36" x 41" x 50" (L x W x H)
Honduran mahogany, white oak and white pine.
Rubbed shellac polish and hard wax.

This project is a summation of a lot of the woodworking skills and techniques I’ve learned up to this point – cabinetmaking, chairmaking, green, air-dried and kiln-dried lumber.

The main wood used was a single large board of Honduran mahogany. The back slats are rived white oak, and the drawer sides and bottom are white pine. The finish is french polished shellac, with a hard wax topcoat.

This chair is also a tip of the hat to Chester Cornett, an Appalachian chairmaker from the 20th century who made larger-than-life rockers with traditional skills and techniques.

Other than the obvious inclusion of a pair of drawers beneath one arm, this chair is a relatively straightforward post-and-rung ladderback rocking chair. The slat and seat geometry give good lower back support and a nice lean.

Of course, there are the drawers. The two drawers are dovetailed and have angled backs to fill the pocket left by the trapezoidal arm assembly. They run on a central runner, a sliding dovetail that mates with a piece slotted into the drawer bottom.

The drawers also have a latch built into the drawer pull, which keeps the drawers from shifting or sliding out while rocking. The latch style is a modified take on a Shaker example, and has flats on the pull to register when it is open or locked in.

The rived white oak back slats were fumed with ammonia prior to being shellacked. Each was steam bent and mortised differently into the chair back, allowing for a tailored back geometry that makes for a comfortable chair.