Mr Robbie has spent all of his career working with wood, and lately he has been particularly known for his rocking chairs.
In fact, he reckoned he might have the biggest range of rocking chairs in New Zealand.
His love of working with wood and creating furniture has not diminished and he is preparing for an exhibition of his work at the Community Gallery in Princes St, Dunedin.
Running from August 31 to September 9, it has been called 75 to Now, representing the period from when he started his own business in Dunedin in 1975 until the present day.
The exhibition included his range of furniture as well as a timeline of his career.
Originally from the South Canterbury town of Waimate, Mr Robbie (64) served his cabinet-making apprenticeship there, at BJ Abraham, before moving to Dunedin.
He made both furniture and joinery, later concentrating on fine furniture, before taking a break and looking after hospital grounds in Dunedin.
When he realised that making furniture was still his passion, he left his job and began making landscape furniture.
He predominantly made rocking chairs, swing sets and seating. That was where the name Rocker Man came from.
He felt fortunate to have done what he loved all through his career.
Mr Robbie loved rocking chairs - ``as soon as you sit in them, you relax'' - and while he had often thought about the large number he had made, he had lost count. The range had also been extended.
He attended A&P shows, fetes and field days, and enjoyed the contact with people. He acknowledged it was a major logistical exercise transporting his furniture around the country, but quipped that it meant he did not have to go to the gym.
Mr Robbie used macrocarpa timber which he sourced from the South Island. He said he was fortunate several mills selected wood for him.
He was excited about the exhibition, saying it was something he had always wanted to do. It was not something that was usual for furniture makers but he was keen to ``give a little bit back to Dunedin''.
He had always dreamed of Dunedin being known as the home of the Rocker
Man.
