This is the third blog in a series highlighting Rural Studio’s Woodshop class. You can read more about Woodshop class in the first two blogs of the series. (Blog 1: Featuring The Frei Egídio Chair and Blog 2: Featuring the Zig Zag chair)
“Each piece of wood is truly unique in appearance and structure.” This principle guides Instructor Steve Long as he introduces students to the complexities of working with wood. In the Woodshop class, students learn about the properties of wood: each species of tree has its own physical characteristics; each piece of wood is different in nature; wood patterns (graining, color tone, and movement) are all unique. Steve has crafted assignments for Woodshop class that encourage students to explore the complexities of wood. He emphasizes that working with wood is a process of understanding the wood used in fabrication and the appropriate methods for shaping the material.
Students learn this process on the first project in Woodshop class, where Steve asks them to create a cutting board. With a limited amount of wood and access to standard woodshop tools, each student must design the cutting board carefully. As Steve explains, this project helps to prepare students for the chair project as well: “Along with the designed piece, the students must present a staging cartoon process of how they will achieve the design, including the sequence of process and tools used. Even though this is a small project, most of the steps and equipment used are the same as the chair project, just on a smaller scale.” Like the chair project, students must consider the make of the wood, its movement, its flexibility, and even the place on the tree from which the wood was cut.
Stool 60 (The Stacking Chair)
One characteristic of wood that makes it different from other materials like metal is its ability to bend. Stool 60, also known as the stacking chair, was devised using wood bending. This chair was designed by Alvar Aalto in 1933 to be used in the Viipuri Library (now known as the Alvar Aalto Library). At the time of its construction, the library was part of a territory of Finland that later became part of Russia and exemplifies the mid-twentieth century modernism prevalent in Scandinavian design. The library’s main lecture hall features a ceiling made of simple warm wood, constructed in a rolling pattern. Aalto wanted to equip the room with chairs that matched this warm simplicity, but the chairs also needed to be stackable for storage when not in use. And, because of the lecture hall’s size, the chairs needed to be easily produced at scale.
To achieve this combination of minimalism, utilitarianism, and reproducibility, Aalto needed a stool that was sturdy but also included as few materials as possible. He experimented with wood bending to create the stool legs, treating the wood with heat and moisture until it was flexible. The resulting “L” shaped leg design eliminated the need for joinery, creating a seamless shape for the three stool legs, each curving under the seat of the stool and requiring only three screws to attach to that seat.
Stool 60 has been so successful, it is still being produced at an industrial scale. The design has become iconic and influential for its function and minimalism. The stool is a model of efficiency, utility, and elegance.
Q & A with Instructor Steve
Do you have a philosophy about wood and the process of making? What do you tell students about this process? Wood working is highly tactile and personal. Each species has its own physical characteristics. For example, working with oak is very different than working with pine. Each piece is unique in nature; no two pieces of wood are the same. Patterns of wood graining, color tone, and movement are all unique from board to board. You can spend a lot of time identifying these characteristics and formulating a strategy on how you’re going to incorporate it into the design. That’s the beauty of working with wood as opposed to metal or some other manufactured material. Each piece is truly unique in look and structure. The end product is only going to be as good as the time you spend addressing these issues.
Tell us a little about what woodworkers and carpenters should know about wood. What are qualities of wood someone should consider if they want to create furniture? When considering the material you’re building from, it’s very important to identify all the unique characteristics it has. A lot of this depends on what section of the tree the rough lumber was milled from. You must always identify the kind of movement the lumber has. How straight is it? Does it bow, cup, or curve? Does it have knots in it? How does the wood grain flow? If your piece of furniture is composed of multiple boards, how do all the components match? What will the plan be to deal with all these variables? You must joint, plane, and match the wood to stabilize it dimensionally. This is what you call working the wood. The time and care put into it will pay off when crafting the piece of furniture.
What is your favorite wood to work with and why? What types of wood are best for creating the chairs? Personally, I love working with walnut! I’m biased in the ease it works and absolutely love how it finishes.
Hardwoods such as oak and cherry are best for furniture. They are durable and stand up to wear and tear. The characteristics of working with hard wood verses soft wood is very different. For me, there is a precision and level of craft that is more achievable in hardwood than when working with softwood. Though you can use soft wood like pine for furniture, it’s not necessarily as robust and durable.
Why did you choose the stacking stool as an option for the chair-making project? What is its significance, both for student learning and for the history of furniture design? For one, Aalto is one of the most consequential modern architects of the 20th century. It also helps that he is one of my favorite architects! Aalto was a master of the use of wood, giving it a very warm and comforting feeling. Because of his gravitas, Stool 60 was an obvious choice as a project for the chair class. The stool was also steam bent, presenting a new process for students to learn. A lot of information exists about Stool 60 that students can study. Finally, just like the rest of the assigned chairs, it can be constructed within the means of the Rural Studio Woodshop.
What is wood bending? How does it work? There are multiple ways to bend a piece of wood, anywhere from soaking with water to steaming. Specifically for Stool 60, the process involves saturating wood with steam for a period of time and then bending it to a desired form. In our class, we use an insulated plywood box that you can pump steam into. It’s as simple as that!
Given that every piece of wood is unique in nature, the bending process varies wildly and can be unpredictable and frustrating. The students must create a form or jig that is the shape of the stool leg. After steaming the components for about two hours, the students then have roughly five minutes to do the bend before the wood is too dry. It’s a very chaotic couple of minutes! After bending, the chair leg will sit in the jig for a couple days to dry. From there, it will be trimmed and finished into a final leg.
