Wood selection is first.  You see here the wood and the pattern that has been tacked on the wood with spray glue.

Here are the Lumbar supports that have been cut, shaped, and sanded.  I only need size lumbars, but I have to make at least 9 per chair.  I have enough for 2-3 chairs.  Lumbars can break when bending, not bend properly, twist, or not dry properly.

OK, the lumbars have been shaped and sanded, but now I have to wash them.  The reason is because I am going to steam them, and there might be flecks of stone embedded into to wood from the sanding processes.  After steaming and drying the flecks will show up as dark spots which are deep into the wood.

The steam box.  Water is boiled in the pot and transferred to the box which contains the lumbars.  The lumbars are 1/2 inch thick so each piece must be in the box for 30 minutes.  You can see in the background the washed lumbar supports.  The silver insulation is a wind break and you can see the steam billowing from the door that is bungeed shut.

The steamed lumbar is only pliable for a few minutes so I must work fast.  The top of the picture is the bottom of the lumbars with the forward face on the right side. The clamps are on for about 13 minutes and then the lumbars are put in the drying rack.  The reason is I rotate the lumbars every 15 minutes thus I can bend 4 per hour versus 2. Note the backer board - the clamps are steel and would leave a black mark on the lumbars is they came in contact with the clamps.

Lumbars in the drying rack.  They need to stay in this position for several weeks. They then need to be re-sanded, and culled if the shape is not acceptable. I had two lumbars that broke when performing the initial bend and there are at least one here is twisted.

The seat is made up of one board that must be glued together.  You can see the joints here because the seat blank must be sanded to thickness. When designing the blank I already have selected the front of the seat and the top side. On the floor is a 12 inch ruler.

The rockers are made from the same board and each rocker is re sawed in thin strips to conform to the pattern.  You see here on of the rockers with one thin strip that is sawed off.

What you see here is how the rockers are re sawed from a single board. 

Here are the two rockers the are re sawed. Now they must be sanded and glued. Note the reference marks so the order is kept until the end.  This way you will not be able to tell that the rockers have been laminated together.

It takes a lot of clamps to apply the pressure necessary for this shape.  I must let this dry for 24 hours for the shape to hold. 

Here are the legs and arms rough cut out.

Here are the legs and seat rough cut out.