Rockers

I stopped by Crosscut Woods this week and purchased another stick of 8/4 walnut for the rockers.  Today I cut out all of the strips.  Mr. Brock suggests six 3/16”+ strips or eight 1/8”+ strips.  I opted for the 1/8” strips because Brock says this will cause less springback.  The design calls for 50” strips, but I want a bit more material on the front of my rockers so I cut mine to 52”. 

The strips were cut using the bandsaw instead of my TSFH (table saw from hell).  This is safer and more controllable for thin strips.  I started by squaring the stock on the jointer and planer.  The stock thickness is 1-1/2”.  (Note to self:  time to change blades on the planer.)  I cut the strips 1/32” thicker so I had room to sand off the saw marks.  The board edge was jointed after each cut to ensure a smooth side to run against the fence.  This was a laborious process with my small shop because I had to swap the shop vac and power between bandsaw and jointer for each piece!  Whew. 

I laid out the pieces on the floor and used my random orbital sander to clean them up.  Laying the strips side-by-side keeps the thickness fairly uniform.  I found this sanding to be hard even with 60 grit sandpaper.  With just 1/32” added to each piece (maybe a bit more), this results in a total rocker height of 1-1/4”+, but the goal is 1”.  For some reason, getting that small amount of wood sanded off was really difficult.  Eventually, I grew tired of sanding and decided to just use 7 strips.  This brought the total height to 1”+.  As the Marines say, “Improvise, adapt, and overcome.”   Oh, by the way, I cut one strip of maple as an accent to the walnut.

With the sanding completed for the first rocker, I prepared for the glue up.  I chose to use Titebond III glue due to its longer open time (drying time).  I covered the surfaces of the jig with clear packing tape, and then applied paste wax to ensure the rocker did not stick to the jig.  The glue up process needs to happen quickly, so I preset the clamps close to the required opening.  This reduced the time needed to tighten each clamp.  I used old business cards to spread the glue since I seem to have a never ending supply of them.  I paid attention to covering the entire surface of each piece.  Once the pieces were all glued, I started clamping the stack in the center.  The pieces are much more slippery then when doing the dry fit, so be careful that some pieces don’t slide too far out of alignment.  Keep a soft hammer close to adjust the stack as necessary.  The c-clamps were applied from the center outward.  I clamped the reverse curve side first since it is the most complex.  Once all clamps were in place, I went back and re-tightened each one for maximum pressure.  This is a messy process.  Plan to have glue all over your hands and the jig.  I learned that c-clamps can’t be placed too close to each other or the handles will interfere with each other.  Also, do the glue up in a place where you can leave the jig overnight.  Once the clamps are in place, the entire assembly is very heavy.   I can’t wait to see how the rocker turns out!  If I get time this week, I’ll sand and glue up the second rocker.