In the early days, chairs were made and bottomed with hickory bark. Hickory was considered to be the best tree bark for a chair seat. We use the same method of gathering hickory bark as our ancestors. When the sap rises in the spring, we begina our search for hickory trees that can be harvested for bark. These are the trees that will yield to replacing the original bottoms for old ladder back chairs. The tree is cut, the outer bark is taken off with a draw knife and the inner bark is cut into strips.
The rest of the tree may become a chair later. The bark is rolled up, hung to dry and stored until we are ready to bottom a chair. The amount of bark you gather when the sap is up will determine the years supply. In the past, there would have been someone travelling through the mountains to bottom chairs because they were never discarded after they broke. Now, we are restoring the old ladder backs to give a bit of the past as an heirloom for future generations.
Do you have an old chair that needs a hickory bark bottom?
Ladder back bottom $65
Rocking chair bottom $90
Occasionally, a complete set of four matching chairs are found, restored and offered for sale. We do keep the following in stock for sale.
Ladder back chair $90
Rocking chairs $175
Rocker with hickory bark bottom and back $300