[Lola Ranch]

It's really not fine furniture but it's not really rustic so I'm calling it Refined Rustic. It's vintage Douglas Fir from timbers salvaged from a local warehouse fire. Some of the timbers I got were partially burned. I saw the building when it was on fire and it was a spectacular blaze. One 16', 4 x 6 provided all the wood required for building the chair.

I expect this chair to sit outside but under cover on a porch for most of it's life which should be a lifetime. Even though it's fir it's build to last. All the structural components are laminated for strength. Fir would not be my first choice for a rocking chair but I am working my way through a stash of free fir. Now that it is complete I think it looks great in fir.

This kind of furniture is fun for me to build and especially rocking chairs because the majority of the joinery is cut with hand tools. If the joinery isn't perfect, oh well it's Rustic. I am always tweaking the comfort geometry and it has evolved nicely. It's definitely sturdy.

Bret

 

[JMartel]

It's really not fine furniture...

Looks pretty damn fine to me.

 

[Travico]

Thats not RUSTIC, its PERFECT!!

 

[rayking49]

Thats not RUSTIC, its PERFECT!!

I agree. I would love to learn how to build one like that .

 

[Streamwinner]

Looks fantastic. Beautiful work. How thick did you cut the fir for lamination and how many layers did you use? Was it easy to bend?

 

[Lola Ranch]

The thickness varied depending on the application. Legs are 1/2" x 3, runners are 1/4" x 6, splats are 3/32 x 6. Are rests are one piece.

 

[hays0369]

Bret,

Always beautiful work and fine workmanship even if it "becomes" a rustic project.

Hays

 

[woodks]

How did you make the bowl in the seat?

 

[Lola Ranch]

How did you make the bowl in the seat?

Î use a Lancelot chain saw wheel on the angle grinder with a shop made jig to form the outer edge of the recess. Then I pull the rest out freehand using gouges, small hand planes and a disc sander on the AG. Its a messy job!

Bret

 

[Jeff Shafer]

Beautiful work as always. I'd love to see the start to finish build thread on that chair! Also I would agree that your chair is much further towards the fine end of the furniture spectrum than the rustic end!:yes:

 

[Art Rafael]

Nicely done. :thumbsup: Beautiful -- too beautiful to set outside. Ralph

 

[Paarker]

Some day I will have acquired enough skills to attempt a rocking chair my self. Yours looks great!

 

[Lola Ranch]

Thank you everyone for giving me the benefit of the doubt in calling the chair more towards fine furniture. It is a nice chair, I like it and proud that I built it but it is a bit rustic. That is the way I planned it and built it. Up close you can tell that the joints were cut by hand and I left a few saw marks and chisel nicks. It is smooth to the touch and free from splinters and very comfortable for a wooden chair.

The person that is to receive this chair lives in a very rustic but also very quality house with big logs and rough cut beams (which I also built). The chair is designed to fit into this decor.

Leaving it rustic also allowed me to build it much faster than if I had made it more polished. It was a pretty quick build.

Bret

 

[MagGeorge]

That rocker looks fantastic. Great design, very impressive on the hand made joints. It will last long, an heirloom piece for sure. Excellent job!

 

[mike1950]

Beautiful "Rustic" chair Bret. I bet growth rings were pretty tight on that old growth fir.

 

[Tennessee Tim]

Beautiful chair Lola !!!

You did a walnut chair that everything was supported by the 2 back supports on its base ( I thought it was a rocker but I can't find photo anywhere)....can that be done in a rocker style??? I've got to build a couple of ERC rockers...but you know me I've got to do them different and with a twist from NORMAL!!! Is there somewhere that I can get a basic pattern to start from???? When I'm done it won't be anything similar....I just need a good rocking pattern and a center line of gravity to start out with .

Thanks for any info you can give me...I don't mean to hijack your thread.

 

[Lola Ranch]

Beautiful "Rustic" chair Bret. I bet growth rings were pretty tight on that old growth fir.

Interestingly, having been salvaged after a fire, some of the wood has burned spots and something I would describe as heat damage. I cut up a timber, 6 x 8, and found an interior portion to have a latetral break across the grain. I was just trying to find some decent wood in it, a pretty rugged timber, but after removing about an inch from each edge, the middle simply fell into two lengths, a fracture running perpendicular to the grain. I've never seen that before. Could have sustained the damage during salvage but there was no noticeable damage visible prior to cutting it open.

The timber that I made the chair from was a very nice, nearly clear, no heart, straight grained 4 x 6 about 18 ft long. The grain wasn't as tight as some I've seen, maybe 12 rings per inch or so.

Bret

 

[Lola Ranch]

Beautiful chair Lola !!!

You did a walnut chair that everything was supported by the 2 back supports on its base ( I thought it was a rocker but I can't find photo anywhere)....can that be done in a rocker style??? I've got to build a couple of ERC rockers...but you know me I've got to do them different and with a twist from NORMAL!!! Is there somewhere that I can get a basic pattern to start from???? When I'm done it won't be anything similar....I just need a good rocking pattern and a center line of gravity to start out with .

Thanks for any info you can give me...I don't mean to hijack your thread.

Good memory. It was a chair inspired by George Nakashima's "conoid" chair. It was not a rocker but coincidentally I have been toying with the idea of making a similar chair but as a rocker. I do not build most of my furniture from plans, they evolve from a few different chair prototypes that I use as patterns, and also some bundles of shapes cut out of 1/4" plywood screwed to the wall of the shop.

Bret

 

[Crusader]

Beautiful rocker Bret, I really like the fact that you left "builders marks" I gives a piece a story, leaves a piece of you in it.
Amazing work, gives a guy like me inspiration to step it up a notch.
Eric

 

[SteveEl]

Very nice! How did you get the material? Dumpster? Salvage sale? Just ask someone if you could pick over the buidling's carcass?