Hal at Work!

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Standing on my radial arm saw table checking the wood in my drying cabinet for moisture content.

Here I am using my "Flying Dutchman" in order to square up the rocking chair seat blank.

Routing front legs. This is how the front and back legs are initially given the round shape that they have, on the router table. It is important to have a router with good bearings and a sharp bit to make the process go quick and smooth with no tearout.

Squaring up the edge of the front leg. It is always a pleasure to work with exquisite tools that have a perfect (or near perfect) edge. For many reasons, this is the finest plane I have ever used. It is made by Veritas.

The seat has been glued up and flattened, top and bottom, now it is time to cut it to size and in the process, square it up so that the leg joints to be cut next will also be perfectly square.

This is the beginning of the chair making process: Laying out all the parts on the rough lumber.
It is critical here, to take the time to envision how the grain is going to lie in the finished chair. So you can have grain patterns in the finished rocking chair like this:

I am gluing the back legs to the seat. With so much glue surface in the back leg joints this is sometimes an exciting job as the glue wants to tack up as it is sliding into place. If it tacks prematurely it can be very difficult to pull the leg into a completely closed position. If that happens the leg is trashed and a new one must be built.

Here I am standing on my radial arm saw table so I can reach my wood drying cabinet. Wood that arrives at my shop is seldom dry enough for me to make my rocking chairs from so I designed and built this cabinet for taking all of my wood to final moisture content. It will hold enough wood for two rocking chairs, however, as I only make one chair at a time it is never full.

Many may not agree with my assessment, however, this, in my opinion, is the finest plane ever made! If you have not tried it out, perhaps you would enjoy the experience!

Bandsawing the transitions of the rocker. These are the parts of the rocker that will flow into the legs, providing a pleasing curve.

Cutting the back Leg tops at 20 Degrees. This is done so the back leg tops will flow smoothly into the curved headrest.

Rocking Chair maker 2