Looking For Rocking Chair Plans...

[Derek Arita]

I just finished a garden bench for one of my daughters and of course, now I have to build my other daughter something. I'm looking for plans for a simple, but sturdy rocking chair. I'm thinking that a curved back might be a bit difficult, but then I've never done one, so what do I know. I saw a nice mission style rocker from Wood Magazine and it's a possibility, but again, it's got a curved back, so I don't know. Anyhow, if you've got a favorite and it's not too difficult a build, please let me know.

[Mike Henderson]

While not a set of plans, I did a write up about a rocker that I built some years ago. You can read it here.

Mike

[Derek Arita]

Mike, that's a beauty, but it doesn't look simple to build. I'm looking for simple, with not a lot of curves.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

Google maloof inspired rocker, look for charles brock's site. He has a few plans, classes and DVDs. I have his DVD, it's on my bucket list to make a rocking chair before I really need one. Good luck!

[lowell holmes]

Derek,

Paul Sellers wrote a two issue piece on building a Craftsman Rocking Chair. It was published in December 2004 and February 2005 issues of "Woodwork" magazine. The magazine is out of print.
I built this chair at Homestead Heritage in a week long class. Paul was the instructor.

He is conducting classes that build this same chair now.

If you can't attend the school, I suggest you contact him and see if he will sell you the plans.

[Jim Tabor]

Derek,
I have built at least 150 rockers, from a simple childs rocker to several Maloof style rockers (using Charles Brocks plans and DVD). You must be very careful as it can get into your blood. There is always another style of rocker or another type of wood, so the possibilities are endless.
My favorite rocker is a “country” or Shaker rocker, and for anyone wanting to learn to build this style, I recommend articles and books by Kerry Pierce of Ohio. He is a master at building and teaching the Shaker rocker. He’s had several articles in Popular Woodworking magazine and has several books on Shaker furniture. They include very detailed instructions on the rockers, plus helpful information on steam bending, jigs, and templates. Good luck.

[lowell holmes]

This string is pertinent to building rocking chairs. I'm bringing it up to day in case some of you have an interest.
If you have such an interest, I suggest you contact Paul. He can and will help.

And, don't overlook Mikes post. He may still have books available.

[Prashun Patel]

Derek, I would consider the Brock Maloof style rocker plans.

That project is deceptively straightforward to build, because a lot of the joinery is done with routers and dados and screws and plugs. Also the plans, dvd, and Brock's personal support are very well done. Scott Morrison also has similar plans. Brock's video is more artistic, but Morrison's is more extensive - he will show every step of the shaping in painstaking detail.

Both guys are accessible, and very helpful.

Either rocker will wow your daughter. Two caveats: 1) it takes up a good deal of space because the rockers are long. 2) You'll need to invest in some specialty router bits and shaping tools. I think I put in about $200-$300 in new equipment.

[Mike Holbrook]

Elia Bizzarri has a new DVD with Popular Woodworking, "Build a Traditional Windsor Rocker". Plans are available either through Elia or Curtis Buchanan. The plan is a Continuous Arm Windsor with rockers. A similar rocker can be built from Peter Galbert's book, "Chairmaker's Notebook". Pete offers plans for his chair too.

[Bob Murphy]

I'm currently building a Maloof rocker using Hal Taylor's plans which are on an easy to use DVD. Hal also has a forum on which he and others using his plans respond to questions and give advice along with posting pics.