Our Projects - Grandfather's Rocking Chair

This was a primitve country rocker circa late 19th century.  It was upholstered when we first received it and broken or seperated on almost every joint.  When we began to remove the upholstery we discovered that the rocker had originaly been caned.  Our original plan was to reupholster the rocker after repairing and refinshing the frame with a cherry stain and tung oil finish. The client decide to go original and have it recaned and that is the final result.

This is the chair as received from the client. Upholstery torn and dirty, frame broken and loose in multiple places and the finish ruined.
This the back of the rocker with the upholstery removed.  Note the many tack holes in the frame indicating that his rocker has been upholstered at least three times.
Here we see the arm which was broken and seperated from the frame and the back or top rail.
This image shows the arm with a hardwood patch on the end which connects to the seat bottom.  It still needs to be trimmed and shaped down to the original profile.  In addition is one of the caning rails from the back of the rocker which had some many tacks hammered into it that it was splintered and cracked.
This image is the seat of the chair from above showing the spline where the caning is held in place.
Here we see the base of the chair where we are gluing and clamping a loose leg and the lower back of the chair.

In this image we see the bottom end of the chair repaired sanded and reassembled.

A side view of the reassembled base.

The patched arm has now been reinstalled.

Here we are reinstalling the top of the back and the caning rail.
In this image we see the chair fully reassembled and waiting for staining.
In this image we have stained the rocker with a cherry aniline dye and applied a coat of tung oil finish.

Here is a finished view of the chair before going to be caned.

Side view of the completed chair.  My caning person took these pictures so don't blame me.

Frontal view of completed project.

The chair looks fantastic in my study!!! Thanks again.  Tom

- Tom S.