”Put a lot of downward pressure and run that thing at maximum speed!” my brother-in-law said.

We were disassembling a roof in the hot California desert and I came across a rusty screw that just wouldn’t come out. I had been using a cautious approach with my cordless drill, which had worked until then.

When I applied his method, wrroooooop, the screw came out.

”We´re not building fine furniture out here, this is farm work” he said.

Yes, sometimes you have to glue up expensive bookmatched pieces of veneer with no room for error. That is where a delicate approach is essential.

But farmers in the past didn’t go for the delicate fine furniture approach. They did everything in a farmer way – fast and efficient, and with a lot of skill.

When we make Stick Chairs nowadays, we have the luxury of a warm workshop, jigs, fancy tools, and (for hobby woodworkers) no real time pressure to get things done before a deadline.

In the past this was not the case. The chair had to get done. Fast. And it should last. You don’t want to have to make another one next year.

Vernacular furniture is rooted in this ‘farm attitude’.

Stick Chair makers should remember that it was never the primary goal to make fine furniture. The goal is to make something that will last (and it should ideally be done in as short of time as possible).

This of course requires skill. And we don’t all have the luxury of full-time devotion to the craft like a farmer would.

So what solution am I proposing?

A farmer would laugh at the time it takes people to make a chair. We are very good at complicating things nowadays.

So don’t overthink it, just use your hands and get to work.

Your first chairs may look a little wonky and that´s fine. Your skill becomes exponentially better with every chair you build. So you might as well get the first 10 out of the way.

Farmers have one word that comes to mind, and that is:

Work.

Farmers are always busy. Always working hard. And always working with the highest skill possible.

I am going to try being more like a farmer the next time I am in my shop.

-Rudy