There is a rocker in my house

[bandit571]

That started out as a stack of non-treated Borg 4 x 4s......When I built a frame for a Gazebo shelter, I used the 4x4s as columns.   Mother Nature didn't approve, and the frame soon fell down..after a couple years.   Wanted to recycle the lumber.   Decided to try my hand at building a Pine Rocker....

Walmart was selling rockers....so I took a few pictures in the store, to serve as a "pattern".    Back posts needed to be 48" long....my lathe only goes out to ...35"?    Ok, we can do this...

   
Drawknives to rough out blanks for posts.     Might as well do the two short front posts, as well.    All lumber came by resawing the 4x4s and one 2x4 from the old frame.   Squares into rounds, and then cleaned up with a spokeshave.    Parts that connected the posts were also resawn down. 

   
I made a flat spot where the rails went into the mortises.  

Sneak peak at what was built? maybe later a fuller description of how I built my first ever Rocking chair?

   
Has two coats of a Witch's brew for a finish....

Any interest in this build?

[Skip J.]

Hey Bandit, jump right on in there... we wanna see!

[Strokes77]

Yes please.

[hbmcc]

Outstanding! 

Anyone remember those rocking/swivel office desk chairs? They usually were jammed into the desk behind for a reason. I never did get used to them; and, we had one in our home computer room. 

A 4x4 too! I thought I was the only recycler and obsolescence planner. I intentionally made my son's swing and fort from non-treated 4x4's. Dismantled it 4 years later--perfect timing. By then he had moved up to the dying Madrone tree.

[jppierson]

I really like the soft curves to the front and back posts of the chair. I realize you tried to make it as perfect as possible, but it is the almost imperceptible flow that softens the otherwise hard edge. It makes the whole thing look much more inviting! A lathe would have made a hard uniform surface. Beautiful.

[bandit571]

Ok, the Gazebo frame from where the 4 x 4s came from...

   
Ok, those drawknives worked nicely to almost round the posts down, at about 2" diameter...
But to remove the rough surface a bit, a spokeshave was used..

   
two get both the tall back posts and the short front posts nice and round.   I also used the spokeshave to smooth out the seat rails..

   
Needed three of these, front, middle, and back.    Each one was a bit wider than the others, as the seat splayed out in the front. 

Grabbed a few chisels to chop a few mortises..

   
To house a whole bunch of tenons.    The only screws used, were to attach the seat slats to the seat frames.   M&T  joints got a dowel pin through them.  Even the back slats.

   

More to follow.   Slats were also resawn from those 4 x4s.   Where ever a tenon met a round object, I created a flat area for the shoulders to reside on.  Much easier than doing a cope. 

Stay tuned for the next episode....

[bandit571]

Some of the other "stuff" that went into making that Rocking Chair...

   
Busy place, where the sear frames meet up with the side's rails...Mitred the corners of both tenons.    Small dowels to lock things in place..

   
Since the slats for the chair's back were resaws, I needed to remove the less than flat areas, and the saw marks...Then a tenon was cut on each end..

   
Laid these on top of the curved top and bottom rails, to get the spacings, and lay out a few mortises to house the tenons. 

   
Once I figured out how the sides splay out at the front, I can cut the seat bracket to their lengths, and add a tenon on each end.   The middle one does not get a tenon, it will get a screw up from below.    The end will look like  this "L"  and lap around the side rail.   Had to also match the angle of the splay in that cut..... Got to a point where a PIP could be done....

   
Since this is the 5th picture, I'll stop here.   Much more to go?
Yeah, yeah, that seat is crocked. Was able to correct it later, though...

[hbmcc]

Wow! Challenges are fun to watch being resolved! 

Did you say you had a pic. of someone in the chair?

[AgGEM]

Wow! Very nice!

Ag

[bandit571]

Don't have any pictures of someone sitting in the chair....yet.    It currently sits in my bedroom, instead of outside in the Gazebo.     Replaced the old wood framed one with a new metal framed one. 

Maybe a few "completed" views.    Keep in mind, this was the first time I ever made a Rocking chair..

   
A square, through tennon holds the armrests to the front legs.   A walnut wedge secures it in place.    Under side of the armrest, a round hole is drilled about 1/4" deep, to "house the leg, and tenon.

   
The back of the armrest goes into a square mortise, with a counter-bored screw  through the back post. 

   
Two rockers.   The "white one" served as the pattern.    I could go out and take a measurement as needed.   have since given the white rocker to my Daughter.

   
Seen from the side.  There are "Safety nubs"  on the ends of the rockers, to keep you from flipping over bas-ackwards.    Witch's Brew:   A quart can that contains a bit of varnish, a bit of BLO, and just about every scrap of stains that used to be in the shop.    That last little bit left over from a project?   Goes into the can.   Kind of a "Red Maple" flavour, right now.

   
There is an extra "Lumbar Support"  strip, right at the bottom of the chair's back, right on the top of the seat.   Cut to match the curve of the back. 

wall Mart Rockers were around...$80 or so?    Mine was a hair cheaper, but it might look a little better?