Chairmaker 

I would love to have one of his chairs. I bet you are proud he seems like a great person.

Well kevin, you must be so proud. What a brilliant man 👌🙏❤️🇨🇮

Pride in a craft and hard work. I admire men like this, they where special.

Awesome to see. wish I could see vid of my great grandad. I can just remember him.

The chairs must be worth a fortune now!

My Granddaddy was chief of police in a tiny burg of a town along the Green R in KY. I'm sure they couldn't afford many officers 60 + years ago , maybe one or two on the weekends. I think about him doing his job and he told me a few stories from back in the day. He could crack knuckles and skulls too if necessary.

Around 1984, I was about 22 years old and was a force to be reconned with. I was in the gym pumping iron every day. At that time, I had a great uncle who had spent many years working in a foundry called AO Smith in Milwaukee for most of his adult life, at least as far as I know. Well, he stopped by one day and we had an arm wrestling match. The 22 year old vs the 82 year old. I did beat him, but it took everything I had and the match lasted quite a few minutes. Now, I'm in my early 60's and I think twice before grabbing a gallon of milk the wrong way to pick it up. Deterioration happened slowly at first, and then rapidly. I fully believe this is because of the garbage food, water, and even air we have to breathe these days, but whatever the reasons are I can definitively say "they don't build them like they used to". These old timers were the last of a generation, much like the chestnut tree, probably never to return. I really enjoyed watching this guy as he explained his passion for us. He was a true national treasure, and he never even knew it!

If you pay attention too he hits his axe blows perfect like clockwork, at the age most can't even move.

Same with his hammer blows

I got some good experience with a double-bitted axe when I was 14 yrs old back in 1958. I was helping my dad cut timber for lumber to build a new tobacco barn. Such an axe could inflict a serious wound if you were not careful, especially when working in brush and limbs and on slick ground. The only instruction my dad gave me was "Have some sense when you swing that axe." He didn't waste a lot of words but he got his point across.

His down stroke accelerates and boom!! At 79 , very impressive!!

Double Bit Axe also, that tool can be dangerous, the fella never missed with how he used the tool .

Thats the way we swung axes iy didn't take long to even saw down a big tree. Using and axe we never notched a cut.

That's a beautiful thing said of this man the observation of a simple life and the balance of give and take.

He’s not just getting by on $25 a day

That was 1975. Minimum wage was $1.25 an hour.

1.35​@@bobondess9168

They definately have. Try making a million.

Im sorry you live in El Mirage now. 4.2 square miles of nothing much but Waddel rd. lol

Grew up in Suprise, in the original mile. 😊,streets were dirt,gravle.

spent several years learning to make these types of chairs. first one was from fresh green white oak logs and hand tools. later,more complex ones, we could use power tools. wonderful experience and people.

Taking down a tree with a double bit axe, you aren’t going to see that on film much and dragged the log by hand!!!

I am almost 30 years and I learned a lot from this video. I want to be more or less just like this legendary man here.

I'm 61 also and my grandpa was awesome just like this guy. Great workmanship, no measuring tape, no jigsaw, no glue, only a hammer, chisel.

True words

It doesn't take much to put most 30 year olds to shame now though.

Now days people look down on people who work with their hands

I’m in England and I notice this chap can work and make sensible conversation at the same time - neither of which Joe Biden can do .

@@spunas1 Grow up.

​@@Rafabenitez01yeah you aint kiddin on that

Thats how they grew up back in those days. The folks that grew up and made a life in the mountains they didnt even know about the great depression. They made everything, from furniture to musical instruments

No teeth

Any clue what type of tree he cut down to use?

@@billj4137 good question. I'm not sure, but sort of looked like Hickory... (by the leaf)

@@billj4137 Excellent question ❗️ I was curious too… so I googled it of course… lol There’s a guy….. his name was Gabriel Janka; ( from Austria ) he lived from 1864 to 1932. This researcher came up with a way to measure the “hardness” of wood. His scale is still used today. It starts at 0 and goes to 4000. As a example: Cherry Wood has a hardness factor of 995. Black Walnut 1,010 English Oak 1,120 Red Oak 1,290 Ash 1,320 Bamboo 1,380 Rosewood 1,780 Mesquite 2,345 Ebony 3,220 Ect……… Hickory wood and Pecan wood has a hardness of 1820 ❗️ People loved using it back in the day to make handles, wagon wheels,flooring ect because of its density, hardness and toughness that can’t be found in “ANY” other species of wood ❗️ ( couldn’t split, gauge, or even scratch easily .) A unique feature of Hickory is its bending capability. It has a 20,000 pound per square inch bending ability! And … it’s ability to absorb shock is LEGENDARY ❗️ Hickory can last and last as a piece of furniture because it is almost indestructible ❗️ ( it’s graining is “straight “making it dense-ness rare.) It makes meat taste better when barbecuing too… that old man used the shavings to get the fire going….. nothing like the smell of Hickory or mesquite for taste ❗️ It is a “ very expensive”wood to buy because of its availability and it’s so hard, it dulls and blunts all the tools usd to cut and shape it. He could have charged 10 times the amount because of the lack of material availability…..and…. you had to sharpen your tools CONSTANTLY ‼️ And…. of how hard that wood is to cut and shape ❗️ Well……… I’ll be 68 in September. Don’t drink or smoke… but I’m not against either. They both have their place in moderation ( weed that is👀) A cold beer ain’t a bad thing….. 🍺👍🏾 I just don’t like to get sleepy …. …. Lol so I stay away from it….. tea or coffee….. now that’s my speed! Hope to live to be over 100❗️….. that’s the goal anyway….. lol I compose Jazz music and love building things. Nothing more satisfying than writing a beautiful ballad ❗️ This old timer just warmed my heart ❗️ I live alone too…. and that’s good to get a lot done…….. ( I’m a writer and inventor as well) Like to keep busy landscaping around my house too. but, ……. I wish that kind old man had a woman there to keep him company…….. not good for a man to be alone all the time….. a least he had his cat to keep him company…….. I’m gonna keep my eyes open for a good woman who laughs at my corny jokes….. and is “NO” stranger to the kitchen stove….. yep… she’s gotta know how to cook ❗️…. lol Well….. wish I could have met this man…… he and I would have easily been …. GOOD FRIENDS! Well, I’m headed to Home Depot to get some sod and white stones for the backyard. Remember to eat right, stay healthy…. And get your rest….. and SAY YOUR PRAYERS .. lol God bless you sir, Take care Bill.🕯

​@@paulkramer4176hickory 100%

@@billj4137typically hickory… not all trees have usable bark layer. That’s what I use when I make chairs like this.

Back in the 50's and 60's here in Appalachia all of our chairs and kitchen table was home made. People every where had rockers and porch swings made the same way. By the middle 70's all that had died out. The bottoms and back come from smooth bark hicokry tree's. In the spring time when the sap was flowing you would go in the mountains and find a hickory tree and at the bottom of that tree you would notch how wide you wanted that bark and standing on the ground you would pull that bark and strip all the way up the tree and then you would coil up each bark strip to dry. Latter when you had your chairs or rocker made you would get the coils of bark and put them in hot water to soften them back up again so the bark would not break or crack on you and you could work the bark in on the bottoms and backs and when that bark wood dried it drawed all of it real tight. I am glad i was born at a time where i learned all the valuable woods that had a good use.

So true!!

Is he really what’s his age today

@@ThomasMitchell-kr8yy He was 80 in 1975 so I'm thinking he didn't get to start over like he planned.

Rest assured, a handful of his chairs are still kept in the family 👍

A proper man doing proper,beautiful work.

I was born in 1949. When I was 14 or 15 years old (don't remember for certain) I picked apples for 25 cents a bushel. If I worked fast I could make $1.00 an hour. That' how I saved up money for my first car. That and washing dishes at a root beer place. I made 90 cents an hour there. I don't know of many young kids now days that would do that kind of work. I don't know any men like Mr. Thompson either. Would have been honered to have known him. Bob.

@kathyboyers4341 I must respect the hussle, but just one question: Have either of you accounted for inflasion on your wages from back then? And housing prices let alone a functional car nowadays costing way more than they're worth. I'm just sayin that the money you earned wasn't as little as it seems in comparison to current value of dollars.

Not only do they last but are easy for the people that make them te repair. Strong and simple like the life of their maker

Except disposable plastic bottles. And Keith Richards.

I work for an old Rancher that lived to be 94. He was in his early 80's at the time. He saw me miss my mark and hit my thumb and said that will learn you not to do that again. He thought it was pretty funny. It made me laugh and forget how much it hurt.

Today's kids, would likely say he was crazy to work that hard. They would tell him to go to college, and make some real money. Dewey IS making the real money. The kind that makes a person happy and content at bed time. I was lucky enough to live on my great grandparents farm. Granndpa and Grandma lived in the 1840's farm house. Mom, Dad, and my brother lived in a converted carpenter's shop. over a two car garage. There was also Archie Bailey the hired farm hand, and Sheppy the farm dog. Archie was a third Grandpa to John and I, We lived a lot like the Waltons, but without the mountain. I learned so many things from the family, and a few older neighbors in the area. I am seventy-six now, and have been happily married to my "first wife" for fifty-two years. We sold the new home that we built after we got married. We sold that home recently, and moved back into the original farm house, to finish our time on this Earth. Sadly few of today's kids get to meet their grsndparents, much less live thirty feet from the back doors. That continuity of spirit, and family history make a glue that sticks people together into a family that gets ever stronger and more knowledgeable. Grandpa taught me many things in the twenty-four years that we shared in this old house, with talking with Grandpa and Grandma,about their earlier days. The most important lesson the I learned about being a grown-up, was that "You can go to Hell for lying, the same as stealing."

They wouldn’t understand a bit of it!

@@maxhammontree3169 They would after nobody showed back up to "recue" them for a couple of years,

Not if you grew up in the mountains. He was just another man living his best life.

Actually he is letting the weight of the AX do the work as he is skillfully guiding it. This is the secret to using any tool you swing. A hammer for instance is properly used by allowing the weight of the hammer to do the work. We guide it and increase the force by changing the distance and speed of the swing.

definitely you can build one without a lathe. I've got a couple lathes, and made a few chairs, yet never on a lathe. Draw knife is much faster. But there are lots of types of chairs.

if people could afford a house carving chairs today, they would be doing it fervorously

@@nowadayswithandy You would if you had to eat and keep warm in the winter. People are just soft and spoiled now.

At the rate the country is declining you might want to get in touch with your roots. Hard times are coming and the only people that will be able to take care of themselves will be the folks like this gentleman. There won't be any govt. checks and free stuff when the country falls.

@@davebryant8050 The country is not failing. We are doing fine.

$25=$150 in 2024 Amish want $800 for thier rockers, old guy was treating people right back then

This man had parents that never fed him McDonald's. Remember that when you get your kids a happy meal

Good on you. Keep up keeping the good old ways alive.

Glad you enjoyed it! --Rachel

Me too! That would of been a lot of fun talking to him!!!

If we were forced back to the old ways, we would all be living in poverty, instead of living in the most productive area on earth. Why do you think hard times are coming? The whole earth is moving forward and becoming more productive every year. People in Africa are getting out of poverty, people in China are getting out of poverty, that is a good thing. I never heard an any one saying "master craftsman", until the last few years, that is a yuppie term.

@@thomaswayneward Beccause they are dead

Would you pay him $10,000 for a rocker? Because with inflation $200 is $1,300.

Thing is he didn’t think of making so much money, he made chairs to sell to other poor people just like him, to him it was a joy to provide others with a little comfort he could make at a price they could afford. People like him don’t exist today.

I was thinking the same thing. That chair gotta be worth h hundreds of dollars because it’s hand made!

Love to spend about 6 months with Him.😊

I just lost my grandpa on June 13/24 he was 88, I learned so much from that man about so many different things, he grew up in the middle of nowhere in nova soctia canada. I miss him immensely!

Thank you for watching! - Aaron

i remember him

I'm sure he was an amazing craftsman as well. Keep his work and memory alive brother.

Kennedy was the last real Democrat. The rest have been socialists

Thank you for watching! - Aaron

❤ Well said!!! What a GREAT VIDEO of a RARE & WONDERFUL human being. My folks were from KY and this makes me tear up - seldom do I see this work ethic and simplified way of life. I'm 81 and can hardly bare to see our current situation in 🇺🇸 Tremendously enjoyed this film!!! ❤ to those who made it possible! Happy Trails From NM.