Rocking Chair University

If you are looking for "Furniture Making Classes" this is a good place to be.

Common Questions

• How much wood does it take to make this chair? It takes approximately 35 board feet of 8/4 (two inch thick) wood. The perfect board would be 10 to 12 inches wide but 7 or wider would also work fine. Two examples would be:

  Two boards 9 feet long by 12 inches wide by 2 inches thick would equal 36 board feet.

  One board 18 inches wide by 12 feet by two inches thick would equal (18in X (12ft X 12in) X 2in = 5,184 cubic inches. Divided by 144 in cubed) 36 board feet. 

   

• How many hours does it take to make this chair? It takes me about 40 hours to construct a chair, more for the finishing. Since new builders will be building forms and jigs it will of course take longer but most finish in 80 hours of shop time.

   

• How much time is taken in the final sanding? Usually not more than 10 hours.

   

• What is the completion rate for folks purchasing the plans? The completion rate, I am delighted to say, is over 95 percent. I can not imagine a teacher being satisfied with any number smaller than that!

At rocking Chair U. students have several options:

• Come for five to seven days and help build your own beautiful rocking chair.
• Come for a week and observe and learn the process of making a beautiful rocking chair. 
• Purchase rocking chair plans

  Look at RCU schedule openings

See examples of chairs made from plans

Order RCU "T" Shirt

RCU Diploma

Excellent tools to buy

Buying Wood

Rocker Builders check this page!

Housing and Airports

There are several good hotels five or six miles down the road from my house and workshop. The rates average around $75.00 a night.

The three major airports near Fredericksburg, VA are Richmond International, Washington DC (Reagan International) and Dulles airport in Reston VA. Getting in and out of Richmond or Dulles is much easier than Reagan with much less traffic.

What Else is in Fredericksburg?

Fredericksburg is the self proclaimed most historic city in the US. If you consider the civil war the most significant part of our history then that is without a doubt true. For civil war Buffs Fredericksburg has to be their definition of heaven.

George Washington grew up and lived in this area and went to church in Fredericksburg. You can attend the same church he went to. It is the exact place he went to church, however it is not the same building. The old church burned to the ground (I think during the war). As compensation they do have three very large, absolutely exquisite Tiffany stained glass windows that you can step in and admire.

Old town Fredericksburg is nestled on the banks of the Rappahannock river. It shares the same story that many cities have experienced. Downtown was the center of business until some enterprising fellow built a huge mall on the outskirts of town, resulting in the old business district fairly rapidly withering to a ghost town. Then some little ladies saw all the abandoned buildings down town and said "Hey! we could sell a bunch of old junk and stuff in that building". Then a couple artists said "Hey! rent here is nothing, we can put in some studios". Twenty years later 'old abandoned downtown' is a thriving antique and art area as well as historic district and the highest rent in town. You can take a horse drawn carriage tour of the old town or spend a morning shopping for art and antiques, stop in the apothecary George used to go to and stop in and have a sandwich and a cool beverage in Georges brothers bar. Now how could you beat that?

The Most Important Thing

The most important thing is that I end up making a new friend. Sam Maloof, (the other rocking chair maker) once said that he didn't make rocking chairs, he made friends. I have found that to be true. Having moved beyond chair number two hundred and twenty five, I have never sold a chair to a person that I didn't like and admire. In fact, the best friends I have are people I have made chairs for or with. They are treasures, far more valuable than all of the chairs I will ever make. I am grateful that, through my chairs, the Universe has brought such wonderful friends to me.