Rocking Chair #26

I have been building rocking chairs off and on for thirty years.  This one started out as a yellow birch log in my firewood pile.  Years ago I sawed several logs into lumber using an Alaskan chainsaw mill and air dried the lumber in our basement.

This chair contains a blend of influences from two renowned woodworkers whose work I admire, George Nakashima and Sam Maloof.  You can  google them if you are curious.

I have found that using wood with natural imperfections often adds to the beauty.  God is in the business of creating beauty out of damaged hearts and lives, and true beauty is a manifestation of love.  Similarly work that is done in love tends toward beauty.  I doubt that we can create anything beautiful unless some degree of love for our work is present.  

According to a Russian proverb, perfect is the enemy of good.  The hole is slightly larger than the tenon, leaving a small gap that is filled with glue.  The tenon itself still bears the remnants of a small hole that I drilled to center it on my lathe.  These are flaws that an experienced woodworker would see, as well as many others.  I no longer strive for a mirror-like finish.  120 grit on an random orbit sander is smooth enough for me these days.  Chairs are meant to be used. - and if they are they will acquire nicks and dents.  The spalting in the wood is actually incipient rot.  

The seat itself has no straight lines. Several of these curves are actually the same as the rockers.  I like to think that designing furniture is like composing a symphony - you repeat several basic themes with variations.  Your tools are straight lines and curves - convex and concave.  Convex curves create a sense of ease, concave ones a bit of tension.  Some edges are hard, some are rounded and soft.  It all plays together.  I've been playing with these things for years and I am still learning.  Some things feel right, others don't.

When all is said and done, there is usually more said than done, but the proof of good design is how it feels when you sit in it.  This chair has an amazingly soft and smooth rock.  It provides good lumbar support and has wonderful balance.  It isn't perfect, but it is a beautiful chair.