Building A Maloof Inspired Rocking Chair with Charles Brock: October 2008

The tool list for sculptured chair making is something I will revise several times a year. It will also be a part of the revised construction boolet for my classes and sold as a companion with plans for the rocker.

Every woodworking project has a core list of tools that are necessary for efficient, high quality work.My wife would like for all of my projects to be really "hand-made". This would save a lot of money and space. But, alas if I have a tool that will perform a necessary function perfectly (ha, ha), I have a keeper! I have hundreds of keepers when I can find them. Sam Maloof says, "You don't need alot of fancy tools to build sculptured furniture." Some tools are necessities, while others make it a more pleasureable, productive experience.

I will divide these tools into the proper categories and give primary (1) and alternative tools (2) as well. My personal choice is also given for each tool.

Preparing Stock:
Bandsaw -14" or larger See my three part video on choosing a bandsaw. 20 Inch Agazzani
Jointer An 8" model is better especially when preparing stock for a 7" wide crest rail. 8" Grizzly
Table Saw - A 3HP Cabinet Saw with a good fence makes preparing 8/4 and 10/4 stock a lot easier. Powermatic 66
Planer This is a necessity for thicknessing parts, unless you are very good with hand planes. Dewalt 13"

Producing Parts from a Template: back legs, spindles
Bandsaw with a 3/8 or 1/4 - 3TPI blade Starrett Silicone Carbide Cut within 1/16 inch of the line.
Router Table w/2" spiral cutting upcut, copy bit with bearing ( The bearing rides against the plywood template fastened to the top of the work piece.)
Stationary Belt Sander with articulating work table - 80 grit belt - It is used to flatten, square or fare curves that you can't work effectively with the router table. Delta

Coopering the Saddle:
Jointer- Used for beveling the seat boards.
Festool Domino(1)- Dominoes give support between seat boards. Dowels can be used requiring a horizontal drill press (2) or Shopsmith(2), biscuits can work for alignment purposes.(2)
Bandsaw for wasting the the seat boards' profile before glue up.
Grinder is used with a Kutzall (blue) donut shaped cutter to shape the saddle after glue up.
A Festool Rotex Sander (1) with 24 grit paper, hooked up to a dust collector is my choice for cleaning up after the grinder and then working through the grits to finish the seat shaping. A Makita 4 1/2" grinder (2)

Maloof Type Bridle Joinery:
Router Bosch 2 1/4 HP
Freud 3/4 inch radius x 1/2 inch w/ 1/2" shank router bit
Freud 3/4 roundover bit (the radius of these two bits must match)
Table Saw
Crosscut Sled
Veritas Lee Valley Side Rabbet Plane (new)is used to clean up the sides of the rabbets for a good fit.
Small Router Plane (1) (Lie-Nielsen) is used to finish cut the depth of the rabbets for a good fit.
A block of wood with 100 grit sandpaper is also a necessity for fitting the joint.

Layout/Marking Tools:
Colored Pencils: White, Red, Black
No.2 Pencils, Sharpies, Chalk
Marking Knife, Dividers, Tape Measure, Yardstick, Rule, Squares, Protractor, Bevel Boss, Sliding Bevel

Front Legs:
Table Saw
Bandsaw
Lathe - 1" Roughing Gouge, Lathe Chuck w/ 1/2" Drill Bit

Shaping Tools:

Grinder w/ Kutzall, Die Grinder w/ Various Burrs and Rasps, Router w/ 3/4" and 1 1/4" Roundover Bits
Rasps by Auriou - #'s 5, 8, 10, 14 Assorted Sizes, Needle files and rasps (assorted)
Microplane - All sizes and shapes
Spokeshaves - Flat by Daves Shaves, Radiused Brian Boggs (Lie-Nielsen)
Scrapers - Various sizes and Shapes (Highland Woodworking's set about $40) and light and heavy full size scrapers
Emmert Patternmakers Vise

Making the Rockers
Bandsaw for resawing laminates for rockers or 2)Table saw with glue joint rip blade
Performax sander for precision sanding of the laminates before glue-up.
Lots of 10" C Clamps (12)

Sanding
Sandpaper - 60 thru 400 grit sandpaper for handsanding, 24 thru 400 discs for Festool. 80 thru 400 grit 2" wave discs and interface pads w/ 2" drill attachment pad
3M Pads - Maroon, Gray and White