finish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd if you’ve never thought about building a chair, this book might convince you to try. Building a chair will open your eyes to ways of working wood that you might miss if you stay in the rectilinear world of boxes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnce you understand chairmaking, then odd and compound angles become child’s play. You will know how wood works in a deeper way (and how to exploit it). And you will gain access to an arsenal of open-ended tools, such as the drawknife, that will fundamentally change the way you work – plus expand the shapes and surfaces you can produce.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 406 pages, “Chairmaker’s Notebook” is an in-depth look at the craft from the hand of a professional chairmaker, teacher and artist. During the last 20 years, Galbert has developed processes, tools and ways of understanding joinery that have simplified the way people build chairs using hand tools. He has traveled the world to teach his techniques to other chairmakers. And he spent more than three years drawing out every step of the process for the illustrations in “Chairmaker’s Notebook.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a book on chairmaking that starts with understanding a single stick you would find on a walk in the woods then takes you into advanced areas of the chair craft that no other book has ventured.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLike all Lost Art Press books, “Chairmaker’s Notebook” is produced entirely in the U.S. The text is printed on heavy #80 matte 8.5\" x 11\" paper, and its signatures are sewn together and then bound in cloth tape to last several lifetimes. The book is hardbound, covered in cloth and a heavy full-color dust jacket.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book is also available for download as a PDF. If you need a tutorial on adding our digital books to your iPad, click \u003ca title=\"iPad tutorial\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/2015\/02\/22\/adding-a-pdf-to-your-ipad\/\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eFull-size plans for the chairs featured in this book are available for purchase \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/lostartpress.live\/collections\/books\/products\/full-size-plans-from-chairmaker-s-notebook\"\u003ehere\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eContents\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eForeword \u003c\/em\u003evi\u003cem\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIntroduction \u003c\/em\u003evii\u003cem\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1: Why Green Wood? 2\u003cbr\u003e2: Windsor Joinery 14\u003cbr\u003e3: Chair Design \u0026amp; the Plas in this Book 24\u003cbr\u003e4: The Chairmaker's Workshop 34\u003cbr\u003e5: Hand Tools: Sharpening \u0026amp; Use 48\u003cbr\u003e6: Woods for Chairmaking 66\u003cbr\u003e7: An Introduction to Splitting Tools 78\u003cbr\u003e8: Splitting Parts from the Log 92\u003cbr\u003e9: The Drawknife 100\u003cbr\u003e10: Shaving \u0026amp; Carving with a Drawknife 112\u003cbr\u003e11: Shaving \u0026amp; Shaping Parts 128\u003cbr\u003e12: Bending Wood 142\u003cbr\u003e13: Turning Tools 160\u003cbr\u003e14: Turning Practice 168\u003cbr\u003e15: Turning: From Rough to Finish 184\u003cbr\u003e16: Drilling 206\u003cbr\u003e17: Reaming 218\u003cbr\u003e18: Tools for Seat Carving 234\u003cbr\u003e19: Carve the Seat 246\u003cbr\u003e20: Undercarriage Joinery 268\u003cbr\u003e21: Undercarriage Assembly 288\u003cbr\u003e22: Complete the Undercarriage 298\u003cbr\u003e23: Uppercarriage Assembly: Balloon-back 306\u003cbr\u003e24: Uppercarriage Assembly: Fan-back 328\u003cbr\u003e25: Finishing 336\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eAppendix A. Creating \u0026amp; Using Sightlines \u003c\/em\u003e352\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eAppendix B. The Shavehorse\u003c\/em\u003e 360\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eAppendix C. Grinding Drill Bits\u003c\/em\u003e 372\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eAfterword\u003c\/em\u003e 378\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eSources\u003c\/em\u003e 380\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eFurther Reading \u003c\/em\u003e381\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eAcknowledgments\u003c\/em\u003e 382\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/em\u003e 383\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eIndex\u003c\/em\u003e 284\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg height=\"188\" width=\"330\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0306\/3197\/files\/screen-shot-2020-04-09-at-1.27.12-pm.png?v=1739566520\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;\"\u003e\u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.petergalbert.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePeter Galbert\u003c\/a\u003e is a full-time chairmaker, toolmaker, teacher and writer. He has taught at many craft schools around the country, including the Penland School of Crafts, the North Bennet Street School, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Kelly Mehlers School of Woodworking, Highland Woodworking, the Arrowmont School of Crafts and The Port Townsend School of Woodworking. Besides making chairs and teaching, Peter also writes the \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/petergalbert.substack.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eChairnotes\u003c\/a\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.petergalbert.com\/blog\"\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e substack and produces woodworking \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.petergalbert.com\/tools-for-measuring-and-sharpening\"\u003etools\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eRead more about Peter in our full \u003ca rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.lostartpress.live\/2022\/08\/21\/meet-the-author-peter-galbert-2\/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eprofile\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Lost Art Press","offers":[{"title":"Book","offer_id":1077421545,"sku":"BK-CN","price":63.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"PDF Only","offer_id":1077423461,"sku":"BK-CN-PDF","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Chairmaker's Notebook Book + PDF","offer_id":1077425989,"sku":"BK-CN \u0026 PDF","price":78.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0306\/3197\/files\/chair.note2.jpg?v=1751314591","url":"https:\/\/lostartpress.live\/products\/chairmakers-notebook","provider":"Lost Art Press","version":"1.0","type":"link"}