Name: Craftsman Rocking Chair
Instructor: Frank Strazza
Skill Level: Upper Beginner to Advanced
Prerequisites: None

Format: Week long in-person course

Material: Cherry

March 23rd to 29th, 2024

Class Description:

Building a rocking chair is a great achievement for woodworkers and this particular chair is beautiful in its both simplicity and comfort. It is a chair you’ll want to sit in every day and one you can pass down to your children. The instructor draws on nearly 30 years of experience working with handtools and power tools to guide students through the furniture making process all the while teaching you valuable woodworking tips and techniques that can be used throughout other woodworking projects. The skills that you will take away from this class will enable you to build all sorts of furniture with confidence and proficiency. For example, it would be easier to build a set of dining room chairs of a similar design after this course.

This seven day class will take you, step-by-step, through the process of handcrafting your own Craftsman Style Rocking Chair. Each part of the process is broken down into small, manageable steps so that students can concentrate on mastering one task at a time before moving onto the next.

The entire chair is constructed with mortise and tenon joinery. Frank will teach you how to cut and chop mortises and tenons both by hand and machines. You will also learn how to utilize a spokeshave to fair curves. You will learn how to surface prep your work with planes and scrapers. You will even learn some basic upholstery as you can choose between leather or fabric for your seat cushion. 

Topics and skills covered will include:

• Wood selections
• Joinery choices and crafting for strength and durability
• Handtools usage – chisels, saws, planes, spokeshaves and scrapers
• Handcut mortise and tenons
• Machined mortise and tenons
• Angled joinery
• Shaping and working with curved parts
• Seat upholstery

What you’ll need:

Required

• Tenon saw (rip cut)
• Dovetail saw (western style)
• Chisels 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2”, 3/4”, 1”
• Cutting/Marking knife
• Mortise gauge
• Cutting gauge
• Wood Rasp and/or File

Optional (If you don’t bring your own you will have to share the school’s limited quantity)

• Hand Plane #4 or #4 1/2 (You may borrow ours)
• Spokeshave
• Card Scraper
• Assembly rubber mallet
• Joiners wooden mallet
• Cabinet Scraper (Stanley no 80) Optional
• Router Plane (Lie Nielsen or Lee Valley) Optional
• Sharpening Stones

Austin School of Furniture has the right to cancel this class at anytime if the minimum amount of students is not reached.

See our Refund Policy here