From a square blank
Every spindle on the rocker starts as a square length of beech, 40 mm across and a little longer than it needs to be. The blanks sit in the workshop for a fortnight first, so they reach the same moisture as the room they will end up in.
On the lathe, the corners come off with a roughing gouge in a few passes. Then the shape is cut by eye against a pattern stick: a slow taper, one bead near the seat, and a shoulder where the spindle meets the comb.
Eleven, and they must match
A rocker has eleven spindles. They do not have to be identical, but they have to look it from a metre away, which is harder than it sounds. Each one is checked against the pattern with callipers at five points and sanded on the lathe at 180, then 240 grit.
The ends are turned a fraction oversize and driven into holes drilled a fraction small. The fit is tight enough that no glue is needed in the comb, which is why the chair still does not creak years later.
What you can see
Look along a finished spindle and you will see faint rings where the tool paused. We leave them. They are how you can tell it was turned by a person, and they soften under the first coat of oil.
