Rocking Footrest

This is the last of the 2023 Christmas gifts for my kids. You can see the others here, here, and here. This one was for my son who is almost 21. He enjoys 3D printing and spends a good bit of time on his computer modeling projects to print. I know how much I enjoy having a footrest at my desk and I thought he would appreciate one.

Given his interest in 3D modeling and printing, I also wanted to make use of my CNC machine and this project also satisfied that desire. I first spent some time looking at various wooden footrests that are available for purchase online. After seeing this one, I decided that I would go with a rocking design instead of something with a fixed or adjustable angle.

I opened SketchUp and started to design. You can see the design I came up with to the right.

In VCarve Pro, I imported all of the parts as vectors. After laying them out, I created toolpaths to cut out everything. Next, I mounted the plywood and the CNC and ran the toolpaths.

After that, it was on to the router table to clean up the edges of all the pieces. I tested the fit of the rockers into the deck and then proceeded to glue everything together. I did the glue up all in one step. If I make this again, I will break that up and glue the feet together first and then glue the deck and feet together as a separate step. It worked out but it was more than I should have done in one step. It made for an interesting picture as you can see in the gallery above.

Next was a good bit of sanding and handheld routing. The routing was to chamfer all of the small holes in the deck and other exposed sharp edges. Another thing I learned while sanding was that I should have made the holes in the deck slightly larger, maybe 1/8 of an inch. The inside of the holes has to be sanded to clean up glue squeeze out. The easiest way to do this would be with the smallest spindle on my oscillating spindle sander but that was not possible with the size hole I chose. Instead, I had to glue sandpaper to a piece of wooden dowel and sand each of the holes by hand.

Once I was satisfied with the routing and sanding, it was time to apply a finish. I used shellac and applied it with my LVLP spray gun. I applied numerous coats to the top surface of the deck in particular since that would see the most wear.

Lastly, I applied some strips of adhesive-backed rubber to the bottoms of the rockers. I did this to make sure the footrest would rock and not just slide around, especially if used on a hard surface.