Adirondack Chair

[lowell holmes]

I have a burr under my saddle to build two for our back yard. I was thinking about a 40 mile round trip to buy a set of plans.
I have a collection of old wood working magazines and I realized that some had plans in them.
I found woodworkers Journal and Fine Wood Working magazines, two each with plans in them.

I will use some from each plan to make my own plan and build two chairs for us. I am sure my daughter will want a pair as well.
I am considering cyprus wood or white oak for the chairs.

Any suggestions?

[Dan Lambert]

Cypress, if you can find it in appropriate sizes for a reasonable price, but white oakd works extremely well, too.

I have built (and rebuilt others) several, and I find that those with a rounded back are more comfortable to sit in. They are very slightly more difficult to build, but oh so much nicer to relax in.

[Mark Rainey]

Lowell, cypress, white oak, cedar, hemlock and mahogany are good choices. I was afraid white oak would be a bit heavy and difficult to work with hand tools. I have a good supplier of cherry and have read that heartwood cherry is very weather resistant. I will find out because that is what I used.

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[Terry Therneau]

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I've used the Norm Abram plan. I started by making 2 for the son-in-law and other kids raised their hands and said "me to". I've made 12 so far, with a lot of compliments about how comfortable they are. 10 of cypress and 2 of walnut (some waney boards I had). After 2 seasons the original walnut has gotten lighter and the cypress darker, and they now look a lot the same. The walnut is a lot heavier to lift though.

In the above the walnut one is 7/8 size, just right for the 5" daughter in law or kids. I made a set of 1/2" MDF templates so cutting them out is fairly quick, then use a pattern bit in the router table.

[Von Bickley]

I've probably made about 8 chairs using Norm Abrams plans and they turned out very good. My wife is now wanting me to make a couple of "Westport Chairs" that are supposed to be the original adirondack chair.
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[John C Bush]

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I used old horse paddock fencing--1 x 6 old growth cedar--to make these Adirondack doubles. I have patterns for the components that I can trace out for you if you wish.
My wife couldn't resist painting one and it rotted out in a couple of years. Unpainted have lasted for 15. JCB

[julian abram]

Those are the most attractive outdoor chairs I've ever seen, very nice, would not have thought about using cherry. Are the legs steam bent laminations?
Lowell, cypress, white oak, cedar, hemlock and mahogany are good choices. I was afraid white oak would be a bit heavy and difficult to work with hand tools. I have a good supplier of cherry and have read that heartwood cherry is very weather resistant. I will find out because that is what I used.

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[Mark Rainey]

Those are the most attractive outdoor chairs I've ever seen, very nice, would not have thought about using cherry. Are the legs steam bent laminations?

Thanks Julian. I am using 100% heartwood cherry. I am optimistic it will hold up. The legs are bent laminations of 8 pieces of slightly less than 1/8 inch cherry resawed from a thicker board. At that thin they flex easily. I glue the surfaces with Titebond 3, and wrap them over a form, and clamp for 24 hours. The seat and back are also bend laminations on a form with less curve.

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[John Lifer]

I've built two sets of two for my wife and I and my daughter. They are red cedar, only thing I could find in 2019 that I felt would be good outside. Picture off their website. I really like the height on these.
I've made a couple from Norm Abrams plans from This old house. they are still good after a number of years.
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[Thomas Crawford]

I built a couple Norm versions. Very comfortable. I'd like to figure out a way to minimize the amount of SS screws required, really drives up the price.

[Charles Lent]

A weak point in Norm's chair design can cause the rear legs to break if the chair is used on sloping ground. It's an easy fix that only takes a few minutes to do. I've built quite a few of Norm's chair design, and after two broke, I went back and did this modification to all of them. The rear legs are too easily twisted when the chair is used on uneven or sloping ground and the rear leg boards can split along the grain lines from the twisting action that this causes. They are just too long to receive this twisting action without additional support.

Below the seat back, install a cross piece between the rear leg boards. Make it as wide as the legs are at that point. When screwed (and glued) in place via screws through the leg boards into it, this cross piece will significantly stiffen the chair frame and rear legs. After building the first few of these chairs, I learned that gluing them together with flexible construction adhesive (caulking tube variety) in addition to using the hardware, will make these chairs last almost forever. Using stainless screws and hardware will prevent the inevitable rust stains when they are left out in the Weather too. Cyprus makes the best all around long life all Weather chair. White oak is too heavy, but will last well too. Most other long life wood tends to be expensive or significantly heavier. Treated lumber is not a good idea when used where skin contact will be frequent, but if painted, the treated lumber will last well and the paint will isolate the skin from contact with the wood treatment chemicals.

Charley

[Tom Bain]

Those are the most attractive outdoor chairs I've ever seen, very nice, would not have thought about using cherry. Are the legs steam bent laminations?

Julian -- That is Michael Fortune's design which he did for Fine Woodworking back in like 2013/2014. There is a whole video series on the FWW site if you are interested. It's a really cool (and comfortable) design, but as I'm sure Mark can also attest quite a bit of bent lamination work.

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