Windsor Chair Baluster Leg

This photo shows why I was so keen to get turning beads with the skew chisel under my belt. After years of making post and rung chairs I’ve finally set my sights on making some windsor chairs so I’m investing time into building skills and sourcing tools for the work.
It’s taken me this long to get around to making a windsor because, up to now I’d never found them that interesting until I discovered American style of windsor chairs. The shapes are so much bolder to my eye than on English windsors with graceful curves and dynamic angles; a woodworking friend says they look like ‘a faun, ready to spring up and run away’. It’s that kind of movement I’ll be trying to achieve with my own chairs and a lot of it comes from the dramatic turning on the legs along with their splay. I’ve been inspired to this project principally by the work of Curtis Buchanan and Peter Galbert whose work you should check out if you’re interested in windsor chairs, They’re a tough act to follow but really something to aim for.
This leg is turned from a piece of birch as a reference model to use when I’m turning the real sets of chair legs which will be from some good straight ash I have.