One of the early techniques that wood workers especially chairmakers learned was letting the wood do the work in making a tight joint.
Using special techniques, makers of ladder back, Windsor and many other styles, chairs from rustic to works of art were created with nothing but green wood and a few elementary hand tools.
If you study the early handmade Windsor chair styles you might find it hard to believe that many of these were crafted from fresh fallen trees.
These chairs are so delicate that they are said to be dancing.
The technique begins by first selecting a standing tree usually of oak.
Once the tree is down it is cut up into usable lengths.
These are then split into various thicknesses using a tool called a froe.
A froe is simply a length of steel usually about a 1/4 of and inch thick and 2 inches wide by 12 to 16 inches long and with a socket formed on one end.
Into this socket is driven a strong short handle which enables the wood to be levered apart.
While oak when dry is difficult to work with hand tools in this green condition it is very pleasant to work with.
Some of these pieces will become chair legs or chair back pieces.
Others will be shaped into stretchers which are the horizontal pieces that stretch between legs.
Once split they are taken to a bench called a shaving horse.
This is a low bench that is designed to be sat upon.
At one end is a vise like holding device controlled by foot pressure which holds the chair parts while they are shaped with a drawknife.
A drawknife has a blade about 12 inches long with handles formed on each end at about 90 degrees.
This allows the chairmaker to use both hands while pulling this drawknife towards him and shapes the piece first into a hexagon cross section and then finishes it in to round pieces.
Finer finish work may be done with a spokeshave which is a much smaller tool originally designed to form the spokes of wagon wheels.
Once these parts are ready the magic of joining green wood begins.
First holes or mortises are bored into the legs to receive the stretchers.
The tool used for this is called a spoon bit.
It is a strange looking tool which in some small way resembles a long spoon with sharpened edges.
These bits which are still available come in various sizes.
The spoonbit is held in a hand brace and when the hole in the leg is bored it is made to be wider at the bottom than at the entrance.
The spoonbit makes this process possible.
Next the stretchers are prepared by forming tenons on the end.
These tenons are formed to match the shape of the bored hole.
Once these parts are ready the stretchers are heated and dried till all the moisture is removed.
In this condition they are referred to as bone dry.
The legs will be left wet.
Without using glue the stretcher will be driven into the leg mortise which has been purposely left a very snug fit.
Now after the chair is fully assembled as it ages the legs dry which causes the mortises to shrink.
The stretchers on the other hand take on moisture and swell.
This drying and swelling of the pieces locks the chairs into extremely strong assemblies which in many cases have lasted for centuries.
The magic of green wood chairs is alive today as many crafts people continue to build using these ancient techniques.