Rocking Chair - very hard or hard? How long? For our first pregnancy.

[Patrick Irish]

Hi All,

Wife is 15 weeks along with our first and with my work in special education testing, I don't have time to build a crib BUT want to tackle a rocking chair.

There are so many styles to chose from. My main question is the complexity and if it's a very hard project or just a hard project? :p I've seen many videos of them being made with a festool domino which I don't have. I do have a jet hollow mortiser, jessem doweling jig and of course routers, planer table saw etc.

I think with the right set of plans it's doable. Would 3-4 months with nights and weekends sound about right?

I'm trying to figure out what route I want to go in making the rocking legs. I've seen a template been cut out of ply or mdf using a router to get a perfect curve, then laminate and clamp. I like that idea because I want the legs to be walnut with strip of mahogany or sepele. Like this.

http://larryciesla.com/images/rocking_chair/image800/DSCF1159.JPG

The seat joint also looks intimidating to me, getting it all lined up perfectly with the leg and seat. I might just make legs that come through the seat.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/9a/25/75/9a25759ccdde5b13034ef62ccccaa3fe.jpg


This is the style I want to make.

https://garyweeks.com/assets/uploads/images/_fullWidth/17-486.jpg

[Roger Feeley]

Patrick, I can't help you with the chair but I think you are right to avoid investing time in a crib. My wife and I bought a really nice crib when my daughter was born thinking that she could use it. But standards changed and I wound up cutting it up for scrap. I advised her to just buy something solid but not to expect her children to use it.

As far as I know rocking chairs are eternal and the one you have in mind will be stunning.

[Von Bickley]

Go for it... Just keep us up-dated with pictures.
Congratulations on the pregnancy...

[johnny means]

You should have plenty of time rho have it ready for that first grandchild. ��

[jeff norris 2011]

A true Malloof style chair - would be 'very hard'. This hybrid chair would be 'hard' as well. Lots of fancy joinery, curves etc.. keep in mind the joints on a chair take way more abuse than most things us woodworker build, a rocking chair even more so.So they have to be very good.

A mission style rocking chair would be much easier to build if that style appeals to you.

(https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?163663-Starting-a-Maloof-Rocker-Any-Advice)
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I am a big fan of the Maloof chair though, trying googling about and you will find lots of woodworkers who share their journey in building one.

[Prashun Patel]

That exact chair is available on Scott Morrison's website. I believe that is his design; it is a simplified version of the Maloof-style rocker, which he also has available.

Both versions are totally doable in your time frame. The difference between the two is that the version show below does not have a lot of the sculpted elements that are in the 'complete' version. With plans, the joinery and assembly of the chair is actually the easy part. The time consuming part is the sculpting; that easily took me 50% of the build time; a lot of those elements are not intuitive.

The actual joinery on both chairs is usually screws and plugs, with routed dados where the legs meet the seat.

I would definitely pay for plans - and supporting videos on this project.

Good luck.

[Ryan J Carpenter]

There is nothing like a true Maloof style chair, but like others have said, they can be very time consuming- I think mine took over 100 hours not including the design time. It helps to be comfortable with hand tools when refining all these joints and curves.

You may also consider an Appalachian style ladder back rocking chair. I made the non-rocking style from plans and it took 30% of the time. Lots of plans out there and I find the woven seat much more comfortable.

[Mike Henderson]

I made a rocker that is based on the Arts and Crafts style but a bit less rectilinear. Here are a few pictures:


423767423766423768423769

I made a similar rocker for a young friend when they had their first baby. Just did a flat seat and they put a "throw" cushion on it (maybe tied to the back uprights).

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Mike

[Patrick Kane]

Ooh, that is going to be a tight but doable timeline, Patrick. I started a Maloof style rocker last June under similar circumstances. I started it when my wife was maybe in the 12 week range. I think the due date was November 18th. A month or so later found out they were identical MoMo twins, and the rest was a train wreck to hell. However, i did diligently work on the rocker the whole time. After they passed at 27 weeks, i didnt hustle on the build, but i still ended up finishing it right around the original deadline. Great project. It's shocking how quickly the structure goes together, and how slowly the refinement process is. I think i had the joinery complete with something that very much resembled a chair after a few weekends. The next dozen or more weeks were painfully slow work shaping and sanding. Heres a pic of it in my shop.

I would say you can definitely finish it before the baby(ies) come, but there will need to be some moderate hustle on your end. Like the other guy said, these chairs are every bit of 100+ hours. Im sure it goes faster after you have a few under your belt, but you spend a lot of time sculpting and even more time sanding out the coarse sculpting marks. As far as tooling, this is very much a low tech build. I have a decent hobbyist shop and my slider, 20" jointer, 20" planer, and everything else sat collecting dust for the majority of the build. You need a decent bandsaw, a grinder, and some hand tools. I know people like their rasps, and i have a coarse and a fine Auriou rasp that i used, but i think a few spokeshaves are faster. You remove material faster with a shave and a sharp one will give you cleaner results with less sanding. Other than that, i liked a super soft sanding pad for my festool sander. That is about the extent of my tips. You need some hand tools, a fair amount of time, and maybe splurge on a soft sanding pad to contour to the curves. An Emmertts vise is another handy thing to have. I vote for doing the rocker over a crib.

[Phil Mueller]

Wow, Patrick, that chair is stunning.

[Mikail Khan]

I used plans from Hal Taylor. First chair took 140 hours. Including jigs.

I have built 8 chairs so far. 6 mahogany, 2 teak. His plans are a couple hundred pages and very good.

I built a crib as well 15 years ago. Still around and my grandchildren may get to use it.

MK

[Larry Frank]

I built a Maloof style rocker and have no idea how many hours. It was the most difficult and enjoyable project I have done. I took a class from Bill Kappel in Utah. My chair was from Claro Walnut. There were a lot of little things like getting the balance right and making it feel good. I would not want to do one on a tight schedule.

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[Jim Becker]

Charis of any kind are challenging projects and something you don't want to rush...especially for a rocker where you "enhance" all the wonderful angles and balance with the need for that balance to be maintained as the chair actually moves its center of gravity back and forth. So I'm with Larry...a great project, but not necessarily the best choice when there is a deadline involved and you've never done it before. The crib might be more approachable and more easily completed in a shorter time period, honestly.

[Jacob Mac]

So the questions I would ask are

Do I have the necessary tools

Am I willing to buy DVDs or plans

Could I take blocks of time to work it?

With DVD/plans, tools and time you can definitely do it.

I used the woodwhisperer guild project for my first Maloof rocker. I literally just mimicked everything he did. And it was easier due to seeing it done. That knocked the difficulty way down. But I needed the tools, there are a lot, and I spent large chunks of time working it.

I think it would have been way more difficult if I couldn't have watched it done before doing it.

[Andrew Seemann]

If you need a rocking chair, buy it. If you want a project to distract you from the stress, then it makes sense. Just be prepared to drop it at some point if necessary. 15 weeks turns into almost 40 in no time:)

FYI, if you need a chair for nursing and rocking the baby to sleep, you want a nice, soft, comfortable one you can spend a lot of time in. And one with arms far enough apart to comfortably hold your little bundle of joy but still be able to rest one arm on for feeding (at 2AM:) )

[Prashun Patel]

Also, thinking about this further, buy a gliding rocker for your wife. You will stress out finishing this on time , and honestly it won’t be as comfortable as an upholstered rocker that glides.

These wood rockers are beautiful and fun to make, but probably not ideal for nursing moms.

[Adam Grund]

If you need a rocking chair, buy it. If you want a project to distract you from the stress, then it makes sense. Just be prepared to drop it at some point if necessary. 15 weeks turns into almost 40 in no time:)

FYI, if you need a chair for nursing and rocking the baby to sleep, you want a nice, soft, comfortable one you can spend a lot of time in. And one with arms far enough apart to comfortably hold your little bundle of joy but still be able to rest one arm on for feeding (at 2AM:) )
after buying literally the most uncomfortable upholstered rocker for our daughter, for our sons room we just bought a recliner.
Don’t know about all of you, but if I had a more comfortable and reclining chair in our daughters room, I might have gladly spent more nights sleeping in there to get her through the night. A- she had lots of eating problems and was a very fussy baby throughout the night, and b- I just enjoyed- and still enjoy with my son now- spending the night with the babies. I usually take the nights if there’s problems since my wife gets to spend all day with the holy terrors!

[Larry Frank]

There is nothing like a comfortable recliner to hold a young one at night. It has been awhile but still remember long nights rocking in my LazyBoy with a fussy baby or one with a cold. My wife and I would trade off in the night.

[Thomas McCurnin]

I think chairs are the most challenging woodworking project out there. Presently above my skill level. I have started and stopped a Craftsman Stickley type chair a couple of times over the last five years.

You’ll need specialized tools (plunge router, mortiser, router table) and specialized jigs (large shop made bevel square, mortise and tenon jig) and full sized paper plans to get angles off of and to make templates. Many of the joints are compound angles. Or go full Neanderthal.

I’m re-starting this project again. I think I’ll make multiple parts to cover my ass when I screw up a piece. I may also take a class and here are two I am looking at:

https://www.sustainlife.org/shop/craftsman-style-rocking-chair/. This class is in Waco and builds a traditional Craftsman rocker, but I caution you is 100% Neanderthal. It is 6 days and $1,850. You walk away with a white oak rocker.

https://wnwoodworkingschool.com/class/blacker-house-inspired-chair/. This class is put on by William Ng and builds a Green and Green Blacker House chair with ebony inlays. It is $1,650 and you walk away with the chair. It is also 6 days. Ng uses power tools supplemented by hand tools where needed.

Here is a link to a neat Craftsman chair article with down-loadable full size plans from Fine Woodworking.
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2018/01/19/craftsman-rocking-chair

I was designing my own, based off an actual Stickley chair. It’s really hard.

All I can say is good luck, be patient, make multiple parts, and consider a school.

[Mike Henderson]

I haven't found chairs to be an overwhelming challenge. A woodworking instructor once told me - "Any project is just a sequence of steps. If you can do each step, you can string them together to make the most complex project."

My advice to an aspiring chairmaker is to start with a fairly simple chair - a dining room style chair is a good starter project. You'll learn what you need to know about the required dimensions and joinery in building such a chair.

The process is that you build the back, then the front, then hook them together with the sides. Making the mortise and tenons to attach the sides to the rear requires you to figure out the angle. What I do it make the mortise square into the back and then make the tenon at an angle to fit. If you make a piece from scrap first you can get everything straightened out before you cut the good wood.

Many woodworkers have the idea that chairs are difficult but they're really no more difficult than many of the other furniture projects we build every day.

There was a good book on chairs by Miller? (don't remember and don't still have a copy). If I find it I'll post the name here.

Mike

[I found it. It's "Chairmaking and Design (https://www.amazon.com/Chairmaking-Design-Jeff-Miller/dp/1933502061/ref=sr_1_1?crid=79AJVFTQ9CTA&keywords=chairmaking+and+design&qid=1579287551&sprefix=chairmaking+and+%2Caps%2C197&sr=8-1)" by Jeff Miller.]

[Prashun Patel]

Chairs by virtue of their function really don't have as much design flexibility as other types of woodworking; that is, you can't really stray too far from the several tried and true designs out there, and most of those are incredibly well documented in books, videos and plans.

They're really not as hard as non-chairmakers think. While they have many steps, each step is straightforward.

[Erik Loza]

My neighbors across the street have a BEAUTIFUL cherry rocker in the Maloof style. I don't remember if a family member made it or what the story was but they sort of treat like an Ikea chair. "Nothing special, just some vintage chair". It's what you get when all the kitchen tables are being occupied. I always try to claim it when we go over.

Erik

[Thomas McCurnin]

Jeff Miller is a superstar. He has a couple of sections in that book on shop made jigs for chairs including an easy to understand tenon jig and mortise jig. He also has some articles in Fine Woodworking on the subject.

I’ve never had a day of instruction, just learned on the job as a union carpenter and restoring a very old Los Angeles home, with a small garage shop.

I got as far as the back legs and screwed those up with a flush trimming router operation. I have all the full size drawings on 1/4 mdf, most of the jigs and wedges and the stock. So I’m the process of renewing this project. I need to start again with those rear legs and this time make multiple parts to account for my screw ups.

Like I said, I may also have to sit down with a chairmaker like William Ng and get some face time instruction.

[Tony Latham]

I don't have any advice other but I think you've already let the bullet out of the barrel and there's no putting it back in. That chair is gorgeous.

Please start a another photo-heavy thread when you start cutting.

Tony

[lowell holmes]

I took these classes, all of them.
I built all of the chairs and have made eight chairs for my children, grand children, and friends.
Eight chairs in all. I am thinking about making another and donating it to a charity.

[Jeffrey Martel]

Being in the thick of things now with an 8-month old, I would also agree with buying a glider, and an ottoman for a foot stool. I can recommend the one we bought from crate and barrel. Super comfortable. I spent many many nights and days sitting in that when my little one was 2-6 months and not sleeping unless she was laying on one of us.

By all means build one because they are awesome, but for the nursery a glider or recliner works better. I even took a hit to my pride and bought some ikea furniture for the nursery so everything could be done and ready in time. Turned out to be the best call since she was 5 weeks early. She'll get handmade stuff when she is older.