# Brett's Cedar Warrior Rocker (My Son's College Grad Gift)



## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

Built this from western red rough cut cedar using my Kreg jig for the fastners. Asked my Son Nov of 2012 what he wanted for his college graduation gift the following month in Dec. He half-heartedly told me “Dad I want a handbuilt beastly rocking chair made by my Dad”...challenge accepted.

Designed this on Sketchup, built it in a week and while I wanted to use mortise & tenon joinery, I just wasn’t ready equipment wise, so used the Kreg system and the sea-trials involved my best friend 6-4” 320 lbs (former football player) sitting in it and rocking without a creak. I hand-sanded it down to 320 and rubbed it with cherry danish oil, slick as bambi on ice.

The funnest part of the build was making the 1/4” cedar rocker runner strips, the template for that and laminating them together with Tightbond II woodglue.

The best part of the project was my Son’s delight in a built-by-Dad beastly Warrior Rocker, he absolutely loves it. I really am proud of his earning a bachelors of science in Environmental Science, he had a job waiting the following Mon after graduation .


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## boogalee (Nov 24, 2010)

BRAVOGOLFTANGO said:


> Built this from western red rough cut cedar using my Kreg jig for the fastners. Asked my Son Nov of 2012 what he wanted for his college graduation gift the following month in Dec. He half-heartedly told me “Dad I want a handbuilt beastly rocking chair made by my Dad”...challenge accepted.
> 
> Designed this on Sketchup, built it in a week and while I wanted to use mortise & tenon joinery, I just wasn’t ready equipment wise, so used the Kreg system and the sea-trials involved my best friend 6-4” 320 lbs (former football player) sitting in it and rocking without a creak. I hand-sanded it down to 320 and rubbed it with cherry danish oil, slick as bambi on ice.
> 
> ...


Very nice but shouldn't the Pantorouter be outside and the chair inside:laugh:. (5 of 5)

Al


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

Not bad, Brett, not bad.....

How did you calculate the length/radii of the runners?


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## japa62 (May 9, 2012)

Yes, great work there. Both the chair and the son. Learning Sketchup myself here. Lots of fun when multiple angles are involved.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> Not bad, Brett, not bad.....
> 
> How did you calculate the length/radii of the runners?


Thanks JW, I did the above by visually going through a 100 images of various rockers online, estimating the radius and finding the runner length on a few that met the specs I was shooting for, they happened to have a rough runner length. Made two templates, cut the laminated 1/4" cedar strips, glue/laminated each, clamped from the center out with a bazillion and two wood clamps, F-clamps, every clamp I owned.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

japa62 said:


> Yes, great work there. Both the chair and the son. Learning Sketchup myself here. Lots of fun when multiple angles are involved.


Thank you japa, Sketchup is fun, learning here as well, I really enjoy using Sketchy and can't wait to build my next rocker with angled mortise and tenons and doing shaped splats, now that I have a bandsaw.

I got my bandsaw 1 week prior finishing this rocker and was only able timewise to build the shaped main verticals prior his graduating.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

boogalee said:


> Very nice but shouldn't the Pantorouter be outside and the chair inside:laugh:. (5 of 5)
> 
> Al


LOL, touche' my friend, touche'...good point :lol:


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## jsears (Apr 5, 2012)

Very nice work.

What a great tribute your son has shown to you. You posed an open ended question to him when you asked him what he wanted. He could have asked for anything from car to a house. But he chose something that was apparently priceless to him. A rocking chair built by his dad. Wow!

You, my friend, have something to be proud of.

Congratulations to you and to your son for his achievements.

Jim


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

jsears said:


> Very nice work.
> 
> What a great tribute your son has shown to you. You posed an open ended question to him when you asked him what he wanted. He could have asked for anything from car to a house. But he chose something that was apparently priceless to him. A rocking chair built by his dad. Wow!
> 
> ...


Thank you very much Jim, he absolutely loves it that's for sure, constantly sharing what his friends think of it.

It's definitely inspired me to build another one.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Brett.

That rocker looks nice. >Congratulations for you and your son!!!


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

Hi papa, thank you very much sir. Hey you have my official Grandfather name "PaPa". I have two Grandsons (1yr & 2 yrs old) and another on the way this March. :dance3:


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## Marco (Feb 21, 2009)

Real nice Brett!


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Great job. I have been learning SketchUp as well and it is a great program.

I have not made a rocking chair yet but plan on it. 

So what is next on the wood working agenda?


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

TRN_Diesel said:


> Great job. I have been learning SketchUp as well and it is a great program.
> 
> I have not made a rocking chair yet but plan on it.
> 
> So what is next on the wood working agenda?


Thanks Diesel, much appreciated sir. My next project is another Storage Bench (5th one their popular), will be a second one for my wife, just built her one a month ago (my 4th build). This new one is going to be done with mortise & tenon joinery vs the Kreg jig joinery I used on the last 4.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Cool well I look forward to see how it turns out. 

How will you be making the mortises? Router or Mortise machine? I bought a stand alone Mortise machine and really like it. I opted for a cheaper one made by Craftex but I am pleased with it. The General International was out of my price range and I couldn't wait any longer on a used one so I bought a new one. 

Buy Craftex Mortising Machine - CT096N from Busy Bee Tools


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Forget my question how you will make the mortises. I went and viewed some of your other posts and see my answer. Brent I see you have a pantarouter is that correct?


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

TRN_Diesel said:


> Forget my question how you will make the mortises. I went and viewed some of your other posts and see my answer. Brent I see you have a pantarouter is that correct?


Yep, built it about two weeks ago and it'll do it all mortise, tenons, dovetails, multi-tenons/mortises in one template, fingerjoints, dowels lol. If I could modify it to do japanese joinery, I'd be a King! Having an ability to do angled M&Ts is what I look forward to doing rockers.


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## TRN_Diesel (Feb 24, 2009)

Did you draw your plans on sketchup?


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## japa62 (May 9, 2012)

I know I have already commented but wanted to add - 

A rocking chair is something that can provide pleasure for a long time. I went up to dad's earlier this year and mum's old rocker was still there. Dad took great pleasure in teasing me by telling my wife that they brought the chair to shut me up after coming home from the hospital. I was 10 days old then, now 50+ years and it still put me to sleep 

Would be nice to see the same story with your sons rocker.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

TRN_Diesel said:


> Did you draw your plans on sketchup?


Yes sir sure did. I received my Grizzly G0555LX a week prior finishing the rocker though and it opened up a whole new avenue for me vs the original Sketchup plans I designed and I didn't do an as-built drawing afterwards. 

My next rocker I'll also design in Sketchup again but with the curves, etc.


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

japa62 said:


> I know I have already commented but wanted to add -
> 
> A rocking chair is something that can provide pleasure for a long time. I went up to dad's earlier this year and mum's old rocker was still there. Dad took great pleasure in teasing me by telling my wife that they brought the chair to shut me up after coming home from the hospital. I was 10 days old then, now 50+ years and it still put me to sleep
> 
> Would be nice to see the same story with your sons rocker.


Thanks Japa, I hope my Son will enjoy it for years to come. 

I was concerned a bit with using Kreg's pocket-hole joinery, but capability wise at that time, it's all I had. I wasn't proficient with mortise/tenon joinery and still new at it honestly. But I pretty much mastered the ins/outs of the Kreg methodology and this bad boy is rock-solid, not a single creak with a 320 lb football player/best friend sitting in it was convincing enough for me that this soft wood cedar chair would hold up.:sarcastic:


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## Sunshine0103 (Apr 29, 2012)

Beautiful rocking chair! I just love the cedar. Awesome job. Congratulations to your son on his graduation. My youngest daughter graduated with a BA in Fine Arts a couple years ago and I was honored when she asked me to build her a mega easel last year. It's a great feeling to be asked to build something your children will cherish. That is a beautiful rocker!


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## BRAVOGOLFTANGO (Oct 11, 2012)

Sunshine0103 said:


> Beautiful rocking chair! I just love the cedar. Awesome job. Congratulations to your son on his graduation. My youngest daughter graduated with a BA in Fine Arts a couple years ago and I was honored when she asked me to build her a mega easel last year. It's a great feeling to be asked to build something your children will cherish. That is a beautiful rocker!


Thank you so much Sondra, you nailed it above, it was definitely an honor. Have any photos of her mega easel? Sounds like a cool project.


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## rajivmarcose (Feb 17, 2013)

great work Brett, looks really good! the last time I made a rocker, I think I positioned the runners wrong with the result that the chair invariably sat straight left to itself! yours looks like you have got it right!


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## rajivmarcose (Feb 17, 2013)

just a qulick question on the Kreg system seeing how I have never used it myself, how sturdy do you feel the fixation is considering that the screws are angled and don't seen to have much wood to bite into or be anchored in?


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

BRAVOGOLFTANGO said:


> Hi papa, thank you very much sir. Hey you have my official Grandfather name "PaPa". I have two Grandsons (1yr & 2 yrs old) and another on the way this March. :dance3:


Hi, Bravo.

I didn´t know that PAPA was a name. Papasombre was my father´s nickname and I use it to remember him.

I am jealous because I don´t have anyone grandson, yet.

All the best for you and your relatives.


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## Purelife Products (Mar 7, 2013)

Absolutely beautiful rocker ... Job well done and I'm happy for you and your son's relationship. Sounds like he is doing well too. 

Michael


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