Getya Rockers on bitch

After the spindles and headrest glue-ups, it was clearly time to delve into the lower depths of the Maloof rabbit hole. I was awfully thankful that I had glued the skids up at the school, so I didn't have to go make a form.

Nevertheless, fitting these things drove me to the edge of insanity, which was just as well, because this last step requires a healthy dose of Maloof Madness. I'm not sure exactly what went down, but it involves scribing and cutting the legs, followed by rasping and test fitting, and rasping and test fitting, for maybe days. Then there's the matter of free-handing the 1/2" dowel mortises. I was a nervous wreck after all this. Shaking like a leaf.

There she is in the clamps for the final glue-up, hopefully all is well and I can sneak a ride in her tomorrow. Still have to fair the leg joints, give her a full sanding, make plugs, oil, etc,etc, but damn.

Arms, Head and Ears

After gluing up the arms, I was able to tackle the final fairing into the legs. Then it's time to cast my eyes further up the back leg and assess the massive chunk of wood there...further fairing of the headrest into the back legs in preparation for the spindle and headrest glue-up. And yes we have a set of ears.

It's about as back-breaking as you would think; very carefully removing unfathomable amounts of walnut while crouched over the chair. No idea how Sam made these for a living. I'm declaring Sam the strongest man to have ever lived.