May 03 2023 51 mins
What happens when you both love to travel and want to take some of the comforts of home along with you on your adventures? You guess it, you turn to campaign furniture and its descendents.
Today On the Dogwatch we have the opportunity to talk with Christopher Schwarz, the person who literally wrote the book on campaign furniture. Chris is a longstanding fixture in American woodworking, and even if you don’t know his name you may have seen him before given his appearances on PBS’s The Woodwright's Shop. Along with being a practicing furniture maker and woodworker, Chris has spent a significant part of his career as a writer. He has served as editor of Popular Woodworking Magazine, written numerous other books, and now fosters Lost Art Press.
In our conversation, we discuss the history of campaign furniture, the challenges of designing for the outdoors, and specific applications such as book cases, chairs, secretaries, and even secret compartments. In the end, we get a primer on how furniture relates to travel and adventure.