Anyone build the Fortune garden chair?

[Robert Engel]

I've made all the parts according to the templates and double checked everything but when I mocked it up the geometry seems off.

[Mark Rainey]

I have built several Garden Chair 1.jpgGarden Chair 2.jpg
I followed his plans exactly.

[Robert Engel]

I'm having some trouble getting the back slats to lie flat on the vertical supports. It seems the angle needs to be steeper. I need to keep playing with it I guess.

Main main question right now is what is the distance between the rear legs?

Any tricks or insights?

[Mark Rainey]

Robert, there are some complexities in the build but it all comes together. Are you using the full size plans? They were available in the past, but seem hard to find now. I relied on the magazine plans and the video build. Combining both really helped me. Did you do the angle cuts on the vertical supports with the bandsaw? The angle is different from the leg cuts. And it can challenging to make sure which is the right vertical support versus the left. In the end the back slats do not sit perfectly, but good enough. He does not state the length of the temporary support between the rear legs because it can vary depending on how the chair comes together. However, I have just used one length of temporary support/spacer for all my 6 chairs and it has worked out. When I get home from work today I will measure that and let you know. Glad to answer any more questions.

chairs.jpg

[Joe Cowan]

Was this from a Fine Woodworking magazine from several years past?

[Robert Engel]

Thanks Mark. I couldn't find any full size plans, so I made my own. And yeah, I cut the angles the wrong way on the vertical supports.

Yeah, there are a couple discrepancies in the article, and the angle on the vertical supports is one of them, one of the plans it says its the same as the legs 16°.

Another confusion was one drawing has the front to back distance is 28 1/4" and another is like 32"

This is a mock up chair, so I'm not too worried I'm going to just start screwing things together I already know I'm going to have to plane a steeper angle on the verticals.

Thanks for your help!

[Mark Rainey]

Was this from a Fine Woodworking magazine from several years past?

Yes Joe. It is a nice project with a lot of bent laminations.

[Mark Rainey]

Robert, my spacer was 16 inches long on one end and 15 1/2 inches long on the other end with a 95 ( or 5 ) degree angle. I tried it on several of my chairs and it fit one perfectly but was on the long side for 2 other chairs. See pictures. Perhaps go with 15 on one end and 15 1/2 on the other. It will be a little shorter, but it does not have to be exact, it just helps as you assemble your chair, then you remove it. There will be minor variations in the joint angles you cut.

spacer 1.jpgspacer 2.jpgspacer 3.jpg
I measured 5 of my chairs and there is some variation in length and based on that I think 14 short end & 14 1/2 long end inch spacer a good approximation.

[Mark Rainey]

Robert, 17 degrees for the vertical supports. angle.jpg

[Leigh Betsch]

Thanks for posting this. I really like the design. I put it on my next up project list.

[Keith Outten]

Are the plans copy protected? If they are legal to share I would be glad to digitize the plans and upload the drawings.

[Mark Rainey]

Are the plans copy protected? If they are legal to share I would be glad to digitize the plans and upload the drawings.

Keith, the plans are in past 2 isssues of Fine Woodworking magazine. I would guess they would object to widespread reproduction.

[Keith Outten]

Thanks Mark, I wasn't aware of the source.