Three things you need to know about green woodworking

If you envision a granola-eating hippie hand planing his reclaimed lumber when you hear the phrase “green woodworking,” then you have the wrong picture. Green woodworking is the art of working with wood from freshly cut logs without drying it. Green wood is commonly used in building chairs with stick construction-think: Windsor chairs, ladder-back chairs and stools-as well as for turning, carving and basketmaking. Here are the basics of the technique:

Equipment

Sections of logs are often split with axes and other coarse tools rather than the high-powered tools we usually think of. Green wood is often rived with a froe and then worked with tools such as spokeshaves and drawknives. Parts may be steam-bent, seats contoured with adzes, inshaves and travishers, and spindles turned on a foot-powered pole lathe.