How to level the legs on this deck chair

[Alan Lightstone]

Well, the long saga of my building a replica deck chair from the Titanic continues. Lately its been giving me that sinking feeling.

Right now, the obstacle I'm facing is one that I'm sure must be common for chair builders.

Of the present 6 legs, they are clearly not level. I've labelled them on the picture below, to help in understanding the issue.

Leg 1: Leg does not contact ground, is 1/8" in mid air.
Leg 2: Makes contact, though unevenly.
Leg 3: Makes good contact
Leg 4: Makes good contact
Leg 5: Floating 1/8" in mid air.
Leg 6: Makes contact, though unevenly.

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Basically, what is the best way for leveling the legs? I'd prefer to keep the chair together as much as possible, as I'm going to start stripping parts if I keep taking things apart.

If nothing else, I'm getting pretty confused as to which legs to shorten. And using a block plane on leg 6 made for an uneven bottom, so I did myself no favors there.

[Bill Orbine]

How does the chair look when you bear weight on it? I think if you do anything now, you could be chasing the chaise because of wood movement or uneven ground or floor. Leave it alone, I say!

[Jerry Miner]

Try this method. Works for me:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/level-legs-the-easy-way

[John TenEyck]

I've used sandpaper spray mounted to a TS top or bench to sand down the long legs, but that TS method looks very cool.

John

[Alan Lightstone]

Do you start with the legs that are making contact, and later move on to the ones that are floating, if the bottoms aren't perfectly parallel to the table saw top?

[Alan Lightstone]

Actually, thought of a plan C and tried it. I forgot that I have a Flatmaster sander on my outfeed table, so I ran the 6 legs over it, until it was perfectly resting on all 6 legs. Eureka - or so I thought.

Then I brought it over to my tablesaw top, and then realized that my outfeed table isn't perfectly square, so I certainly didn't improve matters.

Unfortunately, my outfeed table is about 3/64 lower than my table saw top, and the deck chair is too large to run it over the table saw without the outfeed table supporting it, so I'm at a loss.

I might need to do the 6 sandpaper disk bit, and tediously rub the legs over them. Unless I can figure out a way to do that table saw trick, which is really interesting.

[Jerry Miner]

If you're within 3/64" you're probably good to go. I doubt your deck is within that tolerance!

[John TenEyck]

Do you start with the legs that are making contact, and later move on to the ones that are floating, if the bottoms aren't perfectly parallel to the table saw top?

Regardless of how, you only shorten the legs that are too long (the ones making contact). If nothing else is possible, spray adhesive some full size sheets of sandpaper to your bench under each leg. Now push the chair back and forth until you start to see sawdust on all the sheets of paper.

John

[Lee Schierer]

Here's what I suggest. This assumes you have a flat surface where the chair can sit with all legs referenced to the same flat surface.

Measure the height of the leg that is farthest above the table surface. Create a block of wood or stack of feeler gauges that match this dimension. Lay that block of wood on the table next to each leg and mark that gauge height on the five other legs. Your marks will tell you exactly how much material to remove from each leg so they all hit the table.

[Wade Lippman]

I put something (felt pads, rubber bumpers, even wood pads) on the short legs. Trying to get them all even is a fools errand.

[Tom Ewell]

Lee's scribing method is how I start, just to have a reference on which legs cut and how much.

I use a shim to slide under the high leg, mark the shim at the touch spot as reference for measurement or actual scribing point.

Keep another shim under the high leg (and any others off the surface) while you're marking to hold all steady.

Actual trimming is up to you, table saw method, sanding, plane whatever works for you.

[Prashun Patel]

Nice chair!!!

I'd first fully assemble the chair and put it on the deck and sit on it and feel where it's really off. Then I'd just flip it over and use a rasp or block plane on the offending leg a little at a time, flipping again and sitting again. There's enough play in the frame of that kind of chair that your weight will have an effect on actual rock.

[michael langman]

Why not buy some nice leveling pads to add to the bottom of the feet. And be able to adjust it wherever it sits.

[lowell holmes]

Gary Rogowski's trick is great.

Another method learned at Homestead Heritage in Waco:

Three points establish a plane. So set three legs on a table saw, letting the fourth leg hang over the edge. Let the side of the fourth leg touch the saw table and mark it with a razor knife.
Saw it off at the mark.

[Pat Barry]

Three points establish a plane. . With a 6 legged chair you have the potential for countless planes. Obviously you just shave a bit off the longest legs and leave the short ones alone but I think you should leave it alone UNTIL YOU FINISH IT AND SIT IN IT WHERE ITS INTENDED TO GO. I doubt that place is a flat surface anyway and as some have noted, you probably won't notice anything but a large imbalance. If you do proceed to shave off one leg that is the rocking point and do a little at a time

[Alan Lightstone]

This time I did notice that the chair has some flex when weight bearing, so I think your points are well taken.

I think I'll finish the rest of it (oh joy, 4 more legs to level), then attack it with some weight on the seat.

Bummer, that table saw trick looked awesome, and maybe slightly scary.

[lowell holmes]

With a 6 legged chair you have the potential for countless planes. Obviously you just shave a bit off the longest legs and leave the short ones alone but I think you should leave it alone UNTIL YOU FINISH IT AND SIT IN IT WHERE ITS INTENDED TO GO. I doubt that place is a flat surface anyway and as some have noted, you probably won't notice anything but a large imbalance. If you do proceed to shave off one leg that is the rocking point and do a little at a time

I've never seen a six legged chair:). If it has more than four legs, I agree with you.

[Alan Lightstone]

The originals had 8 legs, so I still have my work cut out for me.

An original just sold for $150K, so I just have to sink mine and make it look old...

I could always blame the uneven legs on the iceberg.
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Original Titanic Deck Chair:
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[lowell holmes]

I repaired two deck chairs for a daughter, but they only had six legs and the foot rest legs seemed to find their own level. Of course, I didn't level legs.

The chairs I worked on were limber enough, I never noticed any issues.

I learned the tip I posted at a Windsor chair class and out of level legs was an absolute no-no. In your case, I would level the four legs under the seat and see If the other legs would find their own level.

On second thought,

I would level the four legs under the seat, disregarding the the other legs. Then I would level the other four legs, two at a time. I don't think that would be difficult if you use the technique I learned at Homestead Heritage.

[Keith Westfall]

Hopefully I can explain this...

Place the chair on a flat surface, (could even be the floor) and then place a board long enough to hit all the legs on one side, and clamp it to each leg. Do this for both sides. The boards should be flat on the floor, no matter where or how the chair is sitting.

Then you can slide it back and forth on the table saw and trim off any offending leg. It will make them all the same length, at least as far as the floor is concerned... :D

Basically the same as the table saw video shown earlier, but this allows all of the legs to be trimmed at one go.

Did that make any sense I wonder?? Worked on my kitchen chairs!

[lowell holmes]

That's basically how I would do it.

I would level the four legs under the basic chair by placing 3 legs on a saw table and mark the long leg with a knife. As a personal choice, I would cut the long leg with a dovetail saw.
The table saw method would work, but it seems a bit awkward to me.

With sharp chisel, saw, and rasp I could sneak up on it if necessary.

Then, I would attach the apron and it's two legs and level them. That should be easy by observation.

I would sneak up on it.

[Lester Sak]

Here's a great tip from Charles Neil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiunzAJgdjw