I have layed out and described some of the build process of a sculpted rocking chair, this is an example of a double rocking chair but it is the same for a single, with less work of course.
First we pick the most beautiful stable lumber we can get in this case Brazillian quater-sawn Lacewood from Burlington Exotic Woods. We then gather the lumber together and decide on the best use of grain patterns to make the most beautiful chair for you. We then proceed rough cutting, ripping laminations for the rockers and back braces and glueing together certain pieces. We layout the seat, notch and rabbit the Maloof style seat joinery, router the back brace holes and hand carve the seat. By this time we have glued up our coopered headrest, sanded and shaped the legs and begin work on the back braces. We cut out the headrest using our great swinging device AKA " the head rest cutter ", temporarily mount the headrest and mount the arms. We then re-test the headrest with the back braces installed make minor adjustments if needed. We then sand the entire chair until it glows, wax the back brace ends to allow for a smooth adjusting flexible back brace. Once the headrest is attached the rockers are shaped, sanded and attached. After attaching the rockers they are once more sanded along with the entire chair in anticipation for the first of 6 coats of a hand rubbed oil finish. The finish is rubbed on left to soak into the pores of the wood for about 20 minutes then rubbed off. The process is repeated 4 - 6 times with a rub down with 0000 very fine steel wool.
