Rocking chairs: types and methods of making their own hands

What could be better than an easy chair for pleasant relaxation after a hard day?

In this classic piece of comfortable furniture, people have managed to make a very useful addition by inventing a rocking chair. A comfortable position of the body, combined with unhurried rhythmic rocking, perfectly calms and disposes to pleasant thoughts.

The popularity of the rocking chair over the centuries of its existence has led to an unimaginable number of variations and modifications. Therefore, today every home master can freely choose the appropriate design and material for its manufacture.

For a detailed acquaintance with the best examples of engineering and design solutions embodied in specific models, a whole book is not enough. Therefore, we will consider the most interesting and original options for rocking chairs, choosing the most affordable ones for making at home.

Overview of popular rocking chair options

The classic rocking chair was made from durable and lightweight willow wicker.

The openwork pattern of hand weaving is ideally combined with the interior of a country house and looks great among the greenery of a shady garden. The only drawback of a rocking chair made of wicker is its low resistance to a humid environment. Therefore, it must be carefully monitored to protect it from a sudden downpour.

Wicker chairs today are also made from rattan.- a flexible liana growing in the countries of Southeast Asia. Despite all its beauty, a rattan rocking chair is inferior in strength to willow, since this material does not allow the use of joints on screws and nails, but only glue contact and knitting.

Without mastering the weaving technique, a home craftsman will not be able to make a high-quality chair from willow vines, not to mention natural rattan. We do not sell this material as raw materials, but only in the form of finished products. Therefore, a wicker rocking chair for many cottage owners is the best option to buy in a store, and not a way to apply their creative abilities.

Created for home comfort, the rocking chair smoothly migrated to the office space, where it was appreciated as an excellent accessory for relaxing from the bustle of business. It is quite natural that the office version of this furniture is particularly solid and respectable.

Speaking of factory models of rocking chairs, it is necessary to mention very unusual high-tech design options.

The possibility of active swinging is what distinguishes this furniture from the usual stationary structures. Therefore, a rocking chair for children is the best solution to help direct the energy of a growing organism in the right direction and at the same time keep it under the vigilant control of adults.

There are a lot of design options for children's rocking chairs, starting with a classic wooden horse and ending with a comfortable chair with electronic control.

For outdoor recreation, rocking chairs made of metal, wood or plastic are most often used. They are not afraid of the vagaries of changeable weather, differing in durability and ease of care.

Among modern designs there are truly unique models, which, in addition to comfort, guarantee the owner independence from external energy sources. Here, for example, is an enclosed rocking chair equipped with solar panels. Their power is enough to power a laptop or tablet computer.

By the way, this original version can be reproduced with sufficient quality by a home master using a polycarbonate sheet for a visor and thick plywood for the base of the structure. Installing solar panels on it is not a problem. Today, they can be freely purchased online.

How to make a rocking chair with your own hands?

The main differences between a rocking chair and stationary structures are the presence of curved skids for rocking and a center of gravity shifted down, which increases stability.

Therefore, with a strong desire and the absence of a professional set of carpentry tools, such a chair can even be built from an ordinary chair, shortening its legs and placing it on curved runners made of wood or a metal strip.

A rocking chair made of wood is stronger than wicker wicker. It is resistant to changes in humidity and retains its marketable appearance longer in the open air. For self-production of such a structure, it is necessary to have basic carpentry skills, as well as to purchase high-quality hardwood (oak, hornbeam or beech).

A rocking chair is made of plywood much lighter and faster than wood., which can be given a very original form.

Plywood is an excellent material for plastic modeling. Using a conventional electric jigsaw, you can make a structure that combines the two most complex parts of a rocking chair - sidewalls and skids.

Let's take a closer look at how you can make a rocking chair with your own hands from plywood. In order to avoid problems during assembly, it is necessary to prepare a drawing, indicating on it the dimensions of the sidewalls and connecting strips.

The main tools for work will be a jigsaw and a screwdriver, and the main materials will be a sheet of plywood 15 mm thick, several planed pine or oak slats with a section of 10x50 mm and wood screws.

Having drawn the contours of the sidewalls according to the pattern on a sheet of thick plywood, they are cut out with an electric jigsaw. Then the sidewalls must be connected at three points with transverse bars with a section of 30x50 mm (fixed with carpentry glue).

After this operation, a facing strip from a bar with a section of 10x50 mm is carefully attached to the assembled frame. Then all structural elements must be sanded with a fine emery cloth, covered with stain for 2 times and opened with acrylic varnish.

If the rocking chair will stand not only in the house, but also in the yard, then the protection of the plywood sidewalls from dampness should be of especially high quality.

Those who confidently own a welding machine and a grinder, it is worth considering the manufacture of a rocking chair with a steel frame. For this design, you will need a small steel corner 20x20x3 mm and a steel strip 40 mm wide and 4 mm thick.

After the metal frame is fully assembled, it needs to be painted. After this work, holes are drilled along the entire length of the corner of the back and seat for self-tapping screws for fastening a wooden facing plank.