How to Build a Joggling Board

A joggling board is an old and wonderful child's rocker. They were originally built in England and found a home in Charleston, S.C., where they have become legendary. The board is typically a pine plank of 12 to 16 feet with rocker platforms under each end. Seated at opposite ends, courting couples rocked and talked, eventually meeting at its middle. "Jogglers," as they are now known, are even painted Charleston green. Building a joggling board can be immensely rewarding.

Measure and cut a 2-by-12 plank 14 feet in length. Cut a 2-inch triangular corner off all four corners of the board. Use a power sander or heavy wood rasp to round and smooth these squared off corners. Measure and cut two 12-inch pieces of 2-by-4 lumber. Nail them to the ends of the 2-by-12 plank six inches from the end.

Measure and cut the tops off four pyramidal-pointed 4-by-4 garden posts. Use a 2-inch hole-saw drilling bit to drill three holes in all four posts. Drill the holes one inch deep and make them centered at 4, 9 and 20 inches from the top.

Use a trashcan lid or other, creative circular jig to draw two 24-inch concentric curved lines, three inches apart, on a piece of 2-by-12, for the rocker arms. They can vary but should have a draw (vertical distance from the outside bottom to the top points) of at least four inches. Connect the ends of the lines with a straight line. Cut four identical pieces on a band saw.

Measure and cut four pieces of 2-by-4 lumber 24 inches in length, for the feet of the joggling board support arms.

Cut eight pieces of triangular 2-inch boards for the corner jams of the support arms. On a squared end of a 2-by-12 make two marks, one on the side of the board and one on its end. Each mark should be six inches from the corner at the board's end. Draw a line connecting these two marks and cut this right triangular piece off the end of the board. Make a total of eight identical pieces.

Measure and cut six 15-inch pieces of 2-inch wood dowel for the connector pieces.

Attach the rocker arms to the bottom of the rocker support posts. Drill two pairs of 3/8-inch holes in a box-like arrangement through the bottom center of the rocker arms. Hold the arm against the base of the 4-by-4 posts and rotate the post so that the 2-inch drilled dowel holes face inboard. Slide a small Phillips-head screwdriver or punch through the holes and tap it to mark the four drill holes on the base of the post. Drill these holes two inches deep with a 3/8-inch bit. Drive 1/2-inch by 3-inch wood screws through the the rocker arms and into the base of the support post. Repeat this on all four posts, ensuring that the drilled dowel holes face inboard on the respective posts.

Attach the triangular jams to the base of the support posts. Do this by first shimming down one short edge of the triangle with a wood plane so that it fits the curve of the rocker arm. Slide the jam into the corner where the support post meets the rocker and nail it into place. Invert the unit and drive finishing nails though the rocker arm and into the bottom of the jam. Repeat this process on the other seven jams.

Apply glue to the dowel ends and the insides of the 2-inch holes in the support posts and insert all three dowels that connect two support posts. Repeat this procedure on the other pair of support posts.

Insert the joggling board, smooth side up, through the upper pair of joggling connector dowels on one support unit. Insert the other end through the joggling connectors on the other support unit.