The Toccata Rocker is finally done (and photographed)!

Leading up to Handworks, I was working hard to finish my new Toccata Rocker design. I just managed to get the last coat of finish on before the event, but I didn’t have time to get a decent photograph until last week. Asa Christiana from Fine Woodworking was visiting to shoot photos for two articles, and he graciously agreed to shoot the rocker as he was photographing another chair for one of the articles. So here it is!

The chair is obviously a close cousin to the Toccata Chair, with a couple of significant differences: I came up with a completely different front leg structure (the addition of the rocker changed what needed to happen with the legs and arms), and carved the seat. The front legs now extend through the seat, with a very complicated joint that could well be tweaked a little in future versions of the chair.

The design is the result of pursuing an old structural idea for a chair leg (which morphed into the slatted structure of the back), combined with some inspiration from Windsor chairs.

The chair is incredibly comfortable, and rocks beautifully; the culmination of years of working with issues of comfort and balance in chairs.