Rocking Chair Wood Types

Certain types of wood tend to be popular choices used in constructing furniture. Today, these wood types are often used for creating wooden rocking chairs and rocker gliders. These woods differ in color, general patterns, and characteristics.

Cypress Rocking Chairs
Cypress wood has a straight, fine grain, this characteristic assists the wood during changing weather conditions. It prevents warping; rocking chairs and rocker gliders constructed from cypress wood hold up in humid climates. Cypress is known to do well with gluing and finishing. Since cypress is a soft wood, it also holds hardware well. The color of cypress wood is pinkish to a very light orange-brown. The sapwood is very light.

Cedar Rocking Chairs
True cedar has natural properties that ward off insects and slow rotting. Cedar is soft and so it works well for making wooden rocking chairs and wooden rocker gliders, because it holds hardware well. Cedar ranges in color from shades of light brown to pale beige. It is a straight grain wood, although Atlantic and Lebanon cedar are knotted.

Pine Rocking Chairs
Pine grown mainly in the western United States is much less likely to split. This makes it a great wood for hardware during the construction of a rocking chair or a rocker glider. Many people like pine due to its beautiful pattern and nice yellowish sapwood.

Oak Rocking Chairs
White oak and red oak are straight grain and coarsely textured hardwoods. Oak is extremely hard and strong. Due to the hardness of oak, the nail holes have to be pre-drilled, otherwise, the wood will splinter. Unlike some of the other woods, oak does not have a lot of resistance to decay; because of this, it requires protection with a finishing process.

All of these woods should be finished - either by staining or simply sealing. These woods should be thoroughly sanded before completion to ensure that the finishing oil or stain will soak down into the wood and leave the wood soft to the touch and beautiful.

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