I'm working on a mission style rocking chair, and I'm trying to figure
out whether it's feasable to make the rockers removable. (It would
then fit relatively easily in the back seat of a normal car, which
would be nice, since I'm planning on driving it from NY to MI at
Christmas, and it will probably be moved several times after that.)
Rockers and legs are red oak, about 1.5" square in cross section.
My ideas so far:
1. Use cross dowels (aka barrel nuts?), with a bolt up through the
rocker into the cross dowel which is inside each leg. Inserted from
the back, cross dowel should be minimally visible, or could be
countersunk and plugged (plug not glued). Any sources for larger (i.e.
3/8-16) cross dowels? I found some at Woodpeck.com, but they seem
overpriced. Rockler, Woodcraft, etc. only seem to have 1/4-20, which
would work, but I like to overdesign things whenever possible...
2. Make tenons on the ends of each leg, which go through (or most of
the way through) the rockers, then pin them in with 3/8" wood dowels
through the sides of the rockers (not glued). I like the simplicity
and lack of hardware with this option, but I imagine the dowel might
loosen itself up over time.
3. Threaded inserts in ends of legs - I don't like this idea very much,
as it relies on holding power of threads in end grain, even if they are
large threads. Fine for a while, I'm sure, but I'm really intending
this to be an heirloom-quality piece. I'm ruling out simple wood
screws altogether for this reason.

What do you think? Other ideas? Comments/criticisms/advice? Should I
forget it and glue in good-ol' M&T joints?
Thanks much,
Andy