October 18, 201015 yr I was approached today at church by a friend about repairing an old rocking chair that has been passed down through the family.One of the rockers had cracked or broken and they wanted to know if I could make two new ones.Now my question as I know we have several rocker experts here. And right now I have not seen this rocker.If I have the lumber should I cut the rockers from one piece of wood or should they be laminated or does it matter at all. Other than keeping the grain as straight as possible, anything special about cutting the rockers for a rocking chair?
October 18, 201015 yr Once you see the chair John, we'll get a better idea as to what approach you should take. I have only built one rocker in my life, and the one I built had laminate rockers, and I can sure see the benefit in the strength of the laminates. Do you know what style the rocker is yet?
October 18, 201015 yr Author I really don't know much about the chair at all other than it is a family heirloom and she wants to get it repaired. I am suppose to meet with them one night this week to see it. I will take some pictures at that time and post them. They have already had it stripped of finish, but she didn't even know what kind of wood it was. I don't have to finish it, just build the rockers. The American Woodworker said:Once you see the chair John, we'll get a better idea as to what approach you should take. I have only built one rocker in my life, and the one I built had laminate rockers, and I can sure see the benefit in the strength of the laminates. Do you know what style the rocker is yet?
October 18, 201015 yr Looking forward to those pics John. This will be a fun project for us! John Moody said:I really don't know much about the chair at all other than it is a family heirloom and she wants to get it repaired. I am suppose to meet with them one night this week to see it. I will take some pictures at that time and post them. They have already had it stripped of finish, but she didn't even know what kind of wood it was. I don't have to finish it, just build the rockers. The American Woodworker said:
October 18, 201015 yr Author Did you re-post the Amana way? John Larry Jenkins said:John Moody.. Seems like it would be in your best interest, and theirs, to quote the job with a total refinish. John could help you here, or review the Amana way I posted. Larry
October 20, 201015 yr Same thing happened to me. I did rebuild one. The rockers were so worn that they had flat places on the bottom. I redrew the correct curve on the rockers, cut it out, sanded it as perfect as I could. Then I cut thin strips of Oak for laminate, glued them to the old rockers. Next I routed with a round over and they came out VERY nice. You can see in the one picture how much I had to cut off to get the curve correct. The other pictures shows the pile of parts and the finished product.
October 20, 201015 yr Author Ron, thanks for those pictures, nice rocker. I hope to get to see it maybe tonight and take some pictures.
October 26, 201015 yr Author Okay Rocker experts, I got a chance to see the rockers (yep there are two of them) they want repaired. I brought one of them home to look over and see what can be done. This one is somewhere over a 100 years old according to the family. They have had the bottom re-caned by the Amish, but the back is the original canning. One rocker is broken but both have really bad flat places on them. It look like it is white oak. Here is the broken rocker. I have some 8/4 white oak in the shop, but it is only 6" wide. If it were edge joined and then the rockers cut would it be strong enough? Ideas, I am open for them.
October 26, 201015 yr John, IMHO, you should duplicate the same style you have on the rocker. Cutting them out as you suggested would be the way to go. The only thing that concerns me is the area where the old rocker broke is a bad area because of the way the leg was pegged through. It weekend that area, leaving little wood for support and strength. It looks as though the leg goes all the way to the bottom of the rocker. What I would do, is remove the broken rocker of course. Cut the rounded portion of the leg off so it only protrudes halfway into the rocker, this way you would have plenty of strength in the bottom portion of the rocker. And if your feeling good about all this, maybe perform the same repair on the other rocker as well.
October 26, 201015 yr And by the way, very cool rocker, not bad for a hundred a years! It held up this long!
October 26, 201015 yr Author John, It looks like the may have had a hole all the way though, but plugged it. It is one barley showing the hole on the other rocker. But I believe you are correct in that is weakened it at that point. I have it in the shop now so I will take a few more pictures of the rockers tonight.
October 26, 201015 yr John, The rocker I rebuilt has similar problems, but luckily, no rocker breakage. I think you have the right approach, but be careful when you take the rockers off. The wood in the legs may be in bad shape or maybe even partially dry rotted. My wife bought a chair that needed recaned and asked me to refinish it after it was caned. The professional that recaned it for us told me not to touch the finish, it would diminish the value. It turned out to be an very old Lincoln juvenile rocker and is now worth $500. Also we were told that when you have a chair recaned, you should do both bottom and top, the cane mateial has a life span to it and what you don't do now, you will have to do later. Color match up isn't always easy to do.
October 26, 201015 yr Author Ron, I was a little surprised when they told me they only had the bottom re-caned. The top does look good, but I am like you, I would probably have done them both just to keep it constant. I am hoping I don't have to get into the finishing part. I don't mind making the rockers, I just don't know if I can match the finish.
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