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

  1. #1

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

    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? 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.



    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.




    This is the style I want to make.


  2. #2
    Join Date
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    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.

  3. #3
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    Go for it... Just keep us up-dated with pictures.
    Congratulations on the pregnancy...
    Army Veteran 1968 - 1970
    I Support the Second Amendment of the US Constitution

  4. #4
    You should have plenty of time rho have it ready for that first grandchild. ��

  5. #5
    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.


    01L5007-mission-rocking-chair-plan-i-01-r.jpg

    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.
    Last edited by jeff norris 2011; 01-15-2020 at 6:14 PM.

  6. #6
    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.

  7. #7
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    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.

  8. #8
    I made a rocker that is based on the Arts and Crafts style but a bit less rectilinear. Here are a few pictures:


    Norma's-rocker-1-small.jpgNorma's-rocker-2-small.jpgNorma's-rocker-4-small.jpgNorma's-rocker-3-small.jpg

    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).

    Rocker.jpg

    Mike
    Last edited by Mike Henderson; 01-15-2020 at 4:10 PM.
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  9. #9
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    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.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  10. #10
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    Wow, Patrick, that chair is stunning.

  11. #11
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    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

  12. #12
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    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.

    20181202_094034.jpg
    Last edited by Larry Frank; 01-15-2020 at 8:22 PM.

  13. #13
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    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.
    --

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  14. #14
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    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.

  15. #15
    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 )

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