Contemporary Craftsman Rocker

[Mike Henderson]

I finally finished my rocker and wanted to post a few pictures since several of you gave me some good advice while I was building it. It's in walnut, and is my own design. What I was trying to do is take the idea of a Craftsman (or Stickley/Greene and Greene) design and give it a more modern interpretation.

The basic "look" is Craftsman, with the generally square design, the side and back slats, and the dark wood, but the slats have been bent to a more modern look, the arms and seat are sculpted, and the side slats merge into the arms in a sweep.

The connection between the rockers and the legs is through a "build up" that is sculpted to a curve to follow the curve of the side slats and the top of the front legs.

I'd appreciate your feedback on the design. Do you like the modern overlay on an old design? And how does the overall design strike you? Is it something you would like to build or have in your house?

Mike

[Lee DeRaud]

Very cool, sort of a Stickley-meets-Maloof effect.

(Just realized I'm in Neanderville:
that's certainly not the kind of project I'd attempt without a really good supply of free-range electrons on hand.:p )

[Mike Wenzloff]

I too like it very much, Michael.

It is a refreshing craftsman--probably even more an arts and crafts piece to my eye as those craftspeople took more liberties in organic forms.

Very pleasing to me. I would build one. It is a form my wife would more appreciate than the more stoic craftsman rockers that adorn our front room.

Take care, Mike

[Steve Wargo]

Very Nice... Very Clean. Look great. Nicely done.

[Mark Singer]

Excellent and Fresh details! I really like the way some elements merge and others are seperate...Beautiful work!

[Russ Massery]

I feel Mark's comment's are right on. I really like craftsman furiture. I like merger a lot. Very nice. Thanks for sharing.

[john mclane]

It looks great finished. i love those curves on this . I'm glad you got rid of that racing stripe on the rockers.

[Joe Unni]

Wow!

Thanks very much for sharing!!

-joe

[Mark Stutz]

I love the design. Much more appealing to my eye than the strict Craftwman style. The execution is great as well. I too, think it's better without the racing stripe.

Unfortunately, I think I'm a little far away from trying chairs, let alone rockers, or I'd be copying that in a flash! (with permission of course!;) )

[David Fried]

Looking at the pictures without reading your post, my first thought was it's arts and craft but somehow modern. I think that's just what you were aiming for and got it right! I like the Maloof meets Green and Green idea too!

Dave Fried

[Mike Henderson]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I especially like Lee's comment "Stickley-meets-Maloof". Lee, if you don't have that copyrighted, I'm going to use it.

Based on your earlier suggestions, I shortened the legs so that my feet don't come off the floor when rocking. One change I'll make on a future rocker is to increase the backward cant by shortening the rear legs an inch or so - I just think it would look and feel better that way.

Thanks again for you comments and your earlier suggestions. They're all appreciated.

Mike

[Karl Laustrup]

That is so pleasing to the eye. At least my eye. Very nice.

Karl

[Jim Becker]

Wow, Mike...that's gorgeous! I love how you blended in those side slats to the arm-rests, too. Awesome work!

[Mike Henderson]

The secret to getting the side slats to "fit" into the arms that well is the other end of the slat. That is, the other end of the slats are not length critical.

The way I did that was to make the mortises on the stretcher the same size as the slats - the slats don't have tenons on them. So when I fit the slats to the arms, I can pull them upward in the mortise a bit and no one can tell that they don't bottom out.

I do put glue in the mortise -low in the mortise - and hope that the glue doesn't show when I slide the slat into position in the arm.

Mike

[Jim W. White]

Just awesome Mike!!

Very insperational, but every time I even consider making a chair of any type the seen from 'The Patriot" comes to mind where Gibson keeps throwing various attempts into a growing scrap pile. That would be me for sure. :p

That is one beautiful rocker!!

...Jim in Idaho

[Ralph Barhorst]

Wow. Even better than what I was looking for yesterday. See my post http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=31636&highlight=garden+chair

Your first picture looks similar to the picture of the rocker that I posted yesterday.

I am really interested in your design. I would like to know more about the dimensions on the legs and the curve on the back slats. I want to make two of these "Garden Rockers" but I am concerned about making sure that everything is sized correctly for maximum comfort.

Would you mind providing some of this information. Your experience could save me a lot of time and wood.:p

Please PM me if you are willing to help.

[Mike Henderson]

Ralph,

I'd be happy to send you the plans I worked from and to help you with any tips and advice I can give. But now the bad news - The plans I started with are not the rocker I wound up with. I work pretty free form, meaning that if I get an idea during construction, I make modifications and never go back and modify the plans.

And when I draw up plans, I often don't put dimensions on the drawing. I note the scale on the drawing and then take my architect's scale to the shop and take measurements when I need to. Pretty sloppy, I know, but it works for me. I also don't indicate the joinery because I know that in my head. And just a note, cutting the tenons on the back of the side stretcher is a challenge because it's a compound angle cut. I'll tell you in e-mail how I did it.

So what I can send you is a pdf, which you'll have to make sure you print out full size (it's a print option) and then use an architect's scale to get the measurements, then I'll have to tell you where I made changes while I was building it.

And I'll certainly make the same offer to anyone else who might be interested. If there's more than a couple of people interested, I'll put the pdf here in a message.

Mike

[Ralph Barhorst]

Thanks Mike,

I sent a PM to you with my email address.

Ralph

[Mike Henderson]

I wrote up some construction notes in a pdf for Ralph and posted them here (http://members.cox.net/h-h.woodworks/Papers/2006-02-21%20Construction%20Tips.pdf).

Please let me know if I didn't cover something, or if you find errors.

Mike

[Tyler Howell]

Ooo La La!!!!
Me Likes:cool:

[Mike Henderson]

I apologize for posting again on this thread but I found a significant measurement error in the construction tips paper I had posted (the link was in an earlier entry). If you downloaded that paper, please discard and pick up a new copy here (http://members.cox.net/h-h.woodworks/Papers/2006-02-21%20Construction%20Tips.pdf).

Sorry,
Mike

[Michael Fross]

Hello Michael.

Thank you so much for posting your thoughts. I must admit to being blown away by the design and implementation.

I really appreciate the time to put this together.

Thanks again,

Michael