I have an old rocking chair that has flat spots on the rockers. I have
started repairing them by filling the flat spots with wood putty, but
I'm not sure that that will be solid enough to last over the long run.
So I need a way to harden the surface to make it last. I have considered
gluing strips of veneer onto the bottom surfaces of the rockers to
provide the needed durability. I think this would work, but does
anybody have any idea of a better way? By the way, I have some strips
of veneer off of an old door that I think I can use for this.

Also what kind of glue would work best for this?

Bill

"BillGill" wrote in message
...
I have an old rocking chair that has flat spots on the rockers. I have
started repairing them by filling the flat spots with wood putty, but
I'm not sure that that will be solid enough to last over the long run.
So I need a way to harden the surface to make it last. I have considered
gluing strips of veneer onto the bottom surfaces of the rockers to
provide the needed durability. I think this would work, but does
anybody have any idea of a better way? By the way, I have some strips
of veneer off of an old door that I think I can use for this.

Also what kind of glue would work best for this?

Bill

I'd be inclined to either cut a wide dado (along the length of the rocker)
and glue a piece of maple in the dado, or plane the bottom off flat and glue
on a piece of maple... then shape it to the desired profile. I cannot
imagine wood putty putting up with the stress of being on the rocker
surface.

John

I like to think rockers are, somewhat, my specialty, building and
repairing. John's idea is perfect: Plane or joint the divot area
flat, then glue either a solid piece or thin strips onto the area. I
recommend multiple thin (1/8") strips, if your divot is so big that it
warrants multiple strips. Re-form the arc to match the original
profile.

I highly suspect some hand sanding will be required for finishing the
profile. For my finish sanding, as that, I have several 2X4s X about
11.5" blocks wrapped in a 4" sanding belt (normally for my 4" belt
sander). The sanding blocks are concave, length-wise, on one side
matching the several different arc profiles I make. *I also have
convexed blocks for the tail end of the rocker profiles that turn
down.

Titebond II works well for me.

Sonny

On Oct 25, 6:59*am, "John Grossbohlin"
wrote:
"BillGill" wrote in message

...

I have an old rocking chair that has flat spots on the rockers. *I have
started repairing them by filling the flat spots with wood putty, but
I'm not sure that that will be solid enough to last over the long run.
So I need a way to harden the surface to make it last. *I have considered
gluing strips of veneer onto the bottom surfaces of the rockers to
provide the needed durability. *I think this would work, but does
anybody have any idea of a better way? *By the way, I have some strips
of veneer off of an old door that I think I can use for this.

Also what kind of glue would work best for this?

Bill

I'd be inclined to either cut a wide dado (along the length of the rocker)
and glue a piece of maple in the dado, or plane the bottom off flat and glue
on a piece of maple... then shape it to the desired profile. I cannot
imagine wood putty putting up with the stress of being on the rocker
surface.

John

Bill-

John's proposed fix is an excellent approach and will give the most
professional / elegant solution.

A quicker but less elegant repair would be bondo (my least favorite)
or a combo of LiquidWood / WoodEpox (a filled epoxy resin that soaks
in, builds up and dries harder than wood) www.abatron.com

not a true wood workers solution but works great

cheers
Bob

On Oct 25, 2:13*pm, Sonny wrote:
I like to think rockers are, somewhat, my specialty, building and
repairing. *John's idea is perfect: *Plane or joint the divot area
flat, then glue either a solid piece or thin strips onto the area. *I
recommend multiple thin (1/8") strips, if your divot is so big that it
warrants multiple strips. *Re-form the arc to match the original
profile.

Sure, give the guy the easy way out. Any woodworker worth his salt
would hand carve a sliding dovetail slot into the rocker and whittle a
piece to fit. Extra points if it's not a constant radius curve.

R

On Oct 25, 2:59�pm, RicodJour wrote:
Sure, give the guy the easy way out. �Any woodworker worth his salt
would hand carve a sliding dovetail slot into the rocker and whittle a
piece to fit. �Extra points if it's not a constant radius curve. �

R

We were going to recommend this, but we reserve those sliding dovetail
recommendations only for samples with the best challenge, that of the
radius not being constant along the worn section. BTW, I would like
to see the person rocking, such that, he/she produces wear on rocker
bottoms somewhere other than on a constant radius section.

If I may: What is/are the possible problem(s) as to why a rocker
creeps to one side, as one rocks? *Other than rocking on a non-level
surface and/or on certain kinds of carpet.

Sonny

"Sonny" wrote in message
...


If I may: What is/are the possible problem(s) as to why a rocker
creeps to one side, as one rocks? *Other than rocking on a non-level
surface and/or on certain kinds of carpet.

Sonny



Old rockers seem to have that habit ........ Mick Jagger for one ; )

diggerop

On Oct 25, 7:13*pm, Sonny wrote:

If I may: *What is/are the possible problem(s) as to why a rocker
creeps to one side, as one rocks? **Other than rocking on a non-level
surface and/or on certain kinds of carpet.

One ass cheek is bigger than the other.

R

Subject

At the risk of promoting sacrilidge, this repair begs for fiberglass
and epoxy resin.

A 2" wide roll of 6 OZ glass tape and some resin and your in business.

Build up the flat places with of layers of tape, then fair out using
either a fairing board or Sonny's home made fairing blocks made from
2x4s.

Once fair, add a couple of layers of glass tape to the complete rocker
bottom, trim away the excess on the sides of the rocker when cured and
you are good to go.

When the rest of the chair has returned to compost, those repairs will
still be functional.

Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
Subject

At the risk of promoting sacrilidge, this repair begs for fiberglass
and epoxy resin.

A 2" wide roll of 6 OZ glass tape and some resin and your in business.

Build up the flat places with of layers of tape, then fair out using
either a fairing board or Sonny's home made fairing blocks made from
2x4s.

Once fair, add a couple of layers of glass tape to the complete rocker
bottom, trim away the excess on the sides of the rocker when cured and
you are good to go.

When the rest of the chair has returned to compost, those repairs will
still be functional.

Lew

What took you so long Lew? :-)

--
Any given amount of traffic flow, no matter how
sparse, will expand to fill all available lanes.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

"diggerop" toobusy@themoment wrote in message
. au...
"Sonny" wrote in message
...


If I may: What is/are the possible problem(s) as to why a rocker
creeps to one side, as one rocks? *Other than rocking on a non-level
surface and/or on certain kinds of carpet.


Could be a caster, camber, toe in, or toe out problem. Does it pull when
you break? ;~) Seriousely I would say something is out of alignment.

John Grossbohlin wrote:

"BillGill" wrote in message
...
I have an old rocking chair that has flat spots on the rockers. I have
started repairing them by filling the flat spots with wood putty, but
I'm not sure that that will be solid enough to last over the long run.
So I need a way to harden the surface to make it last. I have considered
gluing strips of veneer onto the bottom surfaces of the rockers to
provide the needed durability. I think this would work, but does
anybody have any idea of a better way? By the way, I have some strips
of veneer off of an old door that I think I can use for this.

Also what kind of glue would work best for this?

Bill

I'd be inclined to either cut a wide dado (along the length of the
rocker) and glue a piece of maple in the dado, or plane the bottom off
flat and glue on a piece of maple... then shape it to the desired
profile. I cannot imagine wood putty putting up with the stress of being
on the rocker surface.

John

Thanks to everybody for their comments. I will probably go with gluing up
some new wood and then sanding it down. To start with I will go ahead
and finish with the wood putty, and when I get it rocking smoothly I will
make up a template to match that curve. Then I can do glue on the
wood strips and start sanding. The templates will be handy for sanding,
since if I oversand at that time I will have a problem building it back
up.

Of course this all happens after I finish stripping the white paint off
and pulling out the nails holding the seat to the legs, and filling
holes and such like. But I should be able to get it back into pretty
good shape after a while.

Bill

Sonny wrote:
If I may: What is/are the possible problem(s) as to why a rocker
creeps to one side, as one rocks? *Other than rocking on a non-level
surface and/or on certain kinds of carpet.

Sonny

I don't have a definitive answer for your specific problem, but the factors that determine
the behavior of a rocking chair are similar to those that determine the correct alignment of
the front wheels of an automobile: camber, caster, toe-in/toe-out, wheel radius, axle
position, tire inflation, etc. The rockers must have the same radius, one fulcrum or "axle"
location must not be forward of the other, the side-to-side angle of the legs (if any) must
be the same, the underside of the rockers must be uniform, etc. Disparities in any one of
these areas can cause the chair to wobble, walk around, or rock in a circle. Exactly which
problem causes exactly which symptom is something I'd like to have explained as well. :-)

--
Free bad advice available here.
To reply, eat the taco.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bbqboyee/

"BillGill" wrote:

To start with I will go ahead
and finish with the wood putty, and when I get it rocking smoothly I
will
make up a template to match that curve.

You are making a lot of extra and unnecessary work for yourself.

Get a 1/2"x1/2"x1/16" aluminum angle and use it as a fairing batten.

Turn the angle so the outside corner edge is resting on the rocker
forming a knife edge against the repair and slide it back and forth
which will leave black line marks (aluminum oxide) on the high spots
of the repair patch that need to be sanded down.

(Same procedure used to fair out boats hulls)

Mark with batten, sand then repeat.

The back of the angle also forms a knife edge against the rocker that
will allow you to eyeball the high spots as well as the low spots
since you will see light thru any gaps as you go.

BTDT.

Have fun.

Lew


Lew

Lew Hodgett wrote:
"BillGill" wrote:

To start with I will go ahead
and finish with the wood putty, and when I get it rocking smoothly I
will
make up a template to match that curve.

You are making a lot of extra and unnecessary work for yourself.

Get a 1/2"x1/2"x1/16" aluminum angle and use it as a fairing batten.

Turn the angle so the outside corner edge is resting on the rocker
forming a knife edge against the repair and slide it back and forth
which will leave black line marks (aluminum oxide) on the high spots
of the repair patch that need to be sanded down.

(Same procedure used to fair out boats hulls)

Mark with batten, sand then repeat.

The back of the angle also forms a knife edge against the rocker that
will allow you to eyeball the high spots as well as the low spots
since you will see light thru any gaps as you go.

BTDT.

Have fun.

Lew


Lew




I see what you are talking about. I am concerned a bit about getting the
curve right. I can see that your technique is good for getting the
curve smooth, but the curve also has to have the correct radius, and it
has to match on both rockers. That is what I was planning to use the
template for.

Making the template isn't that big a problem. Clamp a piece of thin
plywood to the side of the rocker and trace the curve on it. Then
carefully cut it out to give a good curve to test against.

Thanks for the idea, I may just use that for the final smoothing.

Bill