First of all I would like to thank everyone for the very kind words about my rocker.
It took a long time to complete, but I guess that anything worthwhile is worth waiting for.
I will include the two pictures again and try to answer all the questions I received.
Before I get to the questions I have to say that I could not have built this chair without the expert instruction of Randall Fields my instructor at Cedar Lakes State Park in Ripley, W. Va. Randall has devised a unique method and style to constructing Windsor chairs. I followed his method with great success, but did not complete the rocker at school.
Q: How did I make the seat, and what kind of wood is it?
A:It is cherry. Two pieces, 2 in thick, glued together down the center to make it wide enough. I roughed carved the seat using a tool that looks like a small chain saw (called a Lancelot) on a 4 in wheel attached to a Dewalt mini grinder. Sanding disks were used to smooth it up and then a lot of hand sanding. This Lancelot tool really cuts fast, and a great deal of care has to be taken to keep from removing too much wood. It also will gouge if you are not careful to take light cuts. One thing that kept me on track was I drilled 1/4 in holes at key locations in the seat. They were each drilled to the depth of how much wood I wanted to remove at that part of the seat. When I got to the bottom of the hole, I quit removing the wood in that section.
Q: did I use a regular drill press?
A: Yes I did, but only on the holes that were at 90 deg. Nearly all the holes were compound angle and I drilled them on my radial drill press using a tilt table that I installed. That way I could drill compound angled holes. I don't think I could have done it correctly with out the radial drill press.
Q: What type wood is used and what are the construction details?
A: The seat is cherry, the legs ,stretchers, arm stumps, and curved back supports are maple. The continuous arm is 1/8 in laminated red oak strips glued together with Titebond II on a form that Randall Fields provided. I was really worried about the final shaping and the drilling of the holes for the back supports because if I goofed up I could not make another one with out the form. I had to make a special jig to drill these holes as there was no way to mount it in the radial drill press. You may notice that all mortise and tenons are wedged with walnut. I like the look of this method and it really make a tight joint that will not loosen over time. Loose joints are really bad on a rocking chair and are very common to the Windsor style chair.
The rockers are also laminated 1/8 in oak and were glued up and curved on one of Randall's many forms.
Q: What is the finish and method?
A: Nothing special, just min wax polly (3 coats). I think I was just lucky, but I did spend a lot of time hand sanding prior to finishing. It came out just a bit too shiny, so I gave it a final rub down with synthetic steel wool.
Thats it! Hope I answered all your questions! You probably have more now that I told you this much. I will be happy to answer any more you might have, just send me a post.
It took a long time to complete, but I guess that anything worthwhile is worth waiting for.
I will include the two pictures again and try to answer all the questions I received.
Before I get to the questions I have to say that I could not have built this chair without the expert instruction of Randall Fields my instructor at Cedar Lakes State Park in Ripley, W. Va. Randall has devised a unique method and style to constructing Windsor chairs. I followed his method with great success, but did not complete the rocker at school.
Q: How did I make the seat, and what kind of wood is it?
A:It is cherry. Two pieces, 2 in thick, glued together down the center to make it wide enough. I roughed carved the seat using a tool that looks like a small chain saw (called a Lancelot) on a 4 in wheel attached to a Dewalt mini grinder. Sanding disks were used to smooth it up and then a lot of hand sanding. This Lancelot tool really cuts fast, and a great deal of care has to be taken to keep from removing too much wood. It also will gouge if you are not careful to take light cuts. One thing that kept me on track was I drilled 1/4 in holes at key locations in the seat. They were each drilled to the depth of how much wood I wanted to remove at that part of the seat. When I got to the bottom of the hole, I quit removing the wood in that section.
Q: did I use a regular drill press?
A: Yes I did, but only on the holes that were at 90 deg. Nearly all the holes were compound angle and I drilled them on my radial drill press using a tilt table that I installed. That way I could drill compound angled holes. I don't think I could have done it correctly with out the radial drill press.
Q: What type wood is used and what are the construction details?
A: The seat is cherry, the legs ,stretchers, arm stumps, and curved back supports are maple. The continuous arm is 1/8 in laminated red oak strips glued together with Titebond II on a form that Randall Fields provided. I was really worried about the final shaping and the drilling of the holes for the back supports because if I goofed up I could not make another one with out the form. I had to make a special jig to drill these holes as there was no way to mount it in the radial drill press. You may notice that all mortise and tenons are wedged with walnut. I like the look of this method and it really make a tight joint that will not loosen over time. Loose joints are really bad on a rocking chair and are very common to the Windsor style chair.
The rockers are also laminated 1/8 in oak and were glued up and curved on one of Randall's many forms.
Q: What is the finish and method?
A: Nothing special, just min wax polly (3 coats). I think I was just lucky, but I did spend a lot of time hand sanding prior to finishing. It came out just a bit too shiny, so I gave it a final rub down with synthetic steel wool.
Thats it! Hope I answered all your questions! You probably have more now that I told you this much. I will be happy to answer any more you might have, just send me a post.
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