Rock climber’s chairs rock, too
Hardwood heirloom funky furniture is this athlete’s passion
EAST LONDON rock climber Garvin Jacobs, 41, is making his name with finely crafted heirloom rocking chairs.
They go for R9 000 each, and the joints are so precisely cut that he is able to fit the chair together without glue and sit in it to check that nothing wiggles while he rocks.
Parents love them for rocking infants to sleep while simply zoning out themselves.
Jacobs, who has a workshop in his backyard in Abbotsford, grew up in Wentzel Park, a former coloured area in Alexandria named after his great grandfather, and comes from a line of builders.
His great grandfather built packed-stone supported roads and his dad, Freddie, built sheds and homes for farmers.
Jacobs completed his apprenticeship with Bradco, one of the top kitchen builders in Port Elizabeth, and was in his 20s when he moved to East London.
He worked for woodshop operator Graeme Wild, working with solid woods and fitting kitchens.
“It got repetitive so I taught guys how to do the stuff and skipped.
“I built a workshop in my backyard. I’m doing alright. We grew up surrounded by poverty, but my dad worked hard. He had a team of 12.
“We were a family of three. I had trouble with a small town. I was overweight and was teased.
“As a teen I lost weight and started rock climbing at 23. There were no other coloured people who climbed in the Eastern Cape.”
He started building rocking chairs soon after, in 2001, out of hard woods like oak, kiaat and Canadian beechwood. “It’s pretty difficult,” says the master craftsman.
“People love them. It is unusual to see something not produced by a chain store.
“One girl sat in it and said, ‘oh it doesn’t creak and make me feel like I am going to fall down’.
“No sir, mine don’t creak. Good joinery is like that. A nice tight joint that sits well has no room for movement.