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Two-legged rocking chair with a "spine" back. I made this for a customer. It was also in a furniture show last night and had about 200 people sit in it. This one was a challenge. There is a discussion of the design stage here:

http://lumberjocks.com/topics/40596

Comments, criticism definately welcome!

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Comments

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394 Posts
Count me out…my recliner does just fine.
Real nice workmanship though.
 

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16 Posts
Thats one of the coolest chairs Ive ever seen!!
 

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779 Posts
I'm always a fan of different. You've met that goal. I like the contrasting wood colors and the "legs".

Comfort?? I'll have to take your word for it….....................
 

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I love it

It is a tough challenge though

well worth the effort.

Jamie
 

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281 Posts
What a conversation piece! I would have been one of those 200 - I would no be able to resist sitting in it just to see if it really were comfortable.

The side view is especially spine-y. I am going off now to read through your blog to see how you ensured adequate strength in that backbone.

A work of art!
 

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Most imaginative.
 

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Love how unique it is. Beautiful work.
 

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681 Posts
Beautiful chair! Very unique design. I'm impressed.
 

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Not quite my cup of tea, but it does look beautiful. You took the customer's request and built her a chair that
was requested and made it look good as well as functioning as it was supposed to. You had fun and made
money, you can not beat that. Thank you for sharing with us.
 

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Thanks all for your kind comments.

The spine back is attached to the seat by a 3/4" x 2" x 2" bridle joint, and then it continues underneath the chair to attach to the stretcher in a mortise/tenon joint. It is very sturdy in the front/back direction (which is the primary direction of pressure), but not at sturdy in the side/side direction. It don't think it would break, but more stability might be good.
 

· In Loving Memory
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10,077 Posts
That is soooo cool! Arms attached to the legs and back would probably stouten the lateral stability. Great job on the design and build.
 

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Cool rocker … I am curious as to the science behind the design … did you pick the curve in the back support based on fitting to a person or a set of measurements? Did you pick the graduation in the width of the back supports based on appearance or function?
 

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I like the design.
Something rare and exceptional.
Keep making innovative designs.
 

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@SPHinTampa:

I would call it pseudo-science. I made a full-scale MDF mock-up and tweaked the curve and angles of the back supports to my own back. On thing I will likely do with this mock-up is to make it adjustable, so that it can change from customer to customer.

Truly, the bigger engineering issue is the angle of the leg to the seat and the leg to the rocker - and then where along the rocker's length to attach the leg. The combination of these three are what determine whether the rocker "takes you into the rocking motion" in a natural flow or whether you have to "work at" rocking the chair.

The graduation in width of the back supports are aesthetic. The graduation in height, however, was done to ensure solid support at lower and upper back (for me, at least - who's 6'1").
 
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