Caron-5th Generation Wood Carver and Co-Owner of The Windsor Chair Shop

I decided to take a road trip this summer just to get out of the house. I stopped at the tiny town of Clarksville, MO. On family trips to my Grandmother's place in Illinois, we would drive through Clarksville and see the scenic chair lift that may or may not be in operation depending on the season. I decided to explore this town where the Apple Fest and the Eagle Nest Days take place yearly.

I parked near the river walk that allows you to see the Mississippi River and began to walk the main street that boasts of antique shops, galleries, a honey shop and then I stopped...first to admire the hand made jewelry displayed in the window and then to study the sign that also indicated that chairs were made in the shop too.

As a performer at several venues that do historical reenactments, I have four trades that I love to visit just because I love the smell. The blacksmith's forge, the leather maker's store, the baker's shop and the woodcarver's store. I had to see if TheWindsor Chair Shop really made their chairs at the shop. I entered into the clean shop displaying handmade jewelry consisting of glass beads and fine metal work. I then noticed all the chairs...rocking chairs, dining chairs, benches, and baby doll chairs. All the chairs were well made with crafted spindle backs and tapered legs. A lot of work had gone into each chair. The smell of fresh wood being hand sanded filled the air and I peeked into the workshop in the back of the store to spy the owners: Caron and Ralph Quick and their apprentice PJ working on different pieces of a Windsor Chair.

The Quicks are reenactors, who belong to the 1^st Royal Regiment of Foote which is a British Grenadier military unit that reenacts battles of the French and Indian War of the 1700s. Their love of the colonial days and the colonial style has inspired them to create Windsor chairs and to become masters of a trade that would die out if not for their care. When I found out that Caron was a 5^th generation wood worker I asked if she had time for an interview. I soon found myself sitting in a comfortable Windsor Rocker with a 3 spindle comb back as I interviewed Caron, who was sitting in another Windsor Chair creation across from me.

How did you get started in making Windsor chairs?

Ralph was in an accident at work and after the accident he could not return to the work he had known. I knew he needed to find something that he would enjoy doing, because after the accident he was in bad shape physically and mentally. He had basically been dumped by the corporation and the shock of no longer providing for his family was taking its toll on him. I had been looking at Early American Life Magazine (which they later became featured in...one of the top 200 craftsmen in the nation!) and I saw the advertisement for the Windsor Institute in Hampton, NH. I was a wood worker and he would dabble in it from time to time. I decided to send him to the school. I put him on a plane and said “This is an adventure that you need to do. This is going to be your healing.” When he came back he had a Windsor Chair tied on the front of his walker with two ropes and he said “I think I'm going to make these.” I said “Yep. I think that would be really good for you.” So he started taking classes and I took classes too. He finished all the classes and though I was a little behind him on the classes I knew enough that I could do what needed to be done, since I have woodworking in my background. We have been making chairs for 18 years. We have shipped chairs all around the world.

The Windsor Chair that Ralph made during his first class that inspired the business is on display at the shop on the showroom floor-its the blue chair.

What is the process in making a Windsor Chair?

We start out with a red oak log from ground to first branch. You want a straight grain because we will bend this on a steam box. Red oak makes the bows on the spindles. The steam box is a turkey cooker with 80 schedule PVC pipe. The water is heated up to 200 degrees. The pipe is capped permanently on one end and the other end the cap comes off. After you have shaped your wood, because it is green before we steam it. We have forms called jigs. We steam the wood depending on the moisture content for half and hour to 45 minutes. You pull it out and then you only have 30 seconds to bend it, because when the wood starts to cool and dry you lose that bending ability. It bends on the jig. It requires some strength to do that especially on a settee, since the back bow is all one piece of wood that needs to be curved. 

Photo Courtesy of The Windsor Chair Shop

 The legs are hard maple. We have a lathe in the shop that we do turnings on. We put the chairs together there are no nails, no screws, no metal at all in the chair. They are put together by hand wedges and pins. The seats are also handmade. If you look at the seats, we split a leg and there is a wedge that goes against the grain and that tightens it. The paint is organic because its milk paint. Then I use linseed oil in the antiquing process and then Bri-Wax which comes from England to finish it. All seats are signed and dated by being hand burned into Old English calligraphy. Seats can also be personalized.

Caron advises that Bri-Wax should be applied once a year to help protect the wood.

What are the measurements for a traditional Windsor chair?

Traditional chairs are 17 and ½ inches for the legs in the front from floor to pommel (the center part of the chair) and 17 inches in the back for the legs. That dip creates the comfort support for the back.

Back support is the key to a comfortable chair. Because these chairs are custom made they can be made to fit the person and provide that person with more comfort than our modern soft, cushy chairs.

Our forefathers knew that they wanted something comfortable to sit in. If you look at Philadelphia Hall you will see that they sat in Windsor chairs. They sat in these chairs for a long hours in Congress debating issues. If you think about George Washington you think my gosh he was a big guy. We have been to Mt. Vernon a few times and we have seen the chairs that he has and they were taller than your standard Windsor chair.

For modern chair buyers, who may be taller or shorter than our forefathers they have the ability to make the chair fit your body.

A 4'2 person versus 6'2 person is going to want a chair made to fit them comfortably. How do you measure your chair and stool height? You measure the person in stocking feet from the back of your heel to the middle of the bend in your knee. Also, we have two different patterns for seats, because we have changed in body type through the years. We have gotten taller and wider. We have seats patterns that can accommodate someone, who is a little bit wider by an extra 2 inches.

Traditionally, there were no Windsor chair makers. There were cabinet makers that turned into Windsor chair makers and then some of them turned to strictly making Windsor chairs. The English Windsor chairs were used out doors as garden furniture in England. The Americans wanted to use their Windsor chairs for inside their houses and so they made them pretty and refined. If you look from the 1680's on up, you are looking at those styles changing at how refined they were, the mistakes that they made that they corrected throughout the years.

I am intrigued by the fact that you learned this craft by an expert craftsman and then you are passing this craft down to your apprentice. The idea of a master training an apprentice used to be how a craft was continued and how a trade flourished. Who did you train under?

Our teacher, whose name was Mike Dunbar, he part of the Windsor Institute in Hampton, NH. He was the one who taught us on how to make Windsors. Now we are starting to teach the craft too. PJ ,age 27, has been an apprentice for 4 years and is learning the skills and the business so that the tradition can be passed on. Our goal in teaching PJ was to pass the tradition of woodworking and the craft of making Windsor chairs on so that it would not be lost. PJ knows that if anything happens to us ever...this is going to him and then he will teach it to his descendants.

Besides teaching PJ the craft of Windsor Chair making and wood working, they also offer classes in wood working, and milkpainting.

Boy Scouts can earn their wood working badge. People get a chance to steam bend the backs of the chairs and use the authentic tools. Anybody that helps do a bending or make a spindle gets their name on the bottom of the chair that they helped make.

What kind of obstacles have you faced as a woman woodcarver?

I do everything the Ralph and PJ do when making a Windsor chair. I use the old fashioned tools that hang of the wall of the workshop. I will split the logs, bend the steamed wood over the jigs, paint the chairs with milk paints. I get amused when a man will come in and look past me and ask, “Is the chair maker here?” “You're looking at her.” I will reply. Honestly, not too many women do this kind of work. There are probably only three women chair makers out of a total of 50 chair makers located from here to Canada.

What obstacles have you faced in the business of Windsor chair making?

Now, there are a lot of obstacles...selling, obstacles behind the counter, but fortunately through the 18 years that I have been making Windsors I have only had 1 or 2 customers that gave us some problems. 99.9% of people are very sweet, very happy and love the chairs. That's what I want to do. I want to make our customers happy and I will do anything to do that. We have a 100% guarantee on the chairs. If it is workmanship or something with the wood that was a failure that I didn't see and then I replace the part or repair the chair at my discretion. We make sure that it goes out the door perfect. I wouldn't make or sell anything to anybody that I wouldn't personally want myself. In fact, before I do any kind of carving or anything, I always make sure that I point to it with the customer and say "Is this what you want?"  When I am carving on a press that I have spent 2 days carving on I have to make sure that it is right and if it is not right it goes in the burn pile. So I really have to check it out.

This attention to detail and customer satisfaction has led to many movie studios using Caron and Ralph's Windsor chairs in their movies.

In 2008, the movie We the People starring Morgan Freeman and Kenny Rogers featured 14 of our chairs. Many celebrities have purchased our chairs but have asked us to keep their names confidential.

In the local television market, they delivered a news anchor his Windsor Chair during Caron's interview on Channel 11 morning news show. They have also been featured several times on Show Me St. Louis.

With this kind of local and national attention drawn to your Windsor Chairs where is the furthest you have shipped a Windsor Chair?

The furthest they have ever sent a chair...One to England, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and France. We ship a lot back East in the United States, because we do a lot of shows back East. For the orders here in the United States, we ship with a big trucking company. We package them correctly, we bubble wrap them, and insure them.

Looking at the chairs about me and knowing that they are made of real wood and that they are hand crafted and made to last I note that they are fairly priced.

We have fair prices and we haven't raised our prices in years, because we understand that the economy is tough. We want people with families to be able to afford these, because these can be passed on...this is a family heirloom. This can stay in the family for hundreds of years. That's why the old antique Windsors are still around. The antique Windsors command high dollars, they are gorgeous and they can still be sat in because they were built to last.

Do you make other wood crafted creations besides Windsor chairs?

We make horses, scarecrows, candle boxes, wooden rabbits, and step stools.

What kind of advice can you offer someone, who is interested in starting their own business that may or may not be related to woodworking?

Do your homework. If it is a small town check it out. What is the population? Check out the statistics of the town.

If you are thinking of a store front business think about whether it is a near major highway. Talk to the local business owners in the town you wish to do business they will give you honest feedback about your idea and about the businesses around you.

If you are thinking of selling through Etsy or Ebay make sure you have a unique product that will grab the attention of potential buyers.

Know how much it is going to cost you to make your product. Price your product according to what people will pay for your product. Be aware of the economy.

If you have a storefront business once you get going contact the press and let them know that you exist. Be friendly to the businesses around you and to your customers.

The Windsor Chair Shop is a great place to visit, to learn and to buy a chair that was made to fit you and to last.