Not Library Chair but Chair Library...

So a reading of Welsh Stick Chairs later (including everything you had no desire to know about Welsh history) and I've now got Drew Langsner's The Chairmaker's Workshop on order. This is starting to get expensive... It's not that I'm not glad to have JB's tome, and I'm sure it'll prove helpful, but it's a bit lacking in detail. You know, basic things like suitable leg and stick angles and so forth. In fact I've got a lot more detail from the second batch of articles in GWW, with the bonus that his experience since writing the book had changed his approach to certain aspects of the making anyway. While I await Amazon's snail-slow delivery (Classic Handtools was twice the price - they're good, but not twice-the-price good ) I'm going through every chair-relevant JB column I have, noting down all available measurements, woods used etc etc. Long and laborious, but if "thinking" the chair is the best way to make one, I'm gonna damn well steep myself in the blessed things or fall asleep in the attempt!

In other news, I'm finding the going tough in turning a passing thought that seemed a good idea at the time into a tangible bit of writing. The main bones are easy enough; it's the infrstructure that's exercising me at the moment. I may have to break my usual writing habits and just bash down everything as it comes to me and play about with how to arrange it afterwards. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it feels like somehow I've immediately limited my options for changing things. I much prefer to have the outline in my head before finger hits keyboard. Oh well, I'll maybe give it another "back hob" stew overnight and hope to wake up with it all fully formed tomorrow. Well a person can dream, can't they?

And I gather from my comments box that I've finally had a tip published in GWW! Oh the irony. I was only saying this weekend that I had as much chance of that as Nick Gibbs cutting off his own arm - being persona non grata rather at GWW, after unwisely suffering an uncharacteristic lapse into believing "Go on, tell us what you think. We can take it" meant "Go on, tell us what you think. We can take it" Of course it's also ironic that it only happens after I've stopped reading it - after nine solid years of only mildly wavering devotion! Evidentally I should have packed it in sooner. Now is this what Chris meant in the comment by "pretty cheeky"? 'Cos if so I protest! I sent the tip in nearly a year ago, when I was still a devoted subscriber. Don't tell me, it's the slow speed of the connection from Cornwall to Bath...

Oh, and if anyone's wondering about the lame post titles I'm coming up with at the moment, it's 'cos I'm keeping such post titles as "Chairwoman Now" for future use. Kinda sorry I've already used "Are you sitting comfortably" really...