1. Apply glue to the remaining hinge holes, insert roto-hinges and begin assembly by bringing together the front legs with the main beam. Join the rear ends of the arm braces with the ends of the mid-backrest crosspiece.
2. Bring the pivot arms together around the main beams, ensuring the bottom backrest crosspiece is attached to the pivot arms’ top holes. The rear torsion rod and its washers sit between the pivot arms’ bottom holes.
3. Feed the threaded rod through the torsion rod/pivot arm assembly, place washers over the ends of the rod and then tighten the nuts firmly. Ensure there’s 1" of extra rod sticking out the side of each pivot arm.
4. Spread apart the back portion of the rocker assembly and slide it over the protruding rod ends, allowing the rod ends to enter the 5⁄16"-
diameter predrilled holes at the rear of the rockers.
5. Secure the rockers to the chair with more washers and lock nuts, but do not overtighten these nuts. They need to be just loose enough for the rockers to pivot on the rods.
6. Attach the arms and backrest slats with 13⁄4"-long deck screws, ensuring the bottoms of the slats are in a straight line. If desired, you can attach the arms from the bottom by drilling three countersunk holes in the undersides of the arm braces and then driving the screws up into the armrests.
7. Attach the top backrest crosspiece 10" above the mid-backrest crosspiece, and mark the arc across the top of the backrest slats. Cut the arc with a jigsaw, then ease the sharp edges with some 120-grit sandpaper wrapped around a sanding block.
8. The last step is to position the front crosser. To do this, unfold the chair, and ensure the front torsion bar is locked firmly into the notches on the front legs. Place the front crosser across the legs and slide it up until it is firmly against the underside of the main beams. Clamp the crosser into position, and secure it by predrilling and driving four more 13⁄4"-long deck screws.
With your rocking chair all done, it’s time to find the perfect place to sit down and show it off. But you won’t be sitting for long. Soon enough, you’ll have requests for more chairs.
Read more in Woodworking Projects and Outdoor Furniture
You might also enjoy:
10 Comments
Where are the templates?
They are linked from the second paragraph: rocking Muskoka chair templates.
I wish the template would have been more precise on the locations of the holes to be drilled. I have cut all of my pieces BUT I find that the locations of these holes are really close to the edges. Can someone help with out with this please.
The back 3/4 inch pipe says to cut to 18&1/4, but the lower back rest is 20 inches, so the shorter piece does not appear to work.Has anybody else encountered this?
What is the weight of the finnished chair? Thanks Keith
I would guess about 35 to 40 lbs.
I printed the templates but did not get the grid. How can I print both the templates and the grid???
I thought the problem was with my printer, but I see I am not the only one who did not get a grid printed with the templates. Perhaps the drawings should have been laid out over two pages, as the numbers are very small.
What scale of grid is being used? 1"? Did anyone figure out how to print both template and grid?
I found when I enlarged the images and printed then I got the grid. Only problem is I had to isolate the pieces and then print them. Depending on your computer or printing program I got the whole project onto about 6 pages including the grid with each.