Tennessean Curtis Buchanan is one of the country’s most distinguished makers of Windsor chairs. Working primarily with hand tools in the small shop he built behind his house in the heart of the small town of Jonesborough, he cultivates contentment rather than a flashy client list.

Drawing on expertise developed over decades of trial and error, as well as through working alongside other chairmakers, Buchanan designs and builds a wide range of traditional Windsors. He also produces some in a more contemporary vein.

Anyone who has met Curtis will know that it’s as much fun to listen to him as it is to watch him work. This audio slideshow, photographed and recorded in his shop, presents the chairmaker–and the character–in his own words.

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