Today’s post brings me great pleasure to share! It’s a secret project I’ve been working on since I was 7 weeks pregnant. It is my first DIY project for baby Crowder. (First person to come up with a solid nickname for the IBK Fetus gets a prize!) I’ve always been in love with wingback rockers. You might as well trade your first born child for one, and then, what’s the point?! The rocker on the left came from Nurseryworks, and the rocker on the right is from Pottery Barn Kids. And then, it hit me hard like my pregnant emotions during country music. I could EASILY make my own wingback rocker. All I would need to do is find a wingback chair, and some rocking chair runners. It was so simple. I thought “surely, this has been done a million times.” But I googled it hard, and didn’t find anything on the matter. (But in the Internet’s defense, my googling skillz are weak like a teenage girl at a One Direction concert.) We picked up the Strandmon Wingback chair from IKEA, for $279.
I looked online and found a place that sells unfinished wood rocking chair runners. I order a pair of adult large in maple. We measured where we would need to drill holes for the legs to attach to the runners. The holes need to be 1&1/8″ in diameter. The center of that hole needs to be 7 1/2″ in from each end. The hole needs to be 3/4″ deep. **DISCLAIMER** Double check those measurements by holding up your runners to the legs of the chair to make sure it ‘dry fits.’ It has been brought to my attention that there is variation in the legs of the Strandmon, and my measurements might not be a perfect fit for your chair. We used the drill press at my parents’ house. But if you have a cordless drill, you can use a forstner bit to drill the same kind of hole. My two favorite men! I spent countless hours in this shop, learning the ways of woodworking and DIY from a great teacher. We brought the runners home and fitted them to the chair.
Fit like a glove. Now we had to match the runners to the legs of the chair. Instead of painting the runners, I thought it would look better if we stained them black. I will admit, I did help with staining. BUT I was very careful to not get it on me (and when I did, I scrubbed it right off), and we had all the windows open, with a fan going. Aaron did most of the staining. The wood was so blond, it took several coats. This is how thin it still looked after the first coat. Several coats later, it was looking like a dead match to the legs of the Strandmon. We used a matte poly finish. I love this poly. And it has a soft touch. I don’t know how to explain it, but it is magical. Buy it and try it. After they were dry, it was just a matter of attaching the runners to the chair. We put the runners in place, and drilled a skinny little pilot hole to make sure the wood didn’t crack when we put the screws in. Let’s take a minute to talk about how much Buster loves the chair being upside down.
Here’s a montage of Buster in his fort, on several different days. Now that your heart is sufficiently melted, we can get back to the real work. Then we switched out for a bigger drill bit to make a hole (not all the way down! Just slightly below the surface) the same size of the screw head to counter sink the screw. Then we sanded the bottoms of the feet, and coated the holes in the runners with wood glue. After we put the runners in place, with the wood glue, we use spax screws and secured the runners. We filled the holes with black wood putty. And now, it’s ready to rock. And let me tell you, it rocks like you wouldn’t believe. It’s probably as good as Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. Or when Adele came out of the womb singing her feelings. You sit in this chair, and you just have a good feeling about life. There is no real “skill level” required for this project. It’s just about taking the time to measure. No major tools are required.
The simplicity of this project blows me away. This is a DIY project the average person can easily take on. The result is incredible and classy. And for a little designing on a dime and high/low comparing: And if you really love this project, please think about pinning it. For your pinning sake, here are a few more images to choose from 🙂Compare Rocking Chairs with Bentwood Leg for Living Room,HYX-809B Tianjin HY International Trade Co., Ltd. US $21-26 50 Pieces Transaction Level Rockers are the part of a rocking chair that roll back and forth on the floor. The length and shape of rockers affects the behavior of the chair when it is used. Sharply curved rockers result in a faster, less uniform motion, while long, shallow rockers keep the operation smooth and well balanced. Below are a few tips on how to calculate the length, guidelines for the arc of the curve and how to prevent the damaging of hard floors with the finished chair. Depending on the rocking chair, you may be able to purchase ready-cut rockers.
This can be a confusing method, and the risk of purchasing parts that you can't use can be annoying. If you choose to purchase them, make certain the the model and style of rocking chair match and verify that you are getting rockers that will perform as you require. For a nursery rocking chair, the arc of the rockers should be very small. Calculate the arc to rise one to 1 1/2 inches from the cent to the tips of the rockers. For the length, the rockers are generally equal to the horizontal distance from the tip of the chair back to the front edge of the seat, plus three inches. When installing the rockers, two inches of overhang will be placed on the rear of the rockers, and the final inch will protrude slightly from the front. Although this is a guideline for a nursery chair, it is still a fairly good rule for porch chairs as well. Rockers can be cut from solid lumber, such as including 2x4s, or you can customize the thicknesses. You can also cut simple rockers out of plywood panels.
If you are using plywood, cut two rockers for each side and fasten them on either side of the legs of the chair, forming a double rocker on each side. This helps to distribute the weight of the chair, and reduces possible floor damage. Other ideas for materials include shaped aluminum or plastic sheets. Clear plexiglass is an attractive option because it is flexible enough to be used in shallow curved designs. Curves from Straight Cuts If you do not have a jigsaw to cut curved parts for your rocking chair, you can create many curved cuts with a circular saw and a belt sander. Make several straight cuts in the material so that the curve is made up of many short edges. Then, using a coarse grit paper on a belt sander, round off the corners until the curve takes shape. Switch to a fine grit paper and smooth the sanded surface. How to Protect Floors Cut two pieces of thin rubber that are as wide and long as the bottom of the rocker rails. Glue one of these strips to each rail, so that they form a buffer between the rocker and the floor.