Thread: Rocking chair - WIP

All the final processes went smoothly, and the last couple of mornings have been spent sanding, and making minor shape adjustments. For the other chairs I used Minwax WOP, which I quite like, but for this chair I've decided to try Danish oil. For the Minwax I sand to 240 grit, and lightly sand between coats with 400 grit, then a final burst with OOOO steel wool. For this chair, though, I went the full monty and sanded to Festool Platin 2 2000 grit. This is generally what Hal Taylor does for Danish oil, but he uses Abralon discs, and he swears by it, so I thought I'd see what his method turns out like.

This is what the chair looks like at the moment. All that's left now is to apply a few coats of the Danish oil.

chair01.jpg chair02.jpg

This is just looking so good, Des. I like the whole shape of the arms, and the detail of the 'arch' in the reduced sections of the back braces is just right.

Thanks Alex. I'm quite happy with the way the arms turned out. With the other chairs I made, if anything, I felt that the ends of the arm rests were a little too chunky, so for this one I was determined to be fairly savage and get rid of a lot of wood. I suppose the more comfortable I become making this sort of sculpted chair, the easier shaping the arms and the seat becomes.

As much as I'd love to be able to make some claim on the look of the back braces, I had nothing to do with it. That's Hal Taylor's design, and I think he's really nailed it with the back brace flow and balance. And the beauty about his design as a whole is that it lends itself to incorporating a range of variations to personalise the chair more.

Absolutely awesome. Your skill amazes me.

Thanks for the kind words Evan.

Well, the first two coats of Danish oil are on, and I'm quite happy with the way it's turning out. I'll probably give it another couple of coats, and see then whether it needs any more.

Qld maple really is a beautiful wood.


chair03.jpg

Here are just some final photos of the rocking chair. The finish has thoroughly cured, and, fingers crossed, it will be shipped off early next week. I'm sending it by the local Pack and Send. Not cheap, but from all reports, items they handle are packed very securely. I'll take some photos as it's packed and let everyone know how it all went.

chair05.jpg chair06.jpg chair08.jpg

This next photo shows the back brace setup at the seat. The back braces move within the holes at the bottom and combined with the flexible laminations and the double drilling of the holes at the top, this gives constant and very comfortable support. The top and bottom "tenons" are soaked in melted wax so there's no squeaking with wood-on-wood movement.

chair07.jpg

Because of the nature of this chair, there's a lot of mostly unusable timber left over, so rather than cut that up and throw it out (we don't need to burn wood for warmth here on the beautiful sunny Gold Coast ), I bought a small lathe from Gary Pye to make simple pens with the off-cuts. How addictive is that! Just simple slimline pens that could in no way compare with what's being shown on the pen turning section of the Forum, but it will be nice to give the new owner of the rocking chair a pen using the same timber as in the chair. Bit of a personal touch I suppose. And that Shellawax Glow is great stuff!

SHWBO is starting to get into the pen turning and is making a few for relatives in Japan. And daughter, living in Tokyo, sent an email saying she wants to make some when she visits for Christmas. It's rough when a bloke gets kicked out of his own workshop

The rocking chair was shipped interstate to its new owner, and arrived there safe and sound, and when promised. I sent the chair through the local Mermaid Beach office of Pack and Send, and this is how they packed it ready for shipment. A thumbs up for them.

rocker_packing_01.jpg

The chair was wrapped in a protective covering before the bubble wrap because the plastic wrap can tend to mark the piece.
Apparently making up the outer packing was a bit of a challenge, and this is how it was done. 10/10 for innovation. This also kept the overall size and volume down to a manageable level.

rocker_packing_02.jpg

So overall a successful project with no major dramas.

And I'm already well underway on the next rocking chair. This time I'll be using the new design for the holes where the back braces fit into the seat. For the design I used on this chair, the holes were an oval shape, but in the new design, they are slightly larger, and more of a rectangular shape with a ¼ inch radius on the corners. This adds a little more meat to the back brace bottoms, and also gives a little more lateral support.

So to wrap up, thanks everyone for looking and for the kind comments. And thanks to everyone for the thread "likes" and "thanks".

Des

Originally Posted by Des.K.

So to wrap up, thanks everyone for looking and for the kind comments. And thanks to everyone for the thread "likes" and "thanks".

Des

and thank YOU Des for the WIP, for showing that Australian artisans make World class products that are in demand .... and for being an inspiration to the rest of us!

fletty

That is one beautiful chair!!! Thanks for sharing the journey!!!