You're Off Your Rocker!

I finished most of my other projects that have been in my MIL's garage, so I was starting to get bored. I had moved a couple of children's rocking chairs around in the garage a few times, and knew that they needed to be refinished. One of them belonged to my wife's aunt Sue, and the other my MIL. I started with the one for sue. I didn't know what I was in for when I started to dissect this fine piece of craftsmanship. After removing the aged vinyl, I discovered a bird's nest of cotton and strapping. Not to mention the 200+ nails that I had to remove to get to the bones.
Here's a before:

And this is what I found under that fake cow.


Mmmm. That's nice! I had to sit and think about what to do with this once I got it all apart, and even had to consult my wife (which I actually do quite often). I didn't want to put it back the way I found it because it just wasn't right. I knew there had to be a better way. I decided to cut a piece of MDF for the back, and instead of re-upholstering it, I would just paint it. We also thought it a good idea to add a small wood detail on the back to give that little something special. (say with a lisp, its more fun)

Now for the seat. I cut another piece of MDF for that, and added a small amount of padding from the old seat, and some fabric we got from a good friend. (Thanks Lindsey E.)

So after some primer and some semi-gloss paint I was ready for reassembly. And here it is:


I know, its not all that special, but it was Sue's from when she was a kid, so its special to her.

After I showed this to my MIL, she wasn't wanting to give it back to Sue. She really wanted to keep it. I told here that I was going to redo the other rocker in her garage, and that she was probably going to like it more, so there was nothing to worry about.

I forgot to take a before picture. I just don't think about it sometimes, and I just start working on things. Gotta work on that.

With this chair I had a little more work than I was expecting. One of the arms was broken where the screw attached it to the back spindle. I had to think about how to reattach it so it would still have some strength. The answer came to me as I was taking the seat off. This rocker had old wood screws holding it together, and the screws stuck out just a touch. I didn't care for that look, especially since I was going to paint it white, so I decided to reattach everything using wooden dowels. I cut a piece of MDF for the seat since it had a big hole in it. But in order for the chair to accomodate the extra thickness of the MDF, I had to cut out some of the arm rest, and expand the notches on the two spindles on the back. It wasn't that big of a deal, but it made a huge difference I think .

So once it was all primered and painted, I set the seat on it, and attached the arm rests again. Everything fit nice and snug. I was even able to repair the large chunk of wood that was missing out of the arm rest using Liquid Nails and some wood putty. Also, all the old screw holes dissapeared with dowels, and then some putty. It made the chair look better built than it had been. Plus, regluing all the joints after all these years was probably a really good thing any way.

The chair still has some good creaks though, you know, the ones that we all love to hear from old stuff.

Here's the after.
And yes, my MIL loved it more than the one I did before. Especially the fabric. (It was left over from when I redid her cedar chest for Christmas.)