Rocking Chair with Frank Strazza

Building a rocking chair is a great achievement for woodworkers and this particular chair is both beautiful and comfortable, it’s a chair you’ll want to sit in every day and pass down to your children.

Frank draws on his 30 years of experience working with handtools and power tools to help you build this chair, all the while teaching you valuable woodworking techniques that can be used throughout other areas of your woodworking. The skills that you will take away from this class will enable you to build a set of dining room chairs if you choose.

This six-day class will take you, step-by-step, through the process of handcrafting your own Craftsman-style Rocking Chair. Because class size is limited to eight students, you get personalized instruction and can work at your own pace. Each part of the process is broken down into small, manageable steps so that you can concentrate on mastering one task at a time before moving onto the next.  In addition to showing you how,  you will also get to understand underlying concepts and how each step fits into the big picture.

There is a lot that you will learn in the class but some of the main learning points include:

• How to select lumber and mill wood for chairmaking
• Cutting and fitting mortise and tenon joints by hand and machine
• Working with angles and curved parts
• Joinery choices and crafting for strength and durability
• Working with handtools such as chisels, saws, planes, spokeshaves and scrapers
• Upholstery seat of leather or cloth

You will learn both traditional and modern-day building techniques and make a piece that lasts for generations.