In my above video I share my recent tour of Elia Bizzari’s traditional Windsor chair workshop in Hillsboro, North Carolina. I found Elia to not only be warm & welcoming, but incredibly hilarious. We had some great laughs together in his workshop and will be working on filming a DVD together in the near future. Please contact me if a Windsor chair tutorial DVD interests you.
Elia started traditional woodworking as a teenager, and eventually discovered his passion for making traditional Windsor chairs. Curtis Buchanan welcomed Elia as an apprentice, and Elia has gone on to become one of the world’s most well-known Windsor chair makers. He has even been featured a couple times on Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s Shop television show. You can view those episodes here.
I cracked up when Elia told me how, when he was younger, he obtained permission to use his college fund for some more advanced Windsor chair courses. This young guy loves what he does and especially finds joy in life’s simple pleasures. I call that true success.
You can contact Elia and place orders for custom Windsor chairs at his website here.
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hey man, really like the workshop tour thing you got going here. Keep em coming!
I’m glad you like the woodworking tours Arjen! I hope you’re subscribed, because I’ll be sharing tours of Frank Klausz & Phillip Lowe in the coming weeks.
Great to see your tour of Elia’s shop. I was in his Windsor continuous arm rocking chair class at Roy’s when his riving break was broken (really, it wasn’t my fault). Great class, lots of fun and learned a ton. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Elia, do it –you will be glad you did
Fred, I’m glad that you took a class from Elia! I actually have been filming a long DVD with Elia (on Windsor chair making) so by the time I finish editing it, it’ll be like I’ve taken the class 4 times!