Fireplace Rocker

Lauren loves having a fire in the fireplace. She will sit on the floor in front of the fireplace or drag the heavy dragon chair into the living room. Ideally, she would have a comfortable rocker that is low enough to be like sitting on the floor in front of the fire place.

This was a very difficult project and I am reminded that I need to take WAY more in progress shots. Apologies.

I went to a local mill and purchased a bunch of rough cut walnut (8/4” x 10” x 10’ and 4/4”x6”x10’). When I got it home, it went straight into the wood kiln where it sat for a few weeks drying while I figured out how I wanted to tackle this build.

Firsts Experiences:

• Using a thickness planer

• Using a biscuit joiner

• Using a template with a 2” deep router bit

Problems:

• My wood was still a little moist after planing. In the future, it needs more drying time.

• Curves are hard in furniture

Lessons Learnt:

• Invest in a pot for wood glue.

• Dropping a finished piece will break the joints back apart.

• Clamp the work from both sides to ensure that the tension is even.

• Biscuits are rarely equidistant from the faces of the wood. make sure to mark which side of the board is the front.

• Always plane and finish extra pieces along the way, so if you screw up, you don’t have to go all the way back to the start and catch a piece up.

• You can fit 10’ long boards in a Prius. Also - the sawmill owner will laugh at you when you pull up in a Prius.

• Wrap foam in a thin fabric that will slide into the cover. Foam does not slide well.

• You can’t have enough bar tacks at the end of a zipper.