log rocking chair

[Charlie Tuna]

I would like to make a log rocking chair. I have sat in one at a discount store and it tried to dump me on the floor. The problem I discovered was the placement of the legs in relation to the rockers. I have been looking for information on making rocking chairs to try to figure out how to position the legs on the rockers so the chair is comfortable to sit in. If any one out there has any information I would appreciate any help in figureing this out.

 

[Christopher1]

Were the rockers short, in the chair that tipped? Short rockers will cause tipping problems. This is just a suggestion, but the rockers should extend about 2 inches beyond the front edge of the seat. The rear rocker should be around 4 to 6 inches longer than the back edge of the seat. Having a longer rocker in the rear of the chair prevents tipping.

Making a rocking chair usually involves trial and error, so you might have to play around with the design. I am not sure what to do, if the tipping is caused by the actual legs.

 

[Charlie Tuna]

The rockers were long enough, the seat was positioned wrong on the rockers. It wanted to dump me out the front when I sat in it. ( had to hold myself back with my feet on the floor, could not rock back and stay there.)

 

[WingDing]

If I'm following correctly, it sounds almost like the rockers were fixed too far back in relation to the chair. I think in an ideal world, when you sit in the chair, your weight should be distributed 50-50 between the lowest point in the rockers and the highest point in the rockers.

If the rockers aren't aligned properly, forward and back, body weight could simply, and quite easily, cause the chair to tip, either forward or back.

 

[Rob]

Bent wood rockers

I do know we used to have one of those wonderful, beautiful bent wood rockers. It would throw you on the floor in a heartbeat if you didn't know how to sit in it. It shot out behind you, and you landed on the floor. You really did have to push your tush to the back of the chair before plopping down on it. My sister wanted to use it to nurse her baby, but I made her choose another one.

 

[Charlie Tuna]

Thanks for the replies. The store that had the rocker that I sat in put a three foot tall teddy bear in it for valentines day, it almost dumped the teddy bear out on the floor also. With the teddy bear sitting as far back on the seat as possible the chair balanced out with the back vertical, thus I am assuming that the chair is positioned on the rockers wrong. I am sure that some company or person has written a book on how to make a rocking chair. I am hopeing the mathamatics would be simillar for different types of rocking chairs.

 

[Cammy]

I am sure you can find some book about rocking chairs, and the general idea is probably the same for any kind of rocker. My grandpa use to make rocking chairs, and I remember it was all trial and error. I am not sure if that is how everyone works, when making a rocking chair, but my grandpa was always pulling it apart and putting the chair back together until it was perfect.