J & S Enterprises


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Lazy Days Relaxation Center



Variations Of The Same Design....Play With it !

One of the most relaxing chairs for outside the house or cabin has always been the Adirondack Chair.



Choose Your Material


Pine is probably the best material to use considering weight, price and strength. Cedar is maybe the next best choice - cedar has better weathering properties but is not as strong as pine. Pine is strong and light weight, but needs a good finishing coat and the finish must be maintained more than cedar. If you intend on painting the chair, maybe choose pine, if you want a dark natural wood finish cedar might be a better choice. Of course the material you choose should also depend on price and availability.I have built quite a few using treated wood, which you can leave as is, paint or treat with a preservative also.

The plans are shown using ¾" material thickness throughout. You can take a couple of approaches to the material widths you start with, this should depend on the availability and cost, as well as your ability in joinery. A properly glued edge joint can be as strong or stronger than the surrounding wood, but you must remember to use a water proof glue. Ideally you should work with 8" and 4" widths, but the entire chair can be constructed using narrower widths if you edge glue them for the wider parts. All dimensions are for full sized chairs, reduce to any size you want ! The plans will assume ideal widths, using the following lengths of each width…

18’ of ¾" x 8"
14’ of ¾" x 4"
6’ of ¾" x 6"


Patterns


Use the patterns shown within the grid of the attached drawings as guides. Cut full size paper templates of the arms and sides, and trace the outlines onto the appropriate boards, this will help insure that you have the desired shapes before marking and cutting the wood.

Cross Cutting


For cross cutting the boards to length, use a circular saw or power miter saw, if you have one. Using the best of the 8" wide boards for the arms, trace the patterns and then cut them to length. Use the next best grain of the remaining 8" board for the 5" side boards, using what’s left after ripping, for two back slats. It is best to cross cut all the lengths right at the start. The next steps will assume that you have all the lengths cut as per the drawings.

Ripping


Rip the side boards from the 8" x 38" boards (which should have the patterns traced and cut to length as per the last steps). Next, cut the back slats from the remaining boards using a ji

Routing


The tops of the arms can be routed with a decorative bit to enhance the looks of the chair. Do this before assembly, but don’t route the back inner part that is to be screwed to the back struts.

Fasteners and Finish


50 - 1 ¼" #10 tapered flat head screws 1 quart of stain or paint.

Assembly


Start by drilling and counter sinking for the #10 screw as marked in the drawings. Do not glue the parts in place until you have pre-assembled the entire chair.

To assemble the chair, start by screwing the bottom back support to the side boards in the 2 ¾ " angled notches (flush to the side faces), square to 90 degrees and tightening the screws to the sides. Now screw the front seat slat in place making sure it is also square and flush to the side boards. Next, place the rest of the seat slats equally spaced in between the bottom back support and the front seat slat, and screw in place using one screw per side. Leave the last seat slat off, so that the back slats can be easily screwed on.

Next, place the rear struts up to the back of the bottom back support and on the inside of the side boards and just touching the bottom back support and with the angled end down and flush with the bottom of the sides, as per the drawings. Then screw in place being sure the back struts are flush with the bottom of the side boards.

The top back support can now be screwed to the top of the rear struts, then the back slats can be screwed to the bottom back support, being sure to separate them evenly. If you screw the outer slats first, then the center slat and so on, it will be easy to space them evenly. Once the bottom of the back slats are screwed in place then the tops can be adjusted for position and screwed to the top back support ,evenly spaced as with the bottoms of the back slats. You will have to chamfer the outer back slats a little with a chisel when screwing the back seat slat in place.

The front legs can be mounted next, clamp them 5" back from the front seat slat, as per the drawings. Place the chair on a flat surface and lift the front up so that the back angle of the side boards is flat on the surface before screwing the front legs in place. Screw the small braces together and then mount them on top of the front legs. Next clamp the arms on top of the front leg braces with the back against the rear back struts as per the drawings, hold the back of the arms up and level and then screw onto the back struts. Remove the clamps and position the arms so that they are about 1" in from the leg and arm braces and screw into position.

The cross brace ties in the sides and back struts and should be the last part to screw in place after all the other parts are mounted, glued and tightened.

Now the most important step, grab your favorite icy beverage, sit back, and enjoy the relaxing fruits of your labors !


Git on back,to The Wood Shed !

Lemme see another Project !!