Parts of a Rocking Chair – Rockers, Spindles and Comb

All 8 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Back and arms 4

Comb The shaped rail across the top of the back spindles.
Spindles Thin turned rods that make up the back of the chair.
Arms They support the sitter's elbows and forearms.
Arm supports The upright pieces that hold up the front of each arm.

Seat and base 4

Seat A thick board, often hollowed into a saddle shape for comfort.
Legs Four legs join the seat to the two rockers.
Stretchers Crosspieces that join the legs and strengthen the base.
Rockers Two curved bands under the legs that let the chair rock.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, Rocking chair, Windsor chair and Ladderback chair, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocking_chair and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_chair, text only (two curved bands, the rockers, fixed under the legs; legs, stretchers and spindles; seats carved into a saddle shape; the comb-back form; horizontal slats on a ladder back). (2) Wallace Nutting, A Windsor Handbook (1917), https://archive.org/details/windsorhandbookc00nutt, read in full (comb, spindles, arms, arm supports, seat, legs, stretchers, rockers). (3) Luke Vincent Lockwood, Colonial Furniture in America (1901), https://archive.org/details/colonialfurnitur00lock, the chapter on chairs (the Windsor rocking-chair; spindles across the back with a piece at the top that gives the comb-back its name; stretchers; rockers). (4) A furniture maker's glossary of furniture terms, https://philafurniture.com/glossary-of-furniture-terms (spindle, stretcher, slats, crest rail). (5) A prop maker's parts of a chair, https://www.props.eric-hart.com/resources/parts-of-a-chair/ (arm, arm support, spindle, stretcher, top rail). Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's chair, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

The parts of a rocking chair are those of a wooden armchair plus two rockers. This one has a spindle back: a comb on top, seven spindles, arms on arm supports, a seat, four legs and three stretchers.

Read the full guide

Back and arms

Numbers 1 to 4. The comb sits on top of the spindles. Each arm runs forward from the back to an arm support.

Seat and base

Numbers 5 to 8. The legs go from the seat down to the rockers, and stretchers join the legs.

Rocker is also a short name for the whole chair.

Questions and answers

What are the curved parts of a rocking chair called?

Rockers. They are two curved bands of wood fixed to the bottom of the legs, one joining the two legs on each side. The chair rests on the floor only on them, so it can rock back and forth.

What are the rods in the back of a rocking chair called?

Spindles. A spindle is a thin turned piece of wood. In this chair seven of them rise from the seat to the comb. A ladder-back rocking chair has horizontal slats in its back instead.

What is the top of a rocking chair back called?

On a spindle-back chair like this one it is the comb, and a chair with this rail above its spindles is a comb-back. Furniture glossaries call the topmost rail of any chair back the crest rail or top rail.

How is a rocking chair different from an ordinary chair?

It has rockers. Early rocking chairs were ordinary chairs with two curved rockers attached under the legs. The seat, legs, stretchers, back and arms keep their usual names.