This video is part 1 of a 6 part course:
Gearing Up For Chair Making: Pt 1
Look out for a new part every Thursday – Don’t forget to subscribe!
Follow on YouTube
My goal for this course is to equip you with the knowledge and tools to design & build your own chairs from scratch.
Once this is complete, I’ll come up with some projects so we can put it all into use.
These six videos will get you well prepared.
The full (free) 6 part course at a glance:
‘Gearing Up For Chair Making’
- Pt 1) Understanding Chair Joinery: Tapered Round Joints
- Pt 2) Reamers & Tenon Cutters: Use & Applications [Shop bought vs Homemade]
- Pt 3) The ‘V-Block’: A Simple Workholding Gizmo for Chair Making
- Pt 4) Perfect Spindles Without A Lathe: Making the ‘Chair Maker’s Shooting Board’
- Pt 5) Making Your Own Reamers: Two Variations
- Pt 6) Making Your Own Tenon Cutters
Subscribe or follow on YouTube to stay updated – a new video will be added here every Thursday.
Original music, copyright 2026 | taken from Richard’s archive.
— This Video: Chapters
00:00 – Intro
08:55 – Catastrophic failure
13:44 – Quick demo: a tapered round tenon
15:15 – A chat on taper angles
23:00 – Drawing the templates: an aid for chair design
31:14 – Intro to using the templates for designing chair joinery
![Pt 2: Reamers & Tenon Cutters: Use & Applications [Shop bought vs Homemade]](https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/355735B8-6EB7-48E7-8135-A45EC52D5F2F-400x250.jpeg)
![Why and How to Blunt Your Chisels [VIDEO]](https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/26269099-F519-415D-9196-5BF152B10DFF-400x250.jpeg)
![Remove Saw Set = Improve Your Joinery [Video]](https://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/9D16FCB8-2406-4C54-93C9-550C75097009-400x250.jpeg)
Informative video as usual .
Look forward to future videos and courses .
All the best
Gerry
I remember making a table with round tapered tenons once. It was essentially a tall stool. The holes were just drilled with an auger bit. However, I remember the tenons sticking pretty tight when test fitting. At first, I just thought the tenons needed to be a little skinnier. Needless to say, my table ended up a little shorter than I intended. A few years later I dissambled the table. It had not been glued, but still, it needed to be beaten apart. I can’t imagine how tight it would have gotten if the holes had been tapered too. I’m excited to learn how to make the reaming tool.
Thank you for the video “gearing up for Chairimaking” and Blunting a Chisel. I never worked with a chisel in that way but I think I now have to having seen what may be done with it. Chairmaking part 1 – real good. Well done.
I nave made a few chairs using the round ten on cutter you dismissed and am well aware of the problems you’ve described. I’ve read that in this instance perfection is a chimera and I should embrace and learn to admire wonky legs, advice I don’t find helpful. I very much look forward to you solution to this problem.
Thanks for the complimentary video series! Fortuitously, the tapered round tenon joint has been high on my list of things to master. I’ll be watching on Youtube!
Very thankful for this, And the approach taken is very approachable as I for one have found the thought of chair making daunting. Richard has a good sense of how to teach these things naturally.