One of my retirement objectives is to reproduce a number of Charles Rolhfs’ decorative chairs. This is my first, a reproduction of Rohlfs’ “1899 oak rocking chair”, a birthday present for my daughter.

The chair is made from 3” x 3” oak timbers that were used to stack truck frames when they were on the rail car going to the assemby plant. They were rescued from my father’s firewood pile. I cleaned , resawed, jointed, planed and glued them up them to make the various parts for this chair. As much as possible I tried to quarter saw the timbers.

The original Rohlfs chair had an upholstered seat and what appeared to be a short straight back. The reproduction has a carved wood seat and the back is curved and a little taller to improve comfort. I left the rockers longer than the original chair. The overall dimensions are 25” wide, 38” high and 40 “deep.

The chair is finished with Lee Valley Fumed Light Oak Analine Dye, several coats of Miniwax Tung Oil and a few coats of beeswax.

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