I purchased about 80 board ft of cherry wood. It is all 8/4 in thickness, planned on 4 sides. This means I can start cutting the boards to size without sending them through a thickness planner. I like to buy the wood already "surfaced". I can see the grain, color and heartwood better. I like using heartwood as it gives the project some character. You need to take the time to layout all your material and decide what pieces to use. I take my templates and start making chalk lines or light pencil outlines of each piece. I can shift the templates around to cut down on waste. There will be waste, how much depends on careful use of the wood. Exotic woods are very expensive so I sometimes do a lot of erasing and rearranging of my templates. I select the best pieces for the seat, headrest and arms. These are the areas that will draw the most attention.
For this chair I decided to start on the headrest. I started on the seat the previous chair. I like to mix it up. I already know I will do the rocker and back brace strips next to get them out of the way and also to start the laminating process early as it takes 5 plus days of glueing and clamping. I only have enough clamps and forms for one glue up per day. Multiple glue ups of the laminated rockers and back braces would require additional forms. One glue up per day works as there is plenty to do on the other pieces. The headrest will require 4 pcs, 6 1/2 inches wide and 7 1/2 inches long. I cut them from the same piece as I wanted to book match the center pieces to use the heartwood edge. Start with a piece roughly 32"- 33" long and 6 1/2" wide. Cut 4 pcs 7 1/2" long. You then arrange them to get the best look. I keep heartwood to heartwood at the center. as I will do the same with the 4 seat pcs.
In the picture you see the pcs as they were cut and also the headrest template showing the inside curve of the arched headrest. The inside curve segment is 36 degrees. Not a 36 degree radius. I make my templates out of 1/4" masonite. Masonite will not dryout and warp. My templete is 23 1/4" long with a 3 3/8" rise. There is a math formula for calculating the radius but using these measurements will get you close. This is a sample of what Sam Maloof would do as far as giving you the info as he did all the calculations. I actually lost my template and had to start over using that dreaded word "math". Most people don't like math. I happen to be someone who does so it was a nice challange for me to figure it out again. Take your time in cutting templates. They will save a great deal of time if they are accurate as the jigs that you will make based on these templates to rough out the glued up headrest shape will depend on it being made with care. 
I now cut the beveles on all 4 pcs. The 2 center pcs have a 9 degree bevel on each side. The outer pcs are only beveled on one edge. I label each pc starting with 1 on the left. I roughly mark the bevel direction on each pc so I don't get confused when beveling on the table saw. So looking from the top down on all the pcs as they are standing somewhat in an arc, I mark each pc and also mark the bevels. Each pc is already cut to width so I set my table saw on a 9 degree bevel and cut accordingly. I use a digital "Wixey" to set the degree. I don't depend on the saw scale as I want these pcs all exact. You can leave the square edge on the left side of pc 1 and the right side of pc 4 as they will be cut to the correct length later. Much later.........................After beveling the edges I cut biscuits into the edges (2 per pc) to help with the line up during the glue/clamp process. You don't need the biscuits or dowels for strenght but I found it helps when lining them up during clamping as you will be clamping pcs on a bevel. The glue up is a 3 step process. I first glue pcs 1 and 2 together and set them aside. I then glue pcs 3 and 4 together and set then aside. After 24 hrs, I now glue clamp strips to the 2 sections of previously joined headrest sections.
