Saturday, June 26, 2010

Maloof Inspired Rocker, Finale

Well friends and neighbors, here it is, the complete and finished rocker. After many weekends of work, some re-work, lots of shaping and lots and lots of sanding it's finally finished. Quite a few of you have asked, and yes, it is very comfortable. The seat feels great, the back slats curve just right to support my back, the arm rests are just the right curve to fit, well at least to fit me. Last but not least, it looks great in my living room.


The rockers came out great, and with the chair upside down I was able to run sandpaper along the whole underside creating a smooth gentle curve to rock on. One of my favorite details is the transition from the back legs to the rockers, take a second to enlarge the picture and take a look at it, but pictures don't do it justice, come over and run your fingers along the curves.


The organic shape of this style of rocker is what draws people to it, and it's true, they just can't help but touch it.








I tried very hard to make the arms match and to edge each one with a nice sharp hard line. The smooth transition from the front legs into the arm is something people that have seen it coment on, it really wasn't that difficult thanks to the instruction on the DVD and book.




Shaping the front leg into the seat smoothly was challenging but the joint itself was easy and it fit perfectly with the two matching router bits that Mr. Brock recommends.



The crestrail is the most visible part of the chair and therefore the part I wanted the most srtiking grain on, when I unpacked my walnut the very first day I set this piece aside for the crestrail. I think I made the right choice.




I have commented on Mr. Brock's DVD/Book throughout the process of building this rocking chair only in a positive way, please be assured that I have no connections with Mr. Brock other than a nice Email he sent me after my first blog post. I was given the DVD/Book as a Christmas gift. I found the instruction and plans to be spot on, the templates and jigs described in the book are not overly complicated and very useful, I would not attempt a rocker of this complexity without them. I do have one criticism of the DVD though, there is alot of time spent watching Mr. Brock work with accompaning guitar music, while the music is good, I feel that I would have been better served by voice over description of the process. I do realize that this is Mr. Brock's first DVD and I haven't viewd his DVD on building a Maloof low back dining chair, maybe you won't agree with me, it is after all just my opinion, but yeah, less music, more naration please. Mr. Brock is a professional woodworker and instructor, I could not have even attempted this project without his product, thank you Charles, you helped push this woodworker to a new level.

"Little by little, one travels far." - J.R.R. Tolkien

7 comments:

Rick Lasita said...

Outstanding results! I had the chance to follow you on and off as I have Hal Taylors plans and have just started my rocker. Hope mine turns out as good as yours. Rick

Tico Vogt said...

Bravo!

Larry Marshall said...

You rocker is beautiful, Brad. I particularly love the crest rail as the board you picked for it is amazing. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Cheers --- Larry "aka Woodnbits"

Shannon said...

Great work Brad! That crest rail is truly stunning. The 3D character of the grain draws you in. Congratulations on knocking of one of the iconic pieces that has a place on all woodworker's bucket lists. Congrats as well on the nice mention on Pop Wood's blog.

Morton said...

Wow, that is just awesome. You didn't talk about the finish - what was the process and materials used? I'm about to finish some walnut myself, so I'm interested ;)

Building a rocker was, well, nowhere on my woodworking list. Now it's on there and moving up rapidly thanks to this beauty that you've created.

Unknown said...

Thanks for your willingness to share your project with everyone. First, I'd like to add my compliments to the others. You have, in my opinion, built an exceptionally beautiful chair.

Secondly, I'd like to say that I found your project to be personally inspiring. I'm not very far along in building my skills as a woodworker, but your project has brought focus to my desire to someday build a Maloof style project. I am encouraged and inspired! I think I'll give it a try sometime this winter.

Brad Ferguson said...

Morton,
the finish couldn't have been easier, I used a few coats of natural Danish oil from Watco followed by Watco liquid wax for dark wood.