The Notebook

Adirondack Chair

The current project is an adirondack chair. The original goal was to make one for home and then a second one for the church art auction... but time has gotten away from me and now I'm headed straight for the art auction.

The Adirondack chair seems to be the original Tinkerer's Delight: 1.) Take scrap wood 2.) assemble.

I downloaded plans that had a lovely cutting diagram and lots of photos. My first problem was the lumberyard didn't have dimensional lumber in the dimensions called for by the plans, so I improvised, substituting a 2x6 for the original 1x8 stringers. They also didn't have the Southern Yellow Pine, recommended for its bug resistance. So I looked at the next two bug resistant options - redwood and pressure-treated lumber.

I went with the pressure-treated lumber. These boards are stashed in two different locations in the lumber yard. Most of the dimensions are with the deck materials, but the 1x4s are sold as fascia material and are with the fencing supplies.

Lumber scored, I headed home to start cutting. Turns out the safety goggles got packed at some point and couldn't be located with either the tools or the stained glass supplies. So back to the lumber yard for another pair of glasses.

Then I started cutting. And cutting went fine. Lots of memories of woodshop and metal shop classes as I made sure to measure twice and fit pieces together as I went along and using already cut pieces as the standard for additional cuts instead of just trusting my ruler.

Then it came time to start assembly. Problem 1: My plans have no measurments or angles for assembling pieces. In fact, none of the chairs in the photos were actually made from the pieces shown in the cutting diagram. Problem 2: There is no explaination for how the bottom of the back slats are anchored. I improvise and attach them to the back piece of what I am calling "the box." Problem 3: The screws I bought were for attaching 1" pieces to other 1" pieces, but I am now attaching 2" pieces to 2" pieces. I need more screws. Problem 4: If you put the arm uprights too far away from the front of the chair, the seat is uncomfortably steep. Problem 5: Using 2x6's for "the box" makes the chair darn heavy.

I am in the middle of trying to solve problem 5. I think I'm going to go to 1x6's. I don't have photos yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing the blue I picked out on the chair.

posted by Anne @ 3:07 PM