The first thing Tom did when he arrived at Rocking Chair University was help me work on the roof of my my 1400 square foot bunker (my house) which says a good bit about who Tom is.
Tom arrived in his pickup truck loaded with mesquite! Tom does hail from Texas, so what else would he bring? This provided me the opportunity to build my first mesquite rocking chair! I loved the wood. For those who have not had the opportunity to work with this wood I can tell you, it is VERY heavy.
Extremely close to the density of ebony. I would guess it was harder than rosewood, you can look it up if you are curious. He also brought some wood for accents he called “Texas ebony”. I had never heard of it but it is indistinguishable from Ebony from Africa. Pure black and pure hard!
During Tom’s visit my deck was only partially built. The roof was in place but there was no floor, I had a tarp jury-rigged to provide shade from the sitting sun so we had a shady place to sit and tell lies to one
another.
We worked for a week building a beautiful mesquite rocking chair and had a good time in the process. When Tom headed home, he had a beautiful rocking chair and I had a good friend!
Tom has since built almost 20 beautiful rockers in his very well equipped shop in Texas (I would trade shops with him in a heartbeat!) and he is not slowing down.
About a year and a half ago I drove to Texas and visited with Tom a bit and got a tour of his workshop. I would be willing to bet it is the only woodshop in Texas with a full kitchen! Cooking is Tom’s second hobby after rocking chairs!
If you are interested in owning a beautiful rocking chair you could not do better than this fellow. When you contact him, tell him Hal Taylor said hello!
– Hal Taylor