wood for rocking chair

[Kenny Andersen]

So I'm going to make my wife a rocking chair. Sure, I like walnut, but I got a lot of walnut stuff. I usually use natural finishes -- I got a thing for letting the natural wood come out. The wife wants something dark. I'm looking for suggestions. I think it takes about 40 bf of 8/4 lumber, so availability of 8/4 is an issue. Budget? I'd like to spend less than $800 bucks on wood (so ebony is out!). I will have a jointer and planer as well as a bandsaw (posts for another area!) TBD, I currently have a Delta Unisaw and a drill press, so I guess what I'm saying is if it's rough-sawn that's OK. Any suggestions?

[Gary Breckenridge]

Yep....I'd go with walnut again. With all the other walnut pieces think of it as a matched set. 8/4 in exotic woods may be a bit hard to find at an affordable price.

[Rick Gooden]

Kenny,

Where are you located? Someone here might know of a supplier in your area.

[Kenny Andersen]

Well, I usually live in TX, but right this moment I'm working in Korea and listening to the steady staccato of rain outside due to our proximity to the typhoon that's wandering between Korea and China right now!

I probably won't buy the wood for several months. I'm trying to get some ideas and if I can settle on something then I can start watching to see if a deal comes up. One option down my way might be Mesquite, though from the pictures (not always accurate) my wife thinks there is a bit too much red in it. Gary's suggestion might not be too bad. I suppose I could jazz it up a bit my using some figured walnut, but I was thinking I might like to try something new, despite the fact I always tell folks if God made a better wood [than walnut] he kept it to himself! I guess I like a bit of variety as well!

[David Hawxhurst]

paduk after it ages looks pretty cool, jatoba (Brazilian cherry), honduran mahogany, purple heart would be different, you could probably get more than 40 bf of wenge for less than $800.
edit
forgot bubinga would be pretty cool to.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I just refinished an antique mahogany rocker--makes a nice looking chair!

[Tom Winship]

Kenny, I live in central Texas and am building my fifth Maloof inspired rocker. Have built two from cherry, two from mesquite, and am building my first from walnut. I am partial to mesquite for some reason or another.
Not knowing what part of Texas you live in, I will throw a couple of suppliers out there. For mesquite, I have bought my 8/4 from Texas Kiln Products in Bastrop. The walnut I just bought from M&G Sawmill near Huntsville. I have bought cherry from Fine Lumber & Plywood in Austin.
Good Luck and you won't make a wrong choice. All are good.

[Prashun Patel]

Mahogany and cherry will darken with time, if you want to be different.

Personally, I'd do mesquite. This non-Texan is jealous of your access to that.

In the end, if yr wife doesn't want to wait for a dark finish, then walnut's probably the safest choice.

[Paul Symchych]

If you can find mesquite in 8/4; free of it's frequent defects; at a decent price it would be fabulous. Three big 'if's.
Jatoba I've worked with is decidedly reddish, harder than teak it eats sharp tools, but finishes well. It used to be really cheap until the flooring guys discovered it. It must still be cheap in Brazil because they use it for railroad ties. Even termites can't eat it. 8/4 isn't common here.
Hickory would be worth looking at. Sapwood is pallid and uniformly boring. Heartwood is not as dark or as uniformly colored as walnut but has grain patterns that appeal to me. If you can pick through stacks for the dark heartwood it is very, very hard and strong, not bad to work with and finishes well. Also cheap. I gather pecan is similar and often intermixed under one name or the other.

[Kenny Andersen]

Thanks guys for the input. I suppose the Mesquite is pretty tempting and it's reasonably dark, so I may try looking into that first. The Jatoba sounds interesting as well -- I like red particularly, but the wife don't. Since I mostly railroad her on all things wood, AND this is her chair, I suppose I ought to respect he color preference! My biggest problem beside working out of the country, is that I already have a ton of hobbies an just recently took up Korean water colors! I really can't wait to retire from real work!

[lowell holmes]

I built a chair with mesquite, using cherry on the rockers. After 7 years, the cherry and mesquite look the same. I've had two mesquite back splats break.

I just finished another chair using cherry and it really looks good. It will darken with age.

[Richard Wolf]

I have used Paduk for a lot of pieces in my home. I think it is a wood that is often overlooked. When finished with a clear finish is looks beautiful. A dark reddish brown with much more character then mahogany. Very easy to work with and I think priced within reason. The only down side is the orange saw dust which tends to stain your clothes for a washing or two, but I think the beauty of the finished piece is well worth it. I also think it will compliment your walnut very well.

[Kenny Andersen]

I built a chair with mesquite, using cherry on the rockers. After 7 years, the cherry and mesquite look the same. I've had two mesquite back splats break.

I just finished another chair using cherry and it really looks good. It will darken with age.

was it a defect in the Mesquite do you think? back splat kind of thin? Did you make a particular rocker (say from plans that are out there?)

[Kenny Andersen]

I have used Paduk for a lot of pieces in my home. I think it is a wood that is often overlooked. When finished with a clear finish is looks beautiful. A dark reddish brown with much more character then mahogany. Very easy to work with and I think priced within reason. The only down side is the orange saw dust which tends to stain your clothes for a washing or two, but I think the beauty of the finished piece is well worth it. I also think it will compliment your walnut very well.

how long does it take to turn dark?

[Richard Wolf]

It goes dark when sprayed with clear lac. Over time it may lose some of the red color, but I am real happy with the way it looks.

[Keith Harrell]

I have made two so far. One was with curly cherry and the other was walnut. If budget is a factor than I would think walnut should win in price. If I could make a suggestion.
Walnut and make the back slats out of maple or cherry using something with a contrast.
Rails could be a number of different woods.
Enjoy

[Kenny Andersen]

It goes dark when sprayed with clear lac. Over time it may lose some of the red color, but I am real happy with the way it looks.

I've never been happy with the upkeep of a lacquer finish (the only wood working regret I ever had) -- would it also go dark with a Danish oil-type finish?

[Cody Colston]

So I'm going to make my wife a rocking chair. Sure, I like walnut, but I got a lot of walnut stuff. I usually use natural finishes -- I got a thing for letting the natural wood come out. The wife wants something dark. I'm looking for suggestions. I think it takes about 40 bf of 8/4 lumber, so availability of 8/4 is an issue. Budget? I'd like to spend less than $800 bucks on wood (so ebony is out!). I will have a jointer and planer as well as a bandsaw (posts for another area!) TBD, I currently have a Delta Unisaw and a drill press, so I guess what I'm saying is if it's rough-sawn that's OK. Any suggestions?

Within your budget, you are almost limited to domestic woods and of those, only Walnut is a really dark wood. Mesquite will turn russet red over time and while I like working with it, it is not a really strong wood...hard, yes, strong, no. Aged Cherry is probably the second best option if you are willing to wait a few years for it to darken and take on that beautiful patina Cherry achieves.

Your other option is the use of a stain or dye to darken the wood.

[Richard Wolf]

I've never been happy with the upkeep of a lacquer finish (the only wood working regret I ever had) -- would it also go dark with a Danish oil-type finish?


Yes it will darken with any finish. Today's pre cat lacquers are high performance and do not require upkeep. But the finish of your choice will work fine.

[Kenny Andersen]

What say I bump up the wood budget to $30/board foot. I need 40-45 board feet of 8/4 lumber

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Rengas_Tiger_Lumber.html

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Cocobolo_Lumber.html

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Leopardwood_Lumber.html -- not super dark, but interesting looking... even the wife thought so

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Sapele.html

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Wenge_Lumber.html

http://www.westpennhardwoods.com/shop/catalog/Zebrawood_Lumber.html

Also, does anybody know the difference between regular walnut and claro walnut. Seems like I've seen some really nice claro walnut for sale as well. I guess the obvious is that there is some nice wood out there that is either REALLY expensive or you can't get it in 8/ lumber -- that does tend to narrow the selection a bit...

[Prashun Patel]

$30/bf?! I'd go for the curliest, figuriest walnut $$ can buy. You'll still have money left over.

Richard Dragin did a phenomenal rocking chair in Zebrawood (which has the nice effect of being grain to grain match). The results were wonderful. However, this wood can be splintery and can smell; but the results ARE beautiful.

Claro walnut is grown in the northwest. The pieces I've seen in Claro have had more vibrant figure and contrast than I've seen in black walnut, which is what is commonly available to me out here in NJ.

[Kenny Andersen]

The other thing I could do is pick some nice book-matched/figured pieces and put together something walnut/claro walnut that took it up a notch?

for instance:
http://pinecreekwood.com/catalog/w210characterbookmatchedset84x18x56each-p-607.html?osCsid=6766ab22175c22530eaf80c743222910

[Mike Schuch]

You might consider fuming the Cherry with ammonia a bit to start the aging process.

Personally I would use Ipe'. I have been exceptionally happy with the pieces I have made out of Ipe'. It is incredibly hard, incredibly strong, incredibly dense (when dry is sinks in water) and incredibly beautiful! Everything I have made has been from decking cast offs... those decking guys toss out the pieces with the most grain and the best figure!

Walnut used to be my favorite wood... but I have found Ipe' to be much prettier (Yes I do still love figured walnut but figured Ipe' is even prettier in my opinion). The grain and mineral streaking in Ipe' are very striking. 8/4 Ipe'... uhhh... good luck.

[Kenny Andersen]

You might consider fuming the Cherry with ammonia a bit to start the aging process.

Personally I would use Ipe'. I have been exceptionally happy with the pieces I have made out of Ipe'. It is incredibly hard, incredibly strong, incredibly dense (when dry is sinks in water) and incredibly beautiful! Everything I have made has been from decking cast offs... those decking guys toss out the pieces with the most grain and the best figure!

Walnut used to be my favorite wood... but I have found Ipe' to be much prettier (Yes I do still love figured walnut but figured Ipe' is even prettier in my opinion). The grain and mineral streaking in Ipe' are very striking. 8/4 Ipe'... uhhh... good luck.

Well, I can't see any available in 8/4 and it looks to be pretty oily. For a rocker, that get a lot of repeated loading, I would want to make sure that all the joints are trouble-free. After having some horrible experiences with gluing teak, I'm in no rush to be gluing oily wood! LOL He think I don't like about cherry, is that the grain patterns don't really seem to pop much. I'm getting a littl more addicted to that claro walnut -- especially if I can get a few book-matched pieces for the seat etc. That might look pretty good in the end...

[Mike Schuch]

I have never had a problem gluing Ipe' and it doesn't have an oily residue like teak. Both Titebond and Gorilla Polyurethane have worked very well for me. But the 8/4 issue... well... I have never come across any. It is hard to fathom how much a slab of 8/4 Ipe' would weigh. I hand people a 5/4 board of it and their face is filled with confusion while their arm is forced towards the ground by the weight... "looks like wood, smells like wood, feels like wood... what the heck???? heavy as steel???"

I built Ipe' frames around my slate tiles when I built my stair case. I am pretty confident the slate will wear out before the Ipe'. :-)

[lowell holmes]

http://www.homesteadheritage-woodworking.com/index.html

The chair is the one shown at the link above. Mesquite can have hidden defects.

The link is not working. Browse for the Brazos Rocker

[Kenny Andersen]

Nice chair, but it looks like there are no plans available. I've order the following 2 plans:

Texas Classic Rocking Chair
http://www.mesquiterocker.com/chairs.html

a one from Hal Taylor
http://rockingchairuniversity.com/Pages/rocking_chair_plans.html


There are things I like about both of them -- I will probably end up with some kind of hybrid...

They certainly look like they are heavily influenced by Maloof. Does anyone know whether there is a book out that covers the 'original? Thanks again for all the input!