Scott - I want thank you very much for the templates and the accompanying video re: Sam Morrison-inspired rocking chair. I completed a sapele rocking chair a few weeks ago and am very pleased with the result ... as is my granddaughter. We and all who have sat in the rocker are amazed at the comfort. The flowing lines and beauty are remarkable! Now I have two additional chairs to make for other family members. In that regard, do you thing mahogany is too light (in terms of hardness) of a hardwood for a rocking chair?
Again, thank you very much for expanding my woodworking horizons! Attached are a couple of photos of my chair.
Terry M.
Lynn N.
Hi Scott – Well you gave me 3 weeks of interesting preoccupation with this project! Thanks for a really well done tutorial.
No disrespect to Mr. Maloof, but I decided to make a racy rocker version – mostly cherry with hard maple stripes on the rockers, seat, and up three of the slats. Having read about Sam Maloof’s creations for some time, I’m aware of the reverence his work holds in the woodworking community. Adding a light hearted design element helped me bring the project down to my level while hopefully not minimizing his genius. Plus, I’m mid 60’s and just couldn’t bring myself to embrace the image of an old man’s rocker yet.
Beautiful design though, and you really walk through the steps perfectly to allow a novice to get to the shapes needed. I’m particularly fascinated by the “butt” on the back of the headrest. I would never have come up with that myself.
As always, I screwed up in a couple of areas and thought I’d pass them along in the event someone else might have issues/questions.
I purchased the 5 deg bits but did not purchase the ¼” rabbit. I had an adjustable rabbit bit that has a 1 3/8” diameter cutting head with a 7/8” diameter bearing to yield a ¼” rabbit. What I didn’t realize is that this creates a 5/8” radius for the leg joint to fill. I had to re-roundover the leg to 5/8” (rather than ½”) but it fit well, though it leaves a little less tenon in the corners.
This one’s almost too embarrassing to document but if you look at my back slats it’s pretty obvious – I put the round over on the wrong side of each slat. Comically, I didn’t even realize I’d made the mistake until I tried to fit the slats on the chair with the flat side facing forward…………ahhh, that’s not gonna work. Actually, they are surprisingly comfortable even being reversed. I’ll just need to make up some story for why I did that on purpose.
Fitting the rockers to the legs – I snapped the rear leg almost in two. The root cause was the dowels being too tight. You even warned about this in the video so I had sanded down the dowels a bit but apparently not enough. I used epoxy mixed with saw dust (I note that you switched to silica or something like that in your video) and filled the holes ½ full. The dowel was just too tight and the compression from the epoxy mix wouldn’t allow the dowel to enter so I removed most of the epoxy. Now I’m nervous about both legs seating properly so I left the rear leg proud and began to insert the front leg so they’d go in together. I assume the torque on the rear leg against the dowel due to it’s not being fully seated was too much leverage against the thin wall of the leg and it cracked/snapped. I glued and clamped the crack to where it’s visually barely noticeable but I have no idea whether it will hold up structurally. I’m hoping that between the dowel, epoxy, and wood glue that it will be ok.
I live in Phoenix, AZ and the day for shaping/grinding the assembled chair was 116 deg. So I’m in my garage shop, door open, exhaust fan at full speed, respirator on, sweat spattered glasses perched on the bridge of my nose over the respirator trying to carve your carefully detailed shapes……..no profound wisdom here other than maybe to suggest a March start date.
Well, that’s it for me. It’s a little weird but after watching hours of your videos, I feel like I know you, while you don’t have a clue about me so pardon my familiarity in writing this email. It really was a fun project and I appreciate the care you took in making the templates and videos.
Regards
Andy F.
Hello Scott.
Tony Wells here. I just completed the Montana rocking chair. Thank you for the plans and dvd. I enjoyed building it. I am expecting my first grandchild so I built this for my son and daughter in-law.
Tony W.
Thanks so much for your video! I was able to complete a bucket list item that I have been thinking about since I met Sam maloof over 40 years ago.
Ron T., Ed.D
Hey Scott. I hope all is good across the pond. I've just completed my 2nd rocking chair. I did a few things differently on this one but I still needed your dvd to help me along. I'll send a few pictures. You're a legend. Thank you Scott!
Michael O.
Scott,
Hope you are well and making saw dust. Finished 2 bar stools, made them out of cherry. Thought you might like to see them.
Regards,
Bill P.
Thanks again Scott… another one done.
Tom T.
Hi Scott,
Complements of the season to you and your family, I hope that you have a great year. Thought you might appreciate the two pics below. 18 months in the making for one client, all shipped to Germany. We changed a few details, the chairs are not as wide as your original and the back rest is tipped back by about 3 degrees. The rocking chairs are Hal Taylors design. My next mission is 10 of your low back chairs for the same client, will send some pics in a year or so 😊
Kind Regards,
Rick P.
South Africa
Hello Scott,
After 6 months I finished my chair. I would like to thank you for the templates and the videos. Without it would be very difficult to build the chair.
Attached are some photos of the chair.
Best regards
Laercio N.
Hey Scott,
Finally finished my curly cherry rocker
Thanks for your help. [Also]
the small one I asked your advice on (Mahogany).
Turned out right size for her.
Lynn N.
