My first Adirondack chair........

[Bill Huber]

I think it came out very well, looks good and sets great.

There sure is a lot more to it then I ever dreamed there would be.
I used the Lee Valley plans and did not modify them much at all. I did learn that redwood is not the easiest to work with for me, you look at it wrong and you have a line on it or if you don't really watch what you are doing it will split like mad if you try and tighten the screws up to much.

It is all heart redwood, that is what they called it, I thought it was called clear heart but then they are the ones selling it. It has all brass screws so between the wood and the screws it is almost worth its weight in gold.

Now I have to fine a good sealer to put on it and its ready to go.


85446 85447

[Robert E Johnson III]

Those will look good outside of my shop, nice work.

[Dana Vogel]

Sweet, I think I'm going to use those plans I like that look. Very Nice.

[Howie French]

Bill, those looks great !, very appealing look.

Howie

[Jim Becker]

Very nice!!!

[John Dorough]

Congratulations on a great job.

John

[Steve Kolbe]

Wow! That looks great, Bill!

How much time did you spend from start to this point? I've been thinking about trying a pair of these for the patio! Any trouble spots to watch out for?

[Bill Huber]

Sweet, I think I'm going to use those plans I like that look. Very Nice.

The plans are very good, I made 1/2 mdf templates of it and that has worked out very well.

The only things that I did a little different was I added more dowels and I glued everything.

It could be just a little taller for me but it is just right for my wife and that who I made it for.

[Bill Huber]

Wow! That looks great, Bill!

How much time did you spend from start to this point? I've been thinking about trying a pair of these for the patio! Any trouble spots to watch out for?

The wood was the big thing and I have about $140 in that, and the screws were about $30 so I guess you could say around $170 in this one chair.

I do think I could have used some different wood, a good stain and sealer and saved a bunch of money but the redwood is really nice looking.

The build is really not that hard and it goes very good, there is just a lot of it, just more then I thought there would be. I made templates from the plans and I really thing that is the best way to go.

[Michael Pfau]

Nice work Bill. have built a couple of them before..and a love seat as well. I built one exactly like yours last summer, out of cedar. The other ones I made were out of Mahogony. I really enjoy building them. Yours look great, you will really enjoy it for years. I used spar varnish on mine. In alot of sun, you will have to give it a coat probably every year. thats what I have to do.

[Ron Fritz]

Bill, those chairs are saying to me "come & sit down". They look very comfortable. Nice job. Ron

[Andrew Pezzo]

My next project is a set of adirondack chairs. I also am going to the 1/2" mdf template route as the plans I have call for lots of curved parts. The templates and first set of chairs will take some time but after that making additional sets should be a piece of cake. I am going rough cut on bandsaw and then use the router.

This will be my first non-shop or jig related project which is kind of funny I think. I have made a lot of things already (just got into woodworking) but wife is wondering when she will get to enjoy something I make.

[Steve Kolbe]

Bill, Andrew mentioned something that is a great question!

How did you go about making this fabulous first set? Band saw? Jig saw?

[Don Bullock]

Bill, that's a beautiful chair. You did a fantastic job. Yep, redwood can be difficult to make furniture out of, but the end product is excellent. One word of caution from someone who has used redwood for exterior furniture, etc., it will last much longer than any finish that you can apply. The sun can destroy a good finish in one to two years. Good UV protection, especially when the chair isn't being used, is important.

[Andrew Pezzo]

Steve - being new to woodworking a bandsaw is a bit overkill for current skill level and needs but I dislike using a jig saw so much I bought a bandsaw. I will say though that using a bandsaw is an absolute joy (I have the craftsman pro 14" model - great baragin when purchased during sears craftsman club sales). I am also curious to what the OP used...

[Matt Schell]

awesome chair.
I noticed that the seat slats were captured between the "stringers" was that part of the plans, most adirondack plans I have seen (including Norm's) have the seat slats on top of the "stringers"

[Bill Huber]

Bill, Andrew mentioned something that is a great question!

How did you go about making this fabulous first set? Band saw? Jig saw?

I started with the Lee Valley plans, made a copy of them so I would not have to cut up the originals.
Cut the copy of the plan and with 3M spray on glue I glued them to 1/2 MDF. I then cut the MDF on the bandsaw staying just outside the line and then sanded to the lines on my Ridgid belt sander. Got all the curves smooth and everything right on the line.

Then after all the templates were done I used turners tape and stuck the template to the redwood and with the pin on the bandsaw I cut them out. With the template still on that part I took it to the router table and finished it up with a flush trim bit.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=80429

I did make a tapering jig for the table saw to cut the backs and lower supports with, I had been wanting to make one anyway and this was a good time to do it.

I did add more dowels to it then then showed, they showed 2 in the armrest support but I added 1 and made it 3. Then I put 3 in the support to the leg and 3 in the armrest to the leg and 3 in the armrest to the back support. I have a DowelMax and when you get started doweling its just hard to stop. :D

Thats about it....

[Bill Huber]

awesome chair.
I noticed that the seat slats were captured between the "stringers" was that part of the plans, most adirondack plans I have seen (including Norm's) have the seat slats on top of the "stringers"

No that was in the plan, they are also just a little lower then the top. On the next one I think I will make them even with the top and not lower, I think it would look better.

[Bill Huber]

Bill, that's a beautiful chair. You did a fantastic job. Yep, redwood can be difficult to make furniture out of, but the end product is excellent. One word of caution from someone who has used redwood for exterior furniture, etc., it will last much longer than any finish that you can apply. The sun can destroy a good finish in one to two years. Good UV protection, especially when the chair isn't being used, is important.


What would you use for a good UV filter ?

[gary Zimmel]

Bill

Great looking chairs. Just in time to relax on, with a cool one, and plan the next project...

[J. Z. Guest]

Bill, it looks great. A pair of those are on my list as well.

How long are they, front to back? I want to put them on my small balcony and am concerned about those legs that go waaayyyy back.

What was the part that shocked you the most, work-wise?

[John Thompson]

Very nicely done, Bill. I haven't used redwood since HS shop and really don't remember if it was hard to work or not. I thought all the tear outs I had were just my aggressive approach at the time. :)

Again.. look great and enjoy...

Sarge..

[Bill Huber]

Bill, it looks great. A pair of those are on my list as well.

How long are they, front to back? I want to put them on my small balcony and am concerned about those legs that go waaayyyy back.

What was the part that shocked you the most, work-wise?

This chair is 35 inches from front to back, now the plans do call out for a larger one and I would say it would be about 2 to 3 inch longer. This chair is made for 5' 6" or shorter, that's is what the plans say anyway.

I guess working with redwood, it is really softer then I thought it would be. That was somewhat of a shock I just had to think a lot different then working with hard woods.

It took a lot longer then I thought it would, there is a lot of small things that you have to do and it just takes time and I did not think there was that much to it.
I will say it was a fun build and I am going to make another one with different wood and see how it goes. I have the templates all made so it will go much faster then this one.

[John Keeton]

Bill

Great job! Those should last forever with the redwood. It is soft, but the few times I have worked with it, it seemed easy to machine - much better than the western cedar.

I've never made an Adirondack, but they are on my list. What do you think about using Trex or some similar deck material? Haven't researched this, but seems it would work and would eliminate some finish issues. Do you think it would work given all the dimensions in the plans?

[Jeff Atnip]

Also, every now and then, look underneath to check for wasp nests before you sit down.

[Ryan Eldridge]

Bill,

Those are nice looking chairs. I am currently making two chairs out of some reclaimed pickle vat cedar that I got off of craigslist. What were the screws that you used on your chairs I like the looks of them?

Thank you,
Ryan

[Andrew Pezzo]

Someone I know made a set out of pressure treated wood. I was under the impression that you wanted to minimize skin contact with that kind of wood, is that true?