Shopsmith Forums

2Man...

I have built 6 Ad. chairs with my SS over the years. All have been made of inexpensive "white wood" right off the racks at local big box stores, then painted with decent exterior paint. The paint is renewed about every other year of so. This gives my live-in interior designer the chance to change the color of the chairs:D Common wood screws and waterproof glue hold everything together. Waterproof putty plugs the countersunk screw holes. The first couple of chairs lasted nearly 15 years, and were left out in the weather year-round. Water finally got into the plugged screw holes and also into the end grain of the legs, and started the decay process. The problem of water intruding into the end grain of the legs probably would have started sooner if the chairs had spent their summers on a lawn instead of a patio. The current chairs are located on a wooden deck and stored in a shed each winter, so they should last even longer.

What have I learned from the chairs built so far? Well...1) Next time I would choose a design that has a well-rounded edge on the front edge of the seat...easier on the back of the knees than an angled edge 2) I would not hesitate to use the same materials for most of the chair...the "character" of an Adirondack chair is its lack of pretension. Common materials and paint finish suit it best, in my opinion. However, one change I would make would be to use weather resistant wood for the legs, the one part of the chair that comes in direct and prolonged contact with moisture. I am thinking that cedar legs should hold up pretty well. Or, this might be a place for your pt wood.

Good luck with your project...and enjoy your chairs!

The composit decking boards I've seen all lacked rigidity. Several are not so UV stable, flaking and splintering after prolonged sun exposure. I do not know/remember which ones do that.

edflorence wrote:2Man...

I have built 6 Ad. chairs with my SS over the years. All have been made of inexpensive "white wood" right off the racks at local big box stores, then painted with decent exterior paint. The paint is renewed about every other year of so. This gives my live-in interior designer the chance to change the color of the chairs:D Common wood screws and waterproof glue hold everything together. Waterproof putty plugs the countersunk screw holes. The first couple of chairs lasted nearly 15 years, and were left out in the weather year-round. Water finally got into the plugged screw holes and also into the end grain of the legs, and started the decay process. The problem of water intruding into the end grain of the legs probably would have started sooner if the chairs had spent their summers on a lawn instead of a patio. The current chairs are located on a wooden deck and stored in a shed each winter, so they should last even longer.

What have I learned from the chairs built so far? Well...1) Next time I would choose a design that has a well-rounded edge on the front edge of the seat...easier on the back of the knees than an angled edge 2) I would not hesitate to use the same materials for most of the chair...the "character" of an Adirondack chair is its lack of pretension. Common materials and paint finish suit it best, in my opinion. However, one change I would make would be to use weather resistant wood for the legs, the one part of the chair that comes in direct and prolonged contact with moisture. I am thinking that cedar legs should hold up pretty well. Or, this might be a place for your pt wood.

Good luck with your project...and enjoy your chairs!

Ed great looking chairs. I like the pattern disign you used......

To follow-up on my earlier post, mine were built with cedar deck boards so are a nice 1" thick which makes for a good solid chair. Besides using bolts and screws, some parts were glued with outdoor urathane glue and not much has moved in the six or so years. They are stored in winter but sit on the grass all summer and the ends of the legs have not started to rot yet.

One was originally finished with an oil which was supposed to be easy to refresh every year. The second was finished with polyurathane. This lasted longer than the oil before developing signs of age (grey/black spots). They are now both finished in poly but require attention every couple of years.

As can be seen in the picture, they looked good when NEW.

John

Thanks for the input everybody. Edflorence will be pleased to note that I've picked a design with a rounded seat front - I've test-sat several adirondack chair designs and always appreciated that feature.

I had forgotten, but I do have some cherry lumber stacked in the basement that might work well.

"Whaaaaat??! Cherry for an Adirondack chair???!!" you say?

It's mostly sapwood, with some streaks of heartwood showing, which is why I managed to pick it up for next to nothing. It's not exactly the type of thing that one would build furniture from (unless the streaky appearance was a "design feature"), but I was keeping it as a "utility" grade hardwood for jigs, templates, and such, but this might be a good use.

If I do go with the Cherry, I'd probably finish it with either marine spar varnish or a "Thompson's water seal" type of project. Anybody have experience with an exterior project made of cherry? What kind of finish did you use? How did it hold up?

Yes, i made some beautiful chairs out of select heart redwood.

Unfortunately, my yellow lab chewed them to oblivion!!

Bob
San Diego

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I'm building five Adirondack chairs now. I have built about thirty over the last ten years or so. Got my plans from one of Norm Abrams books.

I saw this photo of some unique Adirondack chairs on the web this morning and though of this thread. Just had to share...

tom_k/mo wrote:I saw this photo of some unique Adirondack chairs on the web this morning and though of this thread. Just had to share...

Good stuff!
And they don't make "my bu++ look big"!