This Walnut rocking chair was another labour of love!
In addition to being a satisfying build the result is quite stunning. The richness of the deep brown grain contrasted with its lighter shades, especially in the headrest, is so beautiful that it is hard to describe.
It is a medium sized rocker though you really only notice the size difference when it sits beside the large sized Cherry rocker. This style of rocking chair commands a much bigger presence than the much smaller standard country-style rocking chairs that sits in most homes.
Other than the size and the use of Walnut there were very few changes between this rocker and the Cherry one. One of the differences is that the arms are sculpted a bit thinner plus one arm has some brass inlay, filling a small knot hole on one side and a larger spot on the opposite side of it. The thinner arm gives a bit of a lighter appearance to the chair and the addition of the brass turned both of these structure issues into beautiful, and very unique, accents.
Here are some photos of the completed chair:
Like the previous Cherry Rocker, it was made in the Hal Taylor style with methods learned directly from Hal during time at the Rocking Chair University.
It’s hard to describe the feeling one gets when a project comes to completion, especially those projects where time was consciously taken to truly enjoy the build. So often projects are rushed, not rushed in a way that quality suffers but rushed in a way where time is just not available to contemplate the build, to become one with the piece.
This, we believe, is the goal, or at least the desire, of every maker and it does takes time, effort and commitment to achieve it, something that we are often forced to overlook in need of the speed required for the production of projects made for monetary gain.
As a personal project this was not the case. It was definitely one where we were able to take this time. There were no deadlines to meet, no expectations other than our own. The enjoyment was further compounded by the fact that our son came home for a week to kickstart the project so that he could get insight into building his own, which he did.
The memories of the build are embedded in our minds and we are reminded of them every time we walk into our living room, every time we sit down for a rock. Definitely a truly enjoyable build!
The toughest thing now is to stop rocking and get back to the shop… 🙂