My designs are usually described by othersa as "Danish modern", and I'm

comfortable with that. You know of the influence Maloof has had on my work,

as with that of most of my contemporaries. When I first started in the

mid-70's, Maloof was one of a handful of major furniture people that we all

emulated; others included George Nakashima, Wendell Castle, James Krenov

(now at College of the Redwoods), Art Carpenter (from Bolinas)and Wharton

Esherick. As with most furniture makers, my designs are a mix of

originality and the influence of others, as well as years of trial and

error. Over time, they have evolved into a personal style that is apparent

when looking at a range of my work.

I started out making very primitive stuff, entirely by hand, and though my

techniques have grown to include some power tools, I still consider myself

to be hand-tool oriented. I have quite a number of different planes,

spokeshaves, chisels and gouges, Japanese saws and so forth that I use to

do the bulk of the shaping and joinery. My power tools include a band saw

for rough cutting, a plunge router that I use on some of the joinery, and an

array of drills and sanders. My electricity here is a small photovoltaic

system, and so I've never really been interested in going big-time with

power tools. There is nothing quite a satisfying as using a well-tuned plane

on a nice piece of hardwood.

The rockers employ a variety of joints. The front leg/rocker joint is a

form of mortice and tenon, called a bridle joint. The mortices I now do

with the router, the tenons mostly by hand. The legs are fitted onto the

seat by means of a housed dado--sort of a stepped notch joint. There are

also a number of butt joints--the arm attachments, the crest rail., the rear

leg/rocker attachment Those joints as well as the seat joints are

reinforced with plugged screws. The solid seats are generally joined up out

of 3 or 4 pieces of 8/4 stock, and the seat depression roughed out with a

large gouge. Smoothing the seat is done with small planes and spokeshaves.

The finish I use is Watco Danish oil, a popular and easy to deal with

oil/varnish mix. I sand to 600 grit, apply 3 coats of oil over 4 or 5 days,

and finish with a rubbed coat of paste wax.

Hope this gives you some useful information. Let me know if you want more

details.-----------Kevin