How To Build A Rocking Chair

A typical set in any house: a fireplace, some soothing music and a good rocking chair! Already sounds super relaxing, doesn’t it? It is one of the most comfortable pieces of furniture in your house. Instead of climbing the stairs and going to your bedroom and sleeping on the bed, you can just rock back and forth on the chair and rejuvenate yourself! If you are in dire need of some peace in your mind and body then brush up your carpentry skills and get going on some serious chair building! A rocker needs three important things: thick slats, some ornamentation and clean cut lines. You could have various colours, types of wood and sizes of the chair but be assured that everyone, ranging from kids to grandparents like to sit on a rocking chair! So keeping this in mind, make a rocking chair that suits everyone’s needs. There are a variety of things you need to keep in mind before beginning with the chair.

Building A Rocking Chair

You Need:

• Wood made of Pine or Teak or Oak
• Pencil
• Jig Saw
• Wood Glue
• Screws and Screwdriver
• Varnish

Instructions:

• Depending on how serious you are about making it, choose the wood! Pine is the least expensive. Oakwood lasts longer and is weather resistant too when used outdoors.
• Cut the wood about an inch thick and 3 ½ inches wide by 21 inches long. Mark the ends at top and bottom. Make 2 slabs like this and these form the front legs.
• Mark 6 ½ inches from the bottom and make a notch that is 5 ½ inches long by ¾ inches deep. The notches will hold the top front support. 
• Keeping the top straight, make the top front support and curve into the bottom slightly. The seat that you make should rest on the top front support.
• A point to remember is drawing out whatever you want to cut with a pencil before actually sawing into the wood.
• Using wood glue, stick the top front support into the notches made in the front legs.
• The front legs and the top front support must appear like a square.
• Drive a screw into the outside of the front legs into the ends of the top support for a perfect balance.
• Let the glue settle in overnight.
• After the glue sets, screw in the bottom front support into the inside of the front legs. The dimensions of the bottom front support must be: ¾ inches thick, 1 ½ inches wide by 44 inches long.
• Again, drive in screws from the outside of the front legs to the bottom end support.
• Cut another 2 pieces of wood measuring ¾ inches thick and 3 ½ inches wide by 30 inches long as the back legs.
• Curve the back legs so that it will form the concave part of the seat. The top and bottom of the back leg must make a 20degree angle with each other, when the bottom end is placed on the ground.
• Make a middle seat of dimensions: 5 ½ inches wide by 16 inches long.
• Using glue and screws, attach the inside of the back legs out toward the front of the front legs. Again, allow it to settle overnight.
• Make 11 seat slats of dimension: 1 ½ inches by 44 inches. The seat slats are screwed and glued into the back legs letting the glue set overnight.
• Attach the slats from the front of the chair to the back leaving a small gap between each.
• A bottom back support is created by cutting a notch in the end of the board (3 ½ inches 44 inches). Glue and screw the back slats into the back support by overlapping it with the same.
• Same way attach the top back support and let the glue dry.
• Make armrests with any preferred dimensions and glue and screw it to the back legs.
• Attach the upper back support by screwing through the back leg and notches of upper back support and also screw in the back of the bottom of the armrest to the upper back support.
• Add the middle back support.
• Same way as upper back support, create a lower back support and screw through the middle back support.
• Build two rockers (3 ½ inches by 34 inches) and cut a curve in the rocker where the front is more pronounced than the back.
• Screw the rockers into the bottom of the legs, and it should slightly extend beyond the front and back legs.