My finished Spanish cedar Adirondack chairs

[Michael Costa]

396501

My completed Spanish cedar Adirondack chairs with table. These were made from the popular mechanics plan.

What I learned...
- Spanish cedar is expensive.
- If I were doing this for profit I would have lost money. I don't know how anyone can make a dollar offering these chairs for $260 with free shipping.
- I need to pay more attention to sanding the edges of pieces. What appears perfect at a glance is something a finish will tell you otherwise.
- Cetol SRD is a one coat only system
- I need to work on my countersink skills. My uniformity sucks.
- Don't go solely by the plans. Test fitting might be necessary.
- Using a thin layer of shellac lightlyrics sanded work pretty good for matching the stain to end grain
- trying to match stain to a filled drill hole is next to impossible. Don't screw up!
- cedar will let you know every time you accidently bump it against something.
- there's something strangely relaxing about putting a 1/4" round over on all edges with the router table.
- I'm going to make a couple more using milled framing lumber from Lowes and also 3/4" plywood.

[Michael Costa]

396506

I'm having issues attaching multiple photos.

[Mark Rainey]

Well done! Michael those chairs look comfortable.... yes, good wood is expensive.

[Bruce Page]

Michael, those look great! I would have trouble getting out of them but they do look comfy. I have found the best way to get a uniform counter sink depth is to drill them on the drill press using the drill press stop. It’s almost impossible to get consistent depth with a hand drill, IMO.

You can have up to 8 pictures in a single post. Just repeat the “Add Files” process for each picture.

[Phil Mueller]

Well done, Michael! Should get plenty of years of relaxation out of those. I made a table out of white cedar from a Northern Michigan saw mill. Don’t know how spanish cedar compares, but yes, it seems like if I looked at it funny it would dent. Gave me plenty of practice with a damp cloth and iron.

[Jim Becker]

Those look really great and comfortable for lounging! Bravo!

[Michael Costa]

They are extremely comfortable. My arthritis isn't advanced enough to keep me from getting out. However, the excessive beers might make it difficult.

As an afterthought, I've seen many with ottomans that are the same width as the chair. This would make it very hard to get out of. If I decide to make ottomans, I would make them less wide so you have a place to plant your feet when standing otherwise you'd have to straddle the entire ottoman. #groin pull

[Michael Costa]

One more curious question. How long would it take you guys that have been woodworking for a long time to build these chairs and table if you has S2S stock on hand? I didn't time myself but I'm guessing forever is a close estimate. Lol

[John Goodin]

I bought my wife two Spanish cedar chairs 11 years ago. With no real maintenance they have been in the sun, rain, and sprinklers the whole time and just now needing replacement. I am going to make them this time and will probably use Sp. cedar again. Western red cedar or PT pine would have failed long ago.

[William Fretwell]

Your chairs are Georgeous! That is a very satisfying project as you get so much use from them.

I made 4 Adirondaks from white cedar. The old fellow had planted the trees as a kid with his grandfather! He sold me enough for 4. Thirty years later still using them, they live outside but partly covered the last 5 years. My mistake was putting a waterproof stain on when they were new, it just holds the water in. My advice for white cedar at least, just seal the end grain and two inches up the legs. One seat slat has a crack and somewhere I have enough wood for a spare.....