Thanks!
I appreciate the compliments.
No those cutouts arent cupholders, they are indeed notches where the eye lags go for the chain.
The picture is decieving. The wide board in the back rest is centered perfectly. All my friends would laugh at that comment because they know if it was a 32nd off I would probably burn it. Ha!
The friends of ours just loved it. We sat 3 adults on it and a 3rd grader with all kinds of room. Not a creek or flex of even a 1/16 of an inch. Too many screws for any flexing. Ha!
The board across the back is from one side to the other just behind the top rail radius. It 4 inches wide at the very center of the swing and tapers to 1 inch on each end. Glued and screwed on as well. It serves as a perfect place to rest your arm across the back.
It really looked proportional on their 12 foot wide timber frame porch. A normal size swing would of looked really strange on that big ole porch.
The greatest compliment came when my friends mother in law at 86 years young came over to see it. She just stood there and looked at it and looked at it. They told her to sit down repeatedly but she wouldnt, she said she was enjoying looking at it first. Ha!
This thing took over 120 dollars in hardware alone. Worth every bit of it. Oh, I also installed it with big springs at the top of the chains. Nothing like the comfort of spring on a porchswing.