Rocker in-progress, and a question

[Mike Henderson]

Some time back, I posted a picture of my rocker in progress and many of you suggested that I re-make the rockers without the accent strips. I've done so but have another question. Note that the rockers are not finished - the chair is just sitting on the rockers. I need to do a lot more work on the flair of the build-ups so that the curve complements the curve of the side slats.

But now my question: "How high should the front of the rocker be?" Right now, the distance from the top of the seat to the bottom of the rocker is about 15 inches. When I sit in the seat and rock back, my heels come off the floor and only the front of my foot is touching. For a short person, this might be a bit too high.

What height do you make the front of your rocker?

Mike

[Steve Wargo]

I didn't bring my copy with me, but The architectural Standards book is always a worthwhile purchase. I know they're a little expensive, but older versions can be had reasonably. They have the dimensions for everything you can imagine building.

[Don Baer]

For my tatse I would not want to be on my toes while using the Rocker. When I tool the workshop form Sam Maloof I had the opportunity to sit in one of his and It sits low to the ground. I was able to rock back and forth and keep my feet Flat. I'm 5' 10". Sam is a little shorter and he can also sit in it and keep flat footed. He says that he makes all of the furniture so he is comfortable in it and has never had a single complaint even from the talest people that he has built chairs for.

[Mike Henderson]

Steve, I have a copy of the 7th edition of Architectural Graphic Standards. They have anthropometric data for chairs (page 5) and give a seat height for men from 15.6 to 18.5 with a median of 16.8 inches and for women from 14.4 inches to 17 inches with a median of 15.7 inches. But nothing for rocking chairs.

The problem with a rocker is the trade off between the rocking forward distance and the rocking back distance for the height of the front of the seat from the floor. Right now, the front of the seat on my rocker is about 15 inches from the floor when rocking forward, and about 20 inches when rocking back (gentle rocking). I had my wife sit in it and she recommended that I take about 1/2 inch off all the legs. I suppose I'll try that since I think it's too high, and see how it feels then. Just don't want to cut too much off.

Mike