Windsor Style Rocker

Re: Windsor Style Rocker

Jack Guzman from Maine

I prefer a blade style rocker with a bridle joint. However,if I was doing it your way I would make the legs long,assemble the leg and stretchers in the chair permanently. Then with the chair on a bench, mark and cut the legs to the point where the seat has the proper pitch and height from the bench. Then I would hold the rocker against the leg and mark the leg even with the rocker top for your shoulder line. Then I would cut the shoulder and shape the remaining leg bottom into a tenon.3/4" maybe. Then mark the locations of the tenons on the rocker and drill mortises to match. I would leave the tenons long and cut off the excess flush on the bottom and wedge them in place.

Sounds about right to me, Jack

Ellis Walentine

If the rockers are only 1" wide, though, I'd be concerned about making the tenon diameter too large, probably no bigger than 1/2" Ø, with tight shoulders.

Ellis

Re: Sounds about right to me, Jack

Paul Leuba

Following Ellis’ point about the rocker width, rather than reducing the size of the tenon I would prefer to make the rocker a little wider. Maybe 1 1/4”.

It seems that it would be difficult to properly shape the tenons with the legs permanently installed in the chair. Wouldn’t it be better to do the measurement with a dry fit then remove the legs after marking them to cut the tenons on a lath?

Couple things

Ellis Walentine

First, with period styles, you might want to consider what the viewer's eye is expecting to see. Mine would probably like to see a skinny rail bridle jointed, as has been mentioned above.

Another is the sequence of construction. I've never made a Windsor chair, nor a rocker, but I'm a fan of empirical construction, where you plan the work so that you're always dealing with the latest state of play and taking dimensions from the current positions of all the parts, in this case, the exact positions of the assembled legwork. Hand-carving tenons isn't an exact science, nor necessarily time-consuming or challenging. Saw the shoulders and chisel out the tenons, (in my optimistic view).

Ellis

Re: Couple things

Barry Irby

It seems to me the mortice is going to weaken the rocker. Somewhere along the way I have seen more than one chair with broken rockers. I replaced them. Both broke at the mortice on the rear leg. Both were nice straight grained oak.

If I were doing this and could not stand the blade style, I would use a flat thin tenon in a narrow rectangular mortice. As thin as you can, even down to 1/8" and let the leg rest on shoulders sitting on the rocker. and I would glue it in and wedge it from the bottom. I might go all Sam Maloof and leave a side section of rocker at the rear leg.

Re: Couple things

Paul Leuba

Thank you for the feedback.

My reluctance to go with a thin rail rocker and bridle joint, even though it’s a more straight forward construction, is the thinness of the rocker. It seems to me that the much grater PSI force on both the floor and the rocker itself will lead to accelerated wear of both.

I foresee no problem with cutting the tenon as you recommend. In looking a little further into the process, I do anticipate a challenge in accurately determining the correct angle for the mortise in the rocker. Holding the rocker against the assembled legs and marking it will accurately establish the mortise location and angle of the rake of the legs. However, it is not apparent to me how the splay angle can be accurately established in this approach. I need to give some more thought to this overall approach. In the traditional rocker the legs have no splay and the joint at the rocker has a more simple geometry.

It’s becoming clear why the makers of period furniture selected the rail rocker and bridle joint.

Re: Couple things

Paul Leuba

Barry:

Given my concerns for the difficulty in determining the correct angle for a mortise with the rake and splay of the legs, I’m leaning towards first fitting the rocker with a clamp from the seat to the bottom of the legs after cutting the legs to the marked length and angle. Then, as you’ve suggested, working from the bottom to drill through the rocker into the leg to then drive a round tenon into them. A dowel in other words. I would size the tenon, maybe 3/8” to leave plenty of width on a 1 1/4” rocker. I do not believe there would be so much sheer force on this joint to break the dowel. Most of the force will be vertical from the leg onto the top surface of the rocker. The Maloof style bracket would be a plan B approach.

Paul in Hunt Valley, MD

Period furniture construction is a reliable guide

Bill Tindall, E.Tn.

You are facing the decisions faced in 1825 when the Boston Rocker was invented. Dozens of shops needing to make a living building Boston Rockers tried all the variations being currently contemplated here and what came out the other end was the design that was most economical to build and most durable. You are not going to improve on this design. Copy it and the result will be the most durable rocker that can be made that is practical o build.

I use this design philosophy whenever it applies to building something I need to build so long as I can figure out how construction was optimized in 1825 or 1720....When I can't I get into the difficulties I am having with the corner cupboard. I can't invent a better wheel than what was the result of hundreds of shops refining what was most efficient and robust.

Re: Windsor Style Rocker

Paul Leuba

Thanks all for the feedback. I plan to try several of the suggestions on a prototype.

Paul in Hunt Valley, Md

Re: Couple things

Barry Irby

I have to agree with Bill Tindall. There are a couple of reasons antique furniture survives. One is it's so attractive people take excellent care of it. The other is it's so well built it withstands the abuse it gets over time.

The other thing I would have trouble with is figuring out exactly where to sit the chair on the rockers. This relates to the angle of the seat and the back, both when the chair is empty and when there is a person of variable size in it. It needs to be visually attractive and a pleasant experience. Surely there are plans around that might help with this.

Re: Couple things

Paul Leuba

From the research I’ve done on rocker design, I’ve discovered that they are an arc of a circle. The radius used is approximately 3.1 times the distance measured fro the seat to the floor.

With this being the case, there is no choice to be made on where the legs attach to the rocker. Just pick a spot with a few inches sticking out in front of the front leg, and about 6+” behind the rear leg. The tilt of the seat will be determined by the ratio of the lengths of the front and rear legs.