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An innovation to the tradition of the rocker, this chair allows for adjustment of the angle of the back rest. Quarter sawn sycamore with rosewood slats Common chairmaking wisdom goes something like this: When you increase the number of positions you can get out of a chair, you increase its overall comfort. The goal of comfortable seating is to support the sitter in a balanced or neutral position without curbing her ability to flex, stretch and relax certain muscles. Getting it right produces a chair that people can sit in comfortably for hours. The Adjustable Rocker adds a moveable back angle to its bag of tricks. This does two things. First, it allows the sitter to change positions, increasing comfortable sitting time. (La-Z-Boy™ recliners are famous for this.) Second, the adjustable back actually modifies the size of the chair, making it more versatile. Large people generally find the chair fits well when the back angle is more open, while smaller people seem to prefer the back adjusted to its closed position. The chair's curved seat nicely tucks the sitter into the back lumbar support. European elm and leather The Elemental Rocker is a distillation of more than 25 years of chairmaking experience. I designed it with the fair curves of wooden boat building, wanting to evoke the 1890s Henry Rushton canoes. My original concept in designing this chair was to make a rocker less expensive than, but equally comfortable as, the Floating Back Rocking Chair. To make this possible, I had to standardize the sizing and templates used for this chair. And I limit the woods I make the chair in to six classics in the woodworker's palette: walnut, cherry, oak, elm, ash and maple. Cherry
Adjustable-Wood Seat Adjustable Rocker-Upholstered Cherry Elemental
I made my first rocking chair in 1974. Although it sported the organic curved shapes that evolved from the heyday of California's hippie crafts movement, it also incorporated a rudimentary floating back. That is, the flat slats of the back of the chair were not glued into place, but floated loose in grooves (mortices) routed into the chair's seat and headboard. Now, 29 years later, I'm still using the floating back in most of my chair designs, but I've spent years improving and refining the feature. With traditional bow-making techniques and triple laminations, I make resilient and flexible slats that conform to the human back. These slats support the person who sits in the chair with a comfortable, nearly massage-like springiness. Anyone who knows the American crafts movement will recognize the influence of the great furniture maker, Sam Maloof, in the lines of this rocker. Equally inspiring to me have been the mid-century Scandinavian designers, particularly the Danes, among them Hans Wegner. California black walnut Collaboratively designed by Robert and Tor Erickson this is an Arts and Crafts rocker that respects the human form. Made from recycled elm.  
Walnut Floating Back Elm Rocking Chair  
     
     
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