RE: SAPFM-ORV Bonus Spring Meeting May 2&3, 2026 Revolutionary War Campaign Furniture at Dan Hrinko’s shop in Caldwell, OH

[David Conley]

SAPFM – ORV Chapter,

1) Dan has limited parking at his shop. So, we would like for as many people as possible to carpool to Dan’s shop. For those that can, we will meet in the parking lot at the hotel and carpool to Dan’s shop. If you are driving to his shop, please let me know and I will give you, his address. Note: I will not post someone’s address on a public website, like our SAPFM website. Finally, please bring your own chair.

2) The hotel in Caldwell, OH does not take group reservations. Go ahead and reserve your room today. You can always cancel it, if you cannot make it to the meeting. Hotel contact information listed below.

3) Saturday’s lunch will again be from Subway. That continues to go over well at the meetings. Cost will be around $10/person. If you are coming to the meeting, please RSVP by Wednesday, April 29. If you do RSVP and life happens and you have to cancel, please let me know of the change. I use the head count to judge the amount of food to order for Saturday’s lunch.

4) For those arriving on Friday night with no dinner plans, we will meet in the hotel lobby at 6:00pm. If you would like to join us, please also RSVP for Friday night dinner, so we won’t leave without you.

Cheers,
David

Society of American Period Furniture Makers
Ohio River Valley Chapter​

BONUS SPRING MEETING AGENDA

SATURDAY, May 2, 2026

1. Meet in the hotel parking lot to carpool at 9:30am (depending on when I can pick up the subways lunch). It is about a 5-mile drive to Dan’s Shop.

2. Revolutionary War Campaign Furniture Program

a) History
b) Joinery
c) PowerPoint Presentation
d) Antiques for Study
e) Contemporary Examples of Reproductions
f) Shop Tour
g) Q&A session
i) Evaluate jigs
ii) etc.

3. The Saturday program will Start at 10:00am

4. Break for Lunch, 12:00 – 1:00pm

5. Wrap up the day’s presentation by 5:00pm



SUNDAY, May 3, 2026

Breakfast (on your own)

6. Meet in the hotel parking lot to carpool at 9:00am

7. Program continues from 9:30 until 12:00pm


Hotel:
Comfort Inn & Suites
44360 West Hill Lane
Caldwell, OH 43724
(740) 365-4192

No Group Block – Make your reservations now – (Note: this weekend is already sold out)

Dan Hrinks’s Shop address: contact me

 

[David Conley]

MEETING REPORT

Society of American Period Furniture Makers
Ohio River Valley Chapter

2026 Spring Meeting at Dan Hrinko’s Shop
Caldwell, Ohio
​

The Ohio River Valley (ORV) Chapter of SAPFM held its second Spring 2026 meeting on May 2-3 at Dan Hrinko’s workshop with approximately 10 members. Special thanks go to Dan and his wife (Lisa) for generously hosting us in his spacious, well-equipped shop.

The entire meeting was centered around Revolutionary War Campaign Furniture. Dan and his wife are Revolutionary War re-enactors and attend many historical events during the warmer months of the year. His need for historically correct furniture, drove him to make many of the pieces he displays and sells at the encampments to the public and to other re-enactors.

I found Dan’s explanation of the history behind campaign furniture to be particularly interesting. The campaign furniture must be able to be moved from one encampment to another. Thus, the furniture must be strong, light, durable, portable, comfortable, and able to withstand the rigors of war. Transportation necessitates the need for the furniture to be collapsible into small and compact shipping sizes and then reassembled into functional furniture at the next encampment.

You would expect these pieces to be built out of more common woods like oak and pine. So, why was campaign furniture made out of fine woods like mahogany, and walnut? On the surface, it just doesn’t make sense in those harsh operating environments. The reason had to do with demonstrating your family’s wealth, especially among military officers. British rules of inheritance shaped society where the first-born son inherits everything. The other sons were on their own. They had to find other ways to build prestige and informal power. They often choose military careers to build a reputation for polite society. Since these sons were accustomed to gentry households with fine furniture, they would commission luxury goods for their travels. This was how they could display their family’s affluence and why we have these fine campaign furniture pieces.

Dan then presented examples of various campaign furniture. Many campaign furniture pieces look like normal furniture when in use, but they contain ingenious hinge configurations that allow these pieces to fold up into a flat pack for shipping. Examples of these include chairs, beds, writing boxes, and folding tables. And what self-respecting gentleman would leave home without his liquor chest or cellarette. Again, they were very compact and protected the glass bottles and glasses inside. Anything you would need in an office environment was made, and then brought along. Examples include bookcases that fold into a chest, desks, and various chest-on-chests. Some of these chests even had their own outer travelling cases. One of the tables had two height configurations, a lower setting for sitting and a taller setting for when standing around the table.

Some of these styles still exist in our collapsible modern furniture. Example, George Washington’s camp seat looks like a modern Director’s Chair, just without a back. We would recognize a couple of the folding table designs as precursors to several of our modern plastic folding tables.

Because this furniture had to be strong, many of the joints were mortise and tenon joints. But, to make it fashionable, Dan demonstrated how to make a mitered mortise and tenon joint (see attached picture). Essentially, this joint has a mortise and through tenon on the underside for strength, and a mitered butt joint on the show side for elegance. It is fascinating that someone would put in the extra work just for the visual presentation.

Dan then proceeded into a detailed discussion on antique writing boxes. He shared several of his antique writing boxes, their features, and how to access their secret compartments. Because some of the wood is so thin, he explained the precision joinery needed to construct these boxes. One example was a bridle joint using 1/8-in stock which only left some sections 1/16-in thick.

After the opening discussions, we went into his shop where he demonstrated the forementioned mitered mortise and tenon joint.

One of the reproductions Dan is known for are his oval Bentwood Boxes. We had a nice discussion on the construction of these boxes. This may lead to a hands-on presentation for our group at a future meeting.

Dan took us into his home for the final presentations. One area was devoted to Thomas Jefferson and his inventions. Two of the Thomas Jefferson pieces that Dan makes and sells to the public are displayed on the tables as shown in the painting below. The first is the Revolving Book Stand, and the other is the Declaration (of Independence) Writing Box.

The second area was devoted to the writing, and the editing of the Declaration of Independence. In the painting below, The Declaration Writing Box is again on the table while Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and John Adams discuss the changes to the draft copy of the Declaration of Independence. Surrounding the painting, are copies of the original four draft pages with their edits.