This bent-laminated rocking chair was the third in a series of chairs that Bonnett has been working on for more than four years. Each succeeding chair has more curved parts. He developed this design from a quarter-scale model. “The shape for the seat and back went through many iterations and it was time saving to be able to make these modifications at a small scale,” he says. The laminations are 1/8-in.-thick ash, bent over plywood forms using plastic resin glue. The forms took almost as long to make as the chair, but Bonnett plans to reuse them to build more chairs in the future.

ASH, 41D X 23W X 38H

– Robert K. Bonnett III,Shelton, Wash.

Photo: Cooper Studios

From Fine Woodworking #283