Woltz embarks on a Maloof style rocker build.

[Woltz 57]

What do you do when you already have a number of projects on the go?  You start another one haha.

So I have a set of plans from American Furniture Design Co. (https://www.leevalley.com/en-gb/shop/tools/plans/73902-nancys-rocker-and-footstool-plan?item=01L5131) which I've made copies of to turn into templates.  I just need to head to the hardware store and purchase some larger MDF because the sheets I had weren't big enough.  I'm also just waiting for one of the woodworking stores here in Australia to get a specific rebate router bit back in stock that I will need for the leg joints.

I have a stack of Southern Silky Oak in my shed that I am hoping to use pending it being dry enough and also that I have enough for the whole chair.  

Here is one of the pieces.

If the Silky Oak ends up not being an option then I will look at the pricing on Maple and Jarrah.

Edited November 2, 2020 by Woltz
Image link fix

[Bizman62 971]

That Silky Oak sure is pretty! I've seen it been used in many Pask Makes videos but as they aren't exactly wood porn the beauty of the wood hasn't struck me like the photo above.

[mistermikev 1,023]

noice, lookind fwd to seeing this come to life.  that oak sure is silky!

[Woltz 57]

So I'm just getting started on the rocker now.  I didn't quite have enough Silky Oak for a full chair but I already have another plan for that wood.

Instead I went and bought some West Australian Jarrah and I've been working on the templates.  

I've also started making the jig to laminate the rockers.

There are a couple of things that I am going to do differently to the plans (e.g. coopering the seat and having 7 spindles instead of 5) so I'll be working slowly to try and minimise the chance of mistakes or oversights.  An example of one of the things I have to consider.  When you cooper the seat, the centre of the seat relative to the legs (when compared with the flat seat in the plan) is lowered which means that you are slightly closer to the ground.  To compensate I will add 1/2" to the bottom of all of the legs.  The seat coopering also means that the spindle holes need to be drilled to different depths or the spindles made to different lengths.

Basically my intention is to make it in the following sequence:

1. Seat

2. Front Legs

3. Back Legs

4. Arms

5. Head Rest

6. Spindles

7. Rockers

I am absolutely nowhere near being an expert but I will try to answer any questions that anyone has based on what I experience during the build process.

[Bizman62 971]

For several years back I stumbled upon a hint for changing an old armchair to a rocker. There was a nice idea for saving wood when making the rockers: Plane the plank on both sides, cut the arch that will touch the floor. Then joint the flat sides, potentially even splitting them for extra length.

[Woltz 57]

1 hour ago, Bizman62 said:

For several years back I stumbled upon a hint for changing an old armchair to a rocker. There was a nice idea for saving wood when making the rockers: Plane the plank on both sides, cut the arch that will touch the floor. Then joint the flat sides, potentially even splitting them for extra length.

This is a good idea!  I've seen a similar example for the headrest if you don't have a thick enough piece of wood to cut the curve.

In this situation the rockers are actually laminated not a solid piece.  Multiple thin strips glued together and clamped into the form so that as the glue dries it stays in the shape of the form.