The Old Rocking Chair

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Pictured is my latest project, started this afternoon. Actually it's a pretty modern piece that had suffered from having been stored in a leaky corner of the studio for some years: the joints had for the most part dried out and the rush seat had rotted. So I stripped the seat off and broke the thing into its constituent parts, except for the joints that were still good.

The astute among you will notice that one arm is missing from the picture: this is because its tenon had broken off and I'm glueing up a piece to it ready to be carved to size tomorrow. also, the bits in the pic being glued are just the side nearest the floor: the other side is loosely fitted to ensure everything dries at the right angles when it's time to re-assemble the thing as a whole. 

When the frame's finished, that will just leave the seat to contend with. Now, the last basketry (and rush-weaving is a very close cousin) I ever did, was in Junior school at the age of ten or so, so I've been watching a rather good YouTube by a guy across the pond from us. I've put the link in because even if you've no interest in having a go yourself, it's a very relaxing watch. From my point of view this will hopefully yet another (skill) string to my bow: we'll see - I'll post results, be they good or bad!


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