Gran's Antique Rocker

When I bought this chair I just thought "that's interesting".  But, when I started refinishing it I absolutely fell in love!!  My husband swore I would not sell it because I just kept going on and on about it.  I know, when you look at the picture you think, what's the big deal?  While I was sanding the original finish (below) I started realizing this was a hand carved piece and my mind went into overdrive.

Can you see that someone painted it with the Spackle technique.  While that's great for some pieces, it just wasn't right for this one so I had to get rid of it.

This is the picture when I finished hand sanding it.  I am so glad I didn't try to use an electric sander because I think I would have missed the history of this piece.  If you look closely you can see that nothing is the same.  All I could think of while working on this was the proud groom making this for his bride to be.  Or it could have been after they were married and awaiting their first child so she could rock the baby sitting on their front porch.  This is one reason I love old furniture, trying to figure out what the story is behind the piece.  Can you imagine the hours it took to finish this and the love that went into it.  It's obvious from the workmanship that he was not a professional but built it because he loved her.  Much better than now days when they just run to the store.

My husband Rob is the one that realized the rockers were made from old wagon wheels.  You can see where the wheel rungs used to be and were just cut off.  Too bad people today don't reuse what they have just laying around instead of (again) running to the store to buy something.

This picture also shows the first stain I tried putting on it.  WRONG, it was way too dark so I started sanding again.  It was well worth the effort.

Here is the finished piece with just a clear varnish on it.  Rob tried to get me to re-cane the seat but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  It is still plenty sturdy and I believe the old cane just adds to the charm.

I hope you appreciate this piece as much as I do.  Wish I had better pictures to show the real character but you'll just have to trust me.  Feel free to use your own imagination to come up with your story.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon.  Please check out the "Items for Sale" page for information on buying this piece.