A rocking chair is a rather popular piece of furniture in household goods and a garden. On such an armchair it will be pleasant to relax, sitting on the terrace. You can buy it today in almost any furniture store, however, such a product is expensive, so it is better to make it yourself.
To do this, have to stock up with high-quality material, which has water-repellent properties. It is important to remember that plywood in processing requires the observance of certain rules. And you will also need tools for work, for example, a cutting tool that has small teeth.
Materials for the chair
In the conditions of the plant, such models are made of different materials, it can be:
- rolled steel;
- solid wood;
- plywood.
The latter is suitable for independent work as well as possible. An array of wood is also used - the chair as a result is aesthetically attractive and durable. It will be possible to fit into the interior of the apartment and the exterior of the garden. Rocker chairs began to be made of plywood relatively recently. Factory options are much cheaper, but they do not look as attractive as those made from natural wood.
Should I use plywood?
If you were wondering how to make a rocking chair, you should decide whether to use plywood for this. The described material is a canvas of thin layers of wood of different species. At the production stage, a thin layer is removed from the log, which is repeatedly glued using a special composition into a separate plate.
Plywood has a high margin of safety, and its texture is similar to natural wood. Before you make a rocking chair, you will need to pick up the material. Preferring plywood, you can save, and also provide the convenience of processing material. In addition, plywood has a fairly attractive appearance and high strength.
On sale you can find paintings of different thicknesses, which allows you to choose the best option for a certain type of design and load. Do-it-yourself plywood rocking chair is made quite often. If you also decided to follow the experience of the masters, you should also learn about the shortcomings of this material.
Disadvantages of plywood
Cons of the material are expressed in low moisture resistance and weaknesses of the ends. If you do not treat the canvases with a special composition, then it is better not to use them for the manufacture of garden furniture, which will spend most of the time in the fresh air. Over time, such a chair will certainly deteriorate. As for the instability of the ends, they will also need to be protected, otherwise the material will stratify over time.
Preparation of tools and materials
If you are going to make a rocking chair for a summer residence, you can be sure that the assembly work will not be difficult. However, you will first need to stock up on some materials, including:
- plywood;
- set of fasteners;
- wood glue;
- cardboard.
A rocking chair made of plywood with your own hands cannot be made unless you take care of having a set of tools. To carry out the cutting and assembly of a piece of furniture should prepare:
- electric jigsaw;
- a chisel;
- a ruler;
- pencil;
- file;
- hammer;
- square;
- roulette.
As for the most important material - plywood - you will need three sheets. Their thickness should be equal to 20 and 15 mm - this difference is useful, because you will produce different elements, each of which is subjected to a certain load.
It is better to purchase sheets of standard sizes, which are equal to 1520x800 mm. When a rocking chair is made, drawings must be prepared. But the work cannot be started not only without them, but also without wood screws. But for joining the blanks with each other, carpentry glue is useful. It will be used where self-tapping screws will not be possible.
To make a set of patterns, you need to purchase cardboard. In the patterns you can apply the contours of parts on the surface of plywood. A jigsaw must be attached to the jigsaw. It is better to prefer files with medium or small teeth, because the material being cut has several thin layers, and large teeth will simply tear the edge.
Making a chair
A rocking chair for a summer residence should be carried out according to a certain scheme. It provides for the assembly of the product, which consists of a frame. It will be based on two parts:
After manufacturing, you can complement the design itself with a soft mattress, which will make this piece of furniture more comfortable. When making a sidewall, you should give it a boomerang shape. Such a design will fit into the room with any design. Cross strips are made of the same plywood, they are required to connect two sidewalls. These elements for assembly will need 14 pieces.
Stops are required to install the crossbars. They are made from a bar, the cross section of which is 20x40 mm. The bar must be sawn into individual blanks of 50 mm. The height of the chair will be 1 m, its width and length should be equal to 0.6 and 1.2 m, respectively.
The methodology of the work
The dimensions of the rocking chair made of plywood were mentioned above, however you can develop the design yourself. In any case, the order of work will remain the same.
Production should begin with the preparation of a template that will determine the size and shape of the side parts. The template should be depicted on a piece of cardboard. The boomerang should have a large lower radial part - this will allow the chair to swing without jerking.
Once the contour lines have been applied to the surface of the cardboard, you need to cut out the template using scissors. Now the master will have to transfer the marks to the surface of the plywood sheet to make two parts from one sheet with a minimum amount of waste. Once the contour has been applied, you can start cutting out the side parts.
When a rocking chair is made of plywood with your own hands, at the next stage, the ends of the parts need to be processed using sandpaper. It is important not to leave any burrs. Now you need to cut the cross bars - this uses 15 mm plywood. These strips should be 14, their length and width will be 600 and 40 mm, respectively. After completion of work, each plank should be sanded with sandpaper.
Specialist recommendations
Now you can prepare the stops for the crossbars. They are made of timber, the cross section of which is 20x40 mm. Each crossbar will have two stops. On each side part, marking is made for thrust bars. The line should repeat the top end. In this case, we are talking about the fastening line.
It is important to pay attention to the step between the bars - it should be the same. As soon as the installation line of the bars has been applied to one sidewall, the labels should be moved to the other side. If the rocking chair is made of plywood with your own hands, then you will need to fix the thrust bars. They are attached to wood glue. It is applied to the surface of the bar and sidewall. In order to ensure high reliability of fastening, wood screws should also be used.
Two sidewalls must be fastened together by transverse trims. First, the first and last are set, after which you can go to the rest. To persistent bars, they are fixed with glue and small self-tapping screws. Before screwing them in, make holes in the bar so that the material does not crack. The finished frame at the final stage is treated with a protective agent. It is covered with a stain in two layers, after which you can start applying the varnish.
How to bend plywood for a rocking chair?
Quite often, home masters wonder about how to bend plywood at home. You can give the desired bend to almost all types of this material, no matter how thick they are. Such manipulations may be needed if the plywood will not be installed across, but along the frame.
In general, flexible plywood is sold in construction stores. Usually it has a small thickness (within 4 mm). It is great for different designs. The part is cut to size, and then fixed with screws to the frame. The best combination of quality and price is considered to be Chinese plywood. It is quite flexible and has acceptable performance. If you have to use a more rigid type of material that needs to be bent, you can use combinations of several methods, among them:
Steaming plywood
If you are going to make a rocking chair, the drawings of which are presented in the article, then it may be necessary to bend the material. To do this, it is better to use the steaming method. You will need a container of boiling water or an iron, which has the function of uninterrupted supply of steam.
The sheet can simply be wetted - the soaking time will depend on the thickness of the material and the direction of bending. After the part has been soaked, it should be fixed to the template and fixed, having stood until completely dry. The maximum allowable bending is possible when bending across the fibers. If you have to work at home, it is better to combine moisturizing and steaming. Only the place that should be bent should be steamed; only the top layer of veneer is moistened.
DIY folding chair
If you are going to perform a collapsible rocking-chair from plywood, then you have to act on a different technology. For this, the frame is made of solid wood, as it will withstand higher loads. The inner part, which will look like a chair without legs, can be made of plywood.
The two parts of the chair will be interconnected using special hooks, which can be purchased at the hardware store. In this case, the piece of furniture will occupy less space after disassembly. The pattern for the rocking chair made of plywood in this case is also shown on cardboard. The side parts will be in the form of two racks of different sizes with a cross member that connects these two elements. The lower part is also made in the form of a boomerang.