Good Morning Friends,

Since I construct Arts and Crafts Furniture after the styles of the masters of old how many would care to see the many differences that are used in the construction of said pieces that differ from conventional pieces? Such as the making of through tenons, exposed dovetails and many other configurations.

Ralph,

I would be interested in seeing the differences!

Adam

Hello Adam,

I will post some pictures later today to show the many differences in the two styles between conventional and A&C.

Here is one method used in the art of Arts and crafts pieces;

 

This drawing is of a Greene and Greene chair legs with the front one being the back leg and the front leg also cut from the same piece of wood.

 

Next I will try to post the arm connection of the chair as well as the rails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note how the joints come together in this style of a chair by Greene and Greene, while in conventional chairs the parts may be connect with the use of dowels, mortise and tenons or in some cases even brad nailed with a little glue and the properties of the wood used would most likely be much different than A&C pieces.

 

 

 

Great Stuff Ralph. I will enjoy seeing this as well. I have never had many requests for A&C furniture, but I have always admired it. I would be interested to learn as much as you want to put out. Thank you for all your work. bob

Hello Bob and John,

I am pleased that you are interested in learning about the Arts and Crafts Furniture and I will start of with the man who initiated the A&C movemnet back in the 1800s. His name was John Ruskin and he drew tired of the mass produced Victorian furniture as a lot of todays so called furniture is now. He related to people that the mass produced furinture was taking away from the true craftsmen and should be changed in order to allow the craftsman to apply their trade and teach other how to build the style of furniture that would last for many years rather than keeping it for three years (if it lasted that long) and going out and buying new.

 

Here following are pieces of that era the you may find interesting and if you choose one or any I will explain how they were made so that you may learn the difference in true craftsmanship and assembly line pieces.

 

Here we go;

 

Now this is one that you seldom find today but is is one I like and have made on ocassion.

 

Now here is another that you might find interesting.

 

This was the style of the homes and settings that started out to be just plain designs but they soon caught on and the news spred about the truecraftsmanship in the making of furniture and home decore that was eye appealing and worth the money to buy. So now you can see the difference of the way people lived in their humble homes. This style and pieces of furniture are well accepted today and the demand is astounding.

 

Check out some Arts and Crafts pieces by going to www.missionliving.com and check out their prices and I make the very same pieces for 1/3 less than their sale prices.

 

Interesting stuff Ralph thanks for sharing

Hello Jim,

I am more than happy to share what little I know about the Arts and Crafts Movement and the construction of the furniture.

I researched for over 5 years to write the history of the Movement being very careful not to violate anyone's copy rights.

 

Since it seems I have sparked an interest and have plenty of documention as well as pictures to share I will post one segment of both furniture and portions of the history of the movement.

Following is one of Gustav Stickley's pieces;

 

This is one of Gustav's drop front desk made in the late 19th century or the early 20th century.

 

The Arts and Crafts movemnet starting to decline after 1929 and things ran down hill after that period of our history.

Now I and several others are trying to bring back the art of constructing our furniture in the same fashion as those made by the masters.

I Like the art's and crafts movement. I like this desk thanks again Ralph

Great discussion Ralph, keep it up buddy, I am reading and I am sure others are too. As always, your very informative and we love ya for it!

Good Morning Fellows,

I am pleased to bring the art of craftsmanship to this fast paced world with all of the short cuts that are being used in the modern furniture with pocket hole connections and the locking cams that all you need is a screw driver to lock the cam into place after you have pulled the piece out of the box you brought home from the big box store and assembled it yourself.

 

Don't get me wrong for Gustav Stickley also have some KD pieces such as the settee that he made and I'll see if I can find a picture of it for you to see.

 

This is not the one I had in mind but it also was one of his knock down styles settee's for he incorporated bed rail connections so the front rail could be knocked up out of the connectors and the entire back rest was also fixed with the connections to allow it to be taken down when one moved it from room to room or to another home as time went along.

 

I made this settee myself copied after Gustav but failed to take a picture of it however I did sign the back rail on the inside as well as to date when I made it.

I now have a branding iron (electric) that I use as well as to autograph and date the piece.

Pardon the crease for this picture was in the middle of the two pages it was printed on.

Good morning Again Fellows,

I am pleased that you all are interested in what I am trying to bring you from days gone by however if we try and have enough interest maybe we can get more folks to building these pieces of grandure for their own homes for I have plans galore.

Hello Ralph,

Thanks for the great discussion with all of the pictures and drawings.

How much does the species of lumber have to do with the strength of the joinery?

Adam

Hello Adam,

This depends on what you are making for on some spiecies it depends on what the piece will be used for. If for instance you are talking about a writing deck the wood need to be only 3/4" thick and one could use only mortise and tenons on the joints.

 

However if one were going to be using the piece to carry a heavy load such as a book case you would be more apt to mortise the shelving into the sides and reinforced across the back and leading edge of the selves.

To give you an example a stack of magazines 12" high will weigh 75 pounds Therefore if the shelf was 4' wide the extra strength would be needed.

Here is a link that you might find interesting.

http://www.woodbin.com/calcs/sagulator.htm

 

I hope this will help some.