Duke of Windsor: Using tools of another era
to make chairs that last

They may look light and fragile, says Trapp, 46, referring to the Windsor chairs that have become his specialty. But because of the way theyre made, theyre incredibly durable. All the joints that extend into the seat are tapered so that when you sit down, the chair tightens. It just gets stronger.

Sitting on a sack back Windsor in his Madison, Wis., home, Trapp talks about how his Windsors are made the time-honored way with elbow grease, hand tools and patience just as when the nation was young. He traces his interest in woodworking back to when he was 8 or 9 years old.

I fell in love with wooden boats when I was younger and moved to Maine in 1982 to learn how to build them, Trapp says.

The years in Maine were an eye-opener for him.

Out East I was surrounded by history, he says. I would talk in peoples kitchens sitting on a wooden chair that was 120, 150 years old. Then a light bulb went off in my head and I thought, Theres something special here, he says.

While in Maine he bought a woodworking pattern for a Windsor chair that he didnt touch for eight years.

He was too busy with the boat-building business he went on to establish in Manitowish Waters, where he grew up. It wasnt until after he had married and moved to Madison that he started making chairs.

I became fascinated with Windsors, and before I knew it had made 20 or 30 of them before thinking I might be able to earn a living at it, he says. His interest has only increased, and Trapp was recently named one of the 200 best craftspeople in America by Early American Homes magazine. He is included in its 1997 Directory of Traditional American Crafts.

Windsor chairs came to this country from England in the mid-1700s. It wasnt long before craftspeople in the East, especially Philadelphia, were making them in large quantities.

Brock Jobe, an expert on New England furniture at the H.F. DuPont Winterthur Museum in Delaware, says Windsors often were stately and impressive pieces that were suitable for a parlor.

Initially they were only found in the best homes, Jobe says. But by the end of the 18th century a shift had occurred and they became so popular that they often were sold in sets of six or 12 or even more. They became everymans chair.

Some say Windsor chairs got their name because they were created in the English countryside around Windsor Castle. Others say they were designed for the ruling family of Great Britain.

The first Windsors in this country were a big deal because the back legs and the back rest no longer were the same piece of wood, Trapp says. The back now could be at an angle that all of a sudden a chair was comfortable.

Other hallmarks of Windsors are:

Thick, saddle-shaped seats, usually made of pine because it is available in wide planks and is easy to shape. The seat may be made of one solid piece or two glued pieces (which actually is stronger, Trapp says).

Turned spindles, usually in an odd number and painted not stained surface, usually with two coats of milk paint in contrasting colors. Paint offered more protection against the elements than stain, which was important because Windsors often were used outdoors.

Trapps Windsors are made of green wood that he gathers himself. Red oak, which is both strong and flexible, usually is his choice for the bent backs and spindles. Birch or maple is used for the legs that taper up to the seat, which is made of pine.

And every piece of wood other than the seat is riven, he says, which means it is hand split, following its natural grain.

He uses the antique tools he has collected through the years. An adze is an ax-like tool with a curved blade that Trapp uses to scoop out the seat. A scorp starts to refine the hollow area, and a travisher is used for finishing work.

Trapp estimates he is one of less than 100 artisans in the United States who make Windsor chairs by hand. His chairs running from $375 to $875 cost more than mass-produced chairs, but he says his prices are at the low end of the hand-made chairs.

Its interesting that when people learn that my chairs will be around for generations, they dont mind paying the price, Trapp says.

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