My Maloof Rocker!

Finally, here are some finished pictures of the chair. Installing the rockers was a bit fussy. I drilled some dowel holes in the rocker transitions and on the bottom of the legs. Then, I used hand planes to get the correct angle for the back legs, and I also needed to saw a bit off the front legs to get the perfect fit.

Most of the shaping on the rockers was done with a spoke shave. This went surprisingly fast.
I then mixed equal parts of pure Tung Oil and a semi-gloss oil varnish and applied 4 coats so far. This is what the chair looks like today!

The chair is extremely comfortable, and every time I walk downstairs, I have to sit in it for a couple of minutes. This was a very satisfying project! If you have any questions on this project, please feel free to comment and I will answer as best I can.
Cheers!
ps: I am currently working on chair #2.

Rocking along…

Rocker progress…
Once the legs were in glued and screwed, I then finished the back slats. I made 7 in all. They are rough cut on the band saw.  I did the side profile first, then the front profile. Shapping was all done with spoke shaves and the tips were shaped with a ½” tenon maker.

The head rest was then cut and clamped in place to find the location of the slats.

Head Rest and Slats Test Fit

And finally, after some shaping and sanding.

I created a plywood form for the rocker lamination.  The form is 1 ½” thick and the rocker is composed of 9 1/8” strips. You need to quickly apply the glue to the strips and then clamp them in the form. I left the rockers in the form for 24 hours each.

A test fit… almost there!!! At this point, the rockers are not shaped or attached to the chair, but I was still able to try out the chair!