Make a Joint Stool from a Tree

by Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee

You can download an excerpt from this book here.

When it comes to exploring the shadowy history of how 17th-century furniture was built, few people have been as dogged and persistent as Jennie Alexander and Peter Follansbee.

For more than two decades, this unlikely pair – an attorney in Baltimore and a joiner at Plimoth Plantation in Massachusetts – pieced together how this early furniture was constructed using a handful of written sources, the tool marks on surviving examples and endless experimentation in their workshops.

The result of their labor is “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree: An Introduction to 17th-century Joinery.” This book starts in the woodlot, wedging open a piece of green oak, and it ends in the shop with mixing your own paint using pigment and linseed oil. It’s an almost-breathtaking journey because it covers aspects of the craft that most modern woodworkers would never consider. And yet Alexander and Follansbee cover every detail of construction with such clarity that even beginning woodworkers will have the confidence to build a joint stool, an iconic piece of furniture from the 17th century.

Joint stools are a fascinating piece of British and early American furniture. Made from riven – not sawn – oak, their legs are typically turned and angled. The aprons and stretchers are joined to the legs using drawbored mortise-and-tenon joints, no glue. And the seat is pegged to the frame below. Because of these characteristics, the stools are an excellent introduction to the following skills.

• Selecting the right tools: Many of the tools of the 17th century are similar to modern hand tools – you just need fewer of them. “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” introduces you to the very basic kit you need to begin.

• Processing green oak: Split an oak using simple tools, rive the bolts into usable stock and dry it to a workable moisture content.

• Joinery and mouldings: Learn to cut mortises and tenons by hand, including the tricks to ensure a tight fit at the shoulder of the joint. Make mouldings using shop-made scratch stocks – no moulding planes required.

• Turning: Though some joint stools were decorated with simple chamfers and chisel-cut details, many were turned. Learn the handful of tools and moves you need to turn period-appropriate details.

• Drawboring: Joint stools are surprisingly durable articles of furniture. Why? The drawbored mortise-and-tenon joint. This mechanical joint is rarely used in contemporary furniture. Alexander and Follansbee lift the veil on this technique and demonstrate the steps to ensure your joint stool will last 400 years or so.

• Finishing: Many joint stools were finished originally with paint. You can make your own using pigments and linseed oil. The right finish adds a translucent glow that no gallon of latex can ever provide.

“Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” is also the long-awaited follow-up to Alexander’s 1978 book “Make a Chair from a Tree” (you can find the third edition here). “Make a Chair from a Tree” inspired generations of woodworkers to pick up hand tools and the skills required to use them, and it was one of the essential sparks that ignited the resurgence of handwork we are experiencing today.

"Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” will inspire many more and give woodworkers a fuller understanding of how furniture can and should be made with hand tools.

Like all Lost Art Press books, “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” is printed in the U.S. on acid-free paper with a sewn binding. This 128-page book is in full color, with more than 200 photos and a dozen illustrations. “Make a Joint Stool from a Tree” is in an oversized 9” x 12” format, covered in dark blue cloth and has a full-color dust jacket.

Contents

Introduction vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments x
1: Background: Our Study of 17th-century Joinery 3
2: Tools: Selection & the Evidence 13
3: From the Woodlot to the Shop: Felling, Splitting & Planing 31
4: Joinery: Mortises, Tenons & Mouldings 47
5: Turning: Decorating the Stiles 65
6: Assembly: Test-fitting & Drawboring 75
7: Finish: Make Your Own Paint 95
8: Conclusion: More on the Joiner's Craft 99
About the Authors 103
Glossary 104
Further Reading 106
Index 111

About the Authors

Jennie Alexander

Jennie Alexander (1930 - 2018) was a retired attorney turned green chairmaker, and an accomplished jazz musician who played professionally. She lived in Baltimore her entire life. She made her first post-and-run chair in the late 1960s. In 1978, she wrote “Make a Chair from a Tree,” a seminal book on greenwoodworking (one word, she insisted, because “it sings”) that launched the careers of thousands of woodworkers and helped ignite a greenwoodworking movement. She taught post-and-rung chairmaking for 25 years at her shop in Baltimore and around the country.

You can find resources for making a “Jennie Chair” here. You can read an article Christopher Schwarz wrote about his first visit to her shop here. And you can read our full profile of Jennie here.

Peter Follansbee

The bulk of Peter Follansbee’s work is reproductions of 17th-century joined furniture; boxes, chests, chairs, tables and more. His work follows techniques and methods from the period. He works exclusively with hand tools. Oak is the primary timber used; pine, maple and ash are also used to a lesser degree. Peter teaches here & there, and take custom orders regularly. His substack, Follansbee’s Substack, is technical and historical, with some personal stories woven in. He writes about a book he’s working on, on the history of the craft, and about his daily work: 17^th century hand-tool woodworking and chairs.

You can read Peter’s full profile here.