My rocker

[Pete Lamberty]

Here are some photos of a rocking chair that I have been working on for the last year. Let me first thank John Miliunas for helping me get these photos taken and also the posting of them. His help was plentiful and freely given. Thank you John. I wanted to design a chair but I had no idea how to start. So I gave myself an assignment to design a "beautiful" chair. I don't know if I accomplished this or not. I believe the design of this rocker is totally original. I don't think I have ever seen a chair like it. I started designing this chair in January of 2003 and finished making it in January of 2004. I have no idea how many hours I spent on the designing and making of this chair. I first sketched numerous partees and then built a full size rocker out of corrugated card board. I changed things around a few times until I got the model looking the way I liked. As you can see the chair is made out of walnut. I used ebony to plug the screw holes. I used Maloof style joints to attach the legs to the seat. These were difficult to do. Especially the front legs. The legs are not ninety degrees to the seat in either the side to side direction or the front to back direction (Y or Z directions on the Cartesian Coordinate system, X axis being the seat.) At the time these photos were taken, I only had one coat of oil finish on the chair. I have added more coats and I will wax it when finished. The seat is coopered. The three arcs that make up each side have the same radius, 51 inches. They are also the same length. Because of the big radius, this chair has a very gentle rocking action. I believe the ideal radius for rockers are about forty inches, give or take a couple. Please feel free to critque this chair. I would appreciate any negative as well as postive thoughts. There are a couple things that I will change on the next chair. I don't care for the shape where the front leg meets the rocker. Also the arcs above the seat seem to be to bulky to me. I plan to taper them on the next chair. Right now they are an inch and a half thick from front to back for the full length of each arc. I will taper them from an inch and a half at the bottom to three quaters of an inch at the top. This will also soften the sharp ends at the top of each arc. Do you think this will help the over all look? Thanks for looking.

[leroy poudrier]

im very new to woodworking,so new im not sure im yet a woodworker.

any how, the chair looks real nice,and original.joints look tight as well. nice job.

roy

[Terry Quiram]

Pete

Your chair is wonderful!!! I really like the back slats thick at the bottom and thin at the top. The only negative is its twin isn't sitting in my home. Do you plan to publish plans!

Terry

[Bob Marino]

Pete,

Absolutely a beautiful piece of work. Like every aspect of it and the fact that you designed it yourself is incredible. I don't think I would change a thing, but that's just my eye. Thanks fro posting.

Yep, John is...er. helpful to say the least.

Bob

[John Miliunas]

Pete, you *already* know what I think of it. For the rest of you folks, personall, I think this piece really rocks! (Oy vae...Was THAT a pun or what?) Every time I look at one of the pics, I just kinda' shake my head in wonderment. Simply a wonderful and very unique design and the execution, as I see it, astounding! Very beautiful piece, Pete! Thanks much for posting, as it's truly inspirational.

[Jason Roehl]

Pete, way to go in stepping outside the box! Overall, I like the chair. (Now, since you asked for critiques....) Two things I see. I don't care for the sharp and angled tops to the arcs on the sides of the chair, and while it has a very "artistic" look to it, I think the lack of true armrests may make it difficult for many folks to get up out of. Just MHO. But I do like that you attempted to use a shape (the 51" arc) as a theme throughout the chair. Still an excellent piece. Pat yourself on the back for us and/or have a beer.

[Jim Becker]

Pete, that is an incredibly interesting rocker design! 'Looks comfortable, too. Thanks for sharing it.

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts about the design and how it came about, etc., too.

[Tom Gattiker]

Beautiful!!!

[Mark Valsi]

Where do you put your arms while sitting in it ???

[Gene Collison]

Pete,

Beautiful job on a very complex project. Extraordinary design job!!!!!

Gene

[Chris Padilla]

Cool chair...interesting and refreshing design. I'm not sure about the two points sticking above the chair...something doesn't seem right there.

Perhaps if you lowered them even with the "arms" as they curve up but with an opposite miter?

I did a little photo-editing although didn't do exactly what I described...maybe it stirs up some grey matter?

[Bill Spero]

Pete, very nice, The joinery flows nicely into the seat. It’s almost like the woods still growing.

[Dick Parr]

Very Nice Pete!

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

Pete
Beautiful execution of a wonderful design.
Just lovely!
Daniel

[Pete Lamberty]

Thanks for all of the past and furture comments.

I may need to explain what I was trying to do when I made this piece. I would say that I try to design "functional art". What does that mean? I would explain it as I want the piece to look as good as it works. Maybe even look better than it works. I think that form and function should walk hand in hand, be equal partners in a design. If I wanted to just make a rocker I could have made a nice Boston rocker. That would be comfortable and have arms too. But it would look like everyone elses Boston rocker. Forgive me for saying this Maloofians, but Sams chair is just a contemporary styling of a Boston rocker. I do like it but it has four legs, two arms, two rockers, and a back, just like everyone elses. It is difficult to come up with something new. Even mine isn't that different. I don't mean to ruffle and feathers here. Its just MHO. It is FUN to be creative and design something that no one else has. The design process is the best part.

There is a historical precedent for armless rockers. I think they are normally called a "Ladies rocker". Ladies could do their handi work, sewing, knitting, and crocheting better when a chair didn't have arms. They could also rock and nurse their babies with more comfort in an armless rocker. I tried to include arms in many of my drawings, but none of them helped the overall design.

Terry. I am surprised that you noticed the shape of the back slats. The back slats also have the 51" radius. I am thinking of tapering the front and back leg posts in a similiar fashion as the back slats. There is however, a screw joining the front and back posts together. I will have to keep enough wood in that area for the joint to be strong. I didn't think of publishing any plans, but since I am poor it maybe a good idea. I wouldn't know where to start tho. Maybe I can learn. I would like to make more chairs and see if I can sell them. Of course, I will have to learn how to go about that also.

Jason, I have struggled with the design of those tops. I hope the tapering will alleviate that problem.

Chris, Thanks for the comment and the work of adjusting the photo. I can see that photo editing can be a great design tool. When I was working with my cardboard model, I cut the tops down to something like your photo. My opinion was that it gave the chair a stubby look. Also it seems that some of the big names in rocking chairs lean towards a high back. Because of these two reasons, I decided to stick with the long back post.

Hey Jim, your question about my design process is a tough one to explain. Some of you may start to think that this is kind of wierd, isn't logical, or just doesn't make sense. But this is how I did it. When I first thought that I wanted to design and make a chair, I thought, I can't do that, all of the possible chair designs have already been made. This is concious thinking. From past experiences I know that if I think conciously I will probably fail. So I just gave myself an assignment to design a "beautiful " chair. Now, I can't say that everyone will think this is a beautiful chair, but I kind of do. Now this is where it gets wierd. I don't ever think about what the chair will look like. I only feel that I will design a beautiful chair. I don't even try to put into words what beautiful means. I used the word "feel" because I think it is what my subconcious mind does. It communicates with me in feelings. Wierd huh? So I just feel beautiful chair, everyday I take a little time to just feel beautiful chair. After a week or so, I started feeling curves. But I didn't know how to arrange them. So I just kept feeling beautiful chair. Then three curves popped into my head and also where to place them. So now I just started to draw three curves for the chair. I must have made at least 50 to 75 little drawings. Each one only an inch tall. I just drew three curves over and over. each drawing taking a second or two. These drawings are only side elevations. I don't judge any of them as to whether they are good or bad. Kind of like businesses when they brainstorm. Then after I sort of used up all the ideas my subconscious came up with, I went back and started looking at them. I readjusted curves until I got a side profile that I liked. Then I made a very simple full size profile out of cardboard. Again I adjusted that, and then made a full size model. Sorry this is getting so long. Once I had the model, I could see what it would really look like. I made a couple changes and then made the chair out of wood. Hope this explains it. Feel free to ask questions.