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The Chairmaker's Toolbox

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The Chairmaker's Toolbox

Increasing access and equity in the field of chairmaking. Founded by & for under-represented woodworkers & chair nerds.

03/22/2026

Last week, 5 members of the CMT community came together in Houston for a residency with the Museum of Fine Arts at Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens.

This residency grew from a shared goal: connecting people with craft through direct experience and expanding the story of who craft belongs to. By building in the open, we invited visitors not only to see how the work is made, but also who is making it and engage with us in meaningful ways.

All of this unfolded within the landscape of Bayou Bend: lush gardens, open grass, flowing fountains, shifting weather that moved from heat and humidity to rain and cold. The views never got old. We worked just beneath the Bayou Bend Glazed Porch, where a collection of early American Windsor chairs live. Objects shaped over generations and still in use today. Building in conversation with that history, while knowing the chairs we made would join that space, collapsed time in a way that felt rare. We got to show that past and present can still be held together through the act of making. How cool is that?! The chairs will continue to be used by the community for years to come- many of those people being able to say that they saw the chairs being made.

What unfolded last week was more than a demonstration. It was a residency of coming together, learning from one another in real time, sharing space, tools, and process with anyone who walked by. Building 2 chairs in a week; we had to speed up. To listen more closely. To pay attention not just to our own process, but to how others work: their skills, their decisions, their rhythms, and adapt on the fly. We worked with borrowed tools, shared knowledge freely, and let the work evolve collectively in ways it wouldn’t have if we were working alone in a private space.

Each of us left with new ideas and a deeper understanding….And in CMT fashion, the community that grew from this experience expanded 10 fold! A separate post coming on this 💫

We cannot thank enough for partnering with us, hosting this residency, and continuing to support makers in craft.

03/06/2026

CMT is coming to Houston next week and we’d love to hang out ✨talk chairs, nerd out about how good community feels and meet you in real life human form!

Several of us will be in the city next week working on an exciting project. We thought it would be really fun to set aside some quality time to see you! If you live in the Houston area or know someone who does send them our way! We’ll be parked up at:

Bayou Heights Bier Garten
Tuesday March 10th
6pm till whenever!

If you can not make it on Tuesday night but want to swing by, jump on a shave horse, and keep us company we’ll be at the MFAH Bayou Bend location Wednesday-Sunday building some chairs and doing demos!

Feel free to reach out for more details. Hope to see you in Texas 🤠

02/10/2026

✨Applications Open✨ Beginner 2 Slat Post and Rung Chair taught by and Assisted by CMT Alumni .literally
You don’t want to miss this dynamic duo. We have 4 full scholarship spots available which includes tuition and materials.

Class dates: Sunday May 24- Saturday May 30
Applications Close: March 20 at midnight

This class has been a popular one year after year! It is a packed week full of information and hands on learning of traditional post and rung chair skills.

Find the application and lots more information about the class on our website under “upcoming classes”. We can’t wait to hear from you!

12/01/2025

Final introductions from 2025 Sawyer Made x CMT Chair Design Class is Ed Ponti ✨

“It was absolutely encouraging to see the future of chairmaking as being so much more inclusive (and so much more q***r) than I could have imagined! “

Ed is a woodworker and furniture maker based in Detroit, Michigan, and originally from England. He returned to woodworking (turning a long-time hobby into a full-time practice) after studying and working in architecture, and latterly, community non-profit work. He focuses on custom furniture, small-scale builds and developing his own pieces, with an interest in clear forms and practical, well-made work.

“Spending time in George’s space and working alongside such good people made me completely rethink the sort of work I want (and need?!) to do. The class and time spent in Vermont totally reoriented my focus.”

Ya’ll! Ed is working towards organizing interdisciplinary projects and meetings with q***r/poc woodworkers in the Detroit area- If you want to be involved reach out!

09/28/2025

Okay we can barely stand how cute these pics from the rocker class taught by .spiece and are. Makes us wanna jump in the car and drive straight to Berea! These smiles are why we do this: craft community is transformational.

Photos by , the best assistant ever!

09/21/2025

Lots of color on the chairs this week at ! We tried out the milk paint recipes with excellent results.

This week is always a whirlwind and this was no exception. Thank you to Chris and everyone at LAP for your knowledge, generosity and good humor.

06/17/2025

Applications are now open for our stick chair class with ! Six lucky chair nerds will get to make comb backs in theee dreamiest shop, in charming Covington, KY! Delicious breakfasts and lunches and plenty of cat pets are included. Applications are due July 6th and we can’t wait to read yours.

05/28/2025

🪑✨ Meet Eli Barlow — Instructor at the 2024 Sawyer Made x CMT Class!

Eli Barlow
he/him
Plainfield, VT

Eli Barlow is a woodworker, jeweler and teacher living in Plainfield, Vermont. He has experience building chairs and teaching at Sawyer Made, learning construction and design from George Sawyer. He was first introduced to green woodworking at Sterling College, where he has since taught an Introduction to the Shop class. Yestermorrow Design Build School in Waitsfield is another institution where he has attended as a student and returned to as a teacher, for the ladder back chair class in their Woodworking Certificate program. He has a small jewelry studio in the Crumb Factory, an artist collective started with friends in Montpelier, VT. Eli is constantly grateful for the teachers in his life, and inspired by the craft community he gets to be a part of!

Here’s what Eli had to say about the CMT design class:

“The CMT design class was so fun! I had no idea what kind of chairs folks would make going into it, and I’m super proud of what people got done during the week. The Sawyer Made shop felt so full, and I’m so grateful to Erin, George, Robby, Han-ray, Anna, Cal, Aspen, Boyd, Wu, Michelle, Lauren and Jamie for the time together! I feel so lucky to have seen part of the way you work!”

Swipe through to see Eli’s work and Eli in action. We’re so grateful for the skill, thoughtfulness, and heart he brings to everything he does. We love you Eli. 🪑✨

05/25/2025

George opened up his shop to us and in so doing, made this class possible. He is talented, he is dope, he is generous, he makes great chairs, and he got a great haircut from (swipe for pics) and scroll to read more about him.

George Sawyer
he/him
Woodbury, VT

George grew up in his father’s Windsor chair shop and is the founder of Sawyer Made with his wife, Erin Smith. His work blends traditional green woodworking techniques with a timeless sense of form — rooted in grace, functionality, and American vernacular furniture. He’s been teaching classes for over a decade at Haystack and at his own studio in Vermont, and this year we were lucky to have him co-lead our design-focused class at Sawyer Made.

Swipe through for some of George’s dope pieces, and read some of his thoughts on why he bothers to teach CMT classes and why he’s down for helping make space for new people in the field:

“Our vision for this class was to help chairmakers with some experience design and develop a new idea. After building their first chair — or even a few — it can still feel daunting to jump into developing your own geometry and making something truly your own.
We wanted to offer an opportunity for early-career chairmakers to deepen their skills and make their process repeatable.
We think the work CMT is doing is incredible. We want more people to feel encouraged to build chairs and get involved in green woodworking — and we love seeing artists bring their personal aesthetics into a traditional craft.”

05/20/2025

Some notes and pics from 🤍🔥🪑

“Because of this class, I understand more about green woodworking and how awesome and special it is. It’s a lot more organic and natural — which I love.

Thank you so much to the crew and for making space for us. It was truly a dream and the highlight of 2024.

I learned how to read the wood and work with the grain instead of against it. It’s actually a lot like hair! I can’t wait to make another chair using all the techniques I learned.” -Boyd Boyd

Swipe through to see Boyd shaping, carving, and creating — and the expressive chair that came out of it. 🪑🌱

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