adirondack garden chairs

[sunnybob]

Made 2 of Norm Abrams adirondack chairs.
I believe this is pine? its very soft and general construction grade and goes a reddish brown quite quickly in bright sun, but the buyer is going to paint them anyway so I kept the cost down by not using hard wood.

 

[novocaine]

Look alright those Bob.

 

[droogs]

Nicely done SB :text-bravo:

 

[AJB Temple]

Does the design always have legs that thin Bob? I would be tempted to double them up to provide stiffness.

Looks nice work.

 

[sunnybob]

Adrian, from that angle, you might be forgiven for doubting the front legs, but they are 95 mm x 22mm straight grain.
They are glued and bolted with three coach bolts on the diagonal join. It would take a very serious effort to snap or even bend them. The whole chair is immensely stronger than it looks. Mike would be impressed with the architectural design
I'll take a side pic tomorrow.

 

[sunnybob]

I'm a bit bored, so I went out and took a picture :lol:

You can see how well the pieces are interlocked.
A total of 10 x 6 mm coach bolts, and over 40 screws, all hidden under plugs.

 

[DaveL]

They are very nice.

 

[AndyP]

They are very nice.

:text-+1: :text-bravo:

I guess in your climate they can be left out all year. I have thought about making some in the past but they would deteriorate quickly in the winter months if left outside. Folding ones are probably beyond me.

 

[sunnybob]

Andy, Norm made this chair on one of his shows, replacing one that had been outside for 30 years.
I think he used ash. But there are several utube videos on his build.
Admitted it was painted, but if you use a hard wood and polyurethane, it will last at least a dozen years.

They are very comfortable with just the right back angle.
About 4 years ago now I modified a few pieces and made a two seater;

 

[Malc2098]

Nice.

 

[Robert]

Interesting. I've made a few myself.

How have you fixed the seat slats to the sides- pocket hole screws? I drilled the slats and screwed them down. Yours looks cleaner.

I made fixed ones some years ago but they always took up so much room in the garden. My daughter has those now. more recently I made fold up ones. thread is here - viewtopic.php?f=26&t=4192

 

[sunnybob]

I recess the screws using one of those drill / countersink cutter jobbies, just push the countersink bit all the way in. And then tap in wooden plugs from the same wood. It's impossible to get grain orientation right on 10 mm wide plugs, but the finish looks like dowels.
I did make one without recessing the screws, They showed up even through the blue paint and did not look anywhere near as good as the plugs.

Another point for AndyP.... Using softwood, you can make one of these chairs for somewhere around 25 quid. If it only lasts three years outside, whats £8 a YEAR in the hobby expenses? :lol:

 

[AndyP]

Fair enough Bob and maybe I have just found a project to use some of this



There is black pine in there and some douglas fir which would be ideal. Not quite dry enough yet though (was only cut in July last year ) but one for the future.

 

[sunnybob]

Andy, i think the cutting of that to make a disposable garden chair would a misuse of resources. :lol: