Restoring a Craftsman Style Rocker, Part 2

Man has made many machines, complex and cunning, but which of them indeed rivals the workings of his heart?

Pablo Casals


There are people who think that when someone is unemployed, or in my case, on furlough, they have nothing to do. Monday, I felled a Douglas fir for firewood, yesterday was spent making a guitar bridge from ebony for a WRC/Maple guitar that I need to complete by November and today I hauled firewood and cut out a door on the garage. I know that is not the point of this blog, it is about a Craftsman style rocker that once belonged to my great aunt and uncle. In this photo you can see that I have glued the rails into their mortises. All the joints have been cleaned and I used "Tite Bond II" brand glue for the job. I had to take some time to figure out how to glue the 2 halves together, I did one dry run before I poured the glue.


Thank goodness for ratchet straps! I don't own enough long Pony clamps for this job so had to resort this this solution. I needed to glue up the halves in such a way that all the glue stayed in the mortises, I had some run out, but not much.


This shot shows that I am ready to put in the corner blocks to help hold the chair together (there are no pegs or other fasteners in the joints) and support the cushion. I didn't have time to put any stain or finish on the chair before it went off to the upholsterer.

Part 3, the finished product is coming soon!

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