Pressure treated outdoor tiki bar stools

allen levine

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12,340
Location
new york city burbs
Need 3 new outdoor stools.
Gonna switch over and use ash, cause working with PT is the pits.
I believe my templates were a bit off, I didnt work and tweak them to perfection, or I did what I saw, the rest is lack of skill.
Im not worried about each joint fitting like this one,wood stuff 945 (Medium).jpg cause I can always glue in a wedge and make the joint tight, and each tenon will be glued and a deck screws will be used.
It looks wide because I havent cut the tenons on the seat rails, but the seat area will be approx, 19x20, a nice size seat.
Alot of curves, alot of chisel work with the mortises.
I will sand it much more even, round over everything, this is just a rough fitting of the few parts Ive completed.
All mortises were cut before I cut the curves into the legs.
Just wanted to show Im still working on alot of flat stuff, although I cant follow Cody's act, at least not for another 15 or 20 years.

bad joint, sorry about the shaky hands on this one.wood stuff 944 (Medium).jpg(bottom outside right)

the seat slats will rest on top of the upper rails, the side rails, and will have a slight incline towards the middle. I turned the bottom side rails the opposite way for design reasons.
 

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for outdoor use you dont want ash... you would be better to use cyprus if you dont want presure treated stuff.. or even white oak is better than ash.. it will turn grey and rot quick. the white oak willlast along time and be strong and the cyprus is more rot resitant..
 
Despite all your self-effacing comments about your skills, I know I'd be hard-pressed to make that piece, Allen. Looking real good. :thumb:
 
for outdoor use you dont want ash... you would be better to use cyprus if you dont want presure treated stuff.. or even white oak is better than ash.. it will turn grey and rot quick. the white oak willlast along time and be strong and the cyprus is more rot resitant..



I have so much ash just waiting to be used.
Youre right, Im thinking along the lines of substituting ash for white oak for indoor furniture, not realizing ash doesnt hold rot resistant qualities like white oak, so I might have to go with white cedar.
 
Nice design, Indeed, But I agree with Larry, Forget the Ash as it will be "gone" before you wear the new off of it. Cypress would be my wood of choice (and of course, Teak)
 
For being made out of pt Allen it sure looks good to me. How long did it take you to pick out those clear pieces.

over near him alan they dont get sunlight very much so the tres have to grow straight up for long distances before they start making limbs to catch the sun:) so therefore they have clearer wood...:rolleyes::rofl:
 
Allen,

Ash would probably last a good while if you sealed the end-grain on the legs with epoxy, then primed and painted the stools. If you want a natural look, then I agree that Teak would be the optimum wood but Cypress would also work, as would Cedar.

Personally, it looks like you're doing a fine job with the PT lumber and it will certainly last a long time. However, being so wet, it is a pain to work with.
 
A friend of mine is into the Tiki Bar thing.

I made a sign for him. It is a scan from Joe the Beachcomer, coaster. It came out really nice.

It's made to look like driftwood. Deep cracks carved into it - the carved in
letters are bamboo style font and painted dark brown.

If you would like a sign for your Tiki bar - PM me.
 
thanx for the great offer leo, we have so many signs for the bar most of them sit in the garage.
Seems someone is always bring one. surfboard signs, tropical bird signs, bar signs, but thankyou anyway for the great offer.

Im finished with all the pieces. I have to round everything over, put a couple of curved edges on arms, and glue and screw it all up.
should be done sometime tomorrow.

I decided to shut down early today, since I made a error with a circle cutter I purchased and decided to try it out today.
First, and I dont know why, cause I tightened the allen set screw fine, when I turned on the drill press, the arm of the cutter with the cutter in it flew out and bounced off the glue bottles on the shelves. Shook me up, coulda been my head, and that, Im quite sure, would leave a mark, if not take something out or gouge out part of my head. Im ugly enough, dont need any more scars.
Then I tried cutting some ply, and it burned and jammed a few times.
I switched over to ash, had the same problems, then as it was spinning, the chuck fell out of the drill press.
Ok, I had enough.
What I didnt know until a minute ago, is that I have to turn the rpms of the drill press all the way down.
Live and learn, and when I do it, I have to wear a flak jacket.
I never should have stopped working on the stool anyway.
 
kept myself busy, spent a couple more hours to get it assembled.
I need to work on some bad spots, where I hit a part with a blade, overall, assembly was easy, everything fit.
I used a chisel to cut out a small slanted channel for the oval shaped back.

I failed to meet all 3 objectives I had in mind when I drew it up.

I wanted it to look a bit different, and Im happy with the look.
Each stool will have a different shaped back, rectangle and either circle or diamond.
Its a tiki bar, and I wanted it to be big, regal...........I think I hit it close, but overkilled it. The width is good, the depth is too much, I will cut shorter side rails next one.

I wanted it strong enough as all the furniture Ive built for outdoor use, strong enough to hold anyone! If my outdoor stuff cant hold up to 400-450 lbs, I consider it a failure.I sat on it with the glue fresh, not dry, with my wife, and it passed without a problem.(my wife is maybe 126-130 lbs, but I make up the difference)

comfort, well, I wasnt sure if I wanted a stool with a chair back, or just a stool, so I went for a stool with a back built in for design, not a back for leaning up against. Ive seen many stools with backs that are only one piece of wood or metal, not designed to lean against.
So I went with it, and ofcourse, Im not thrilled with the comfort level.
If I cant fall asleep on it, it fails the test.
Ofcourse, my wife and son lie to me, and tell me what a great looking great job, but my wife feels it shouldnt have so much depth. I agree.

Its big, its sturdy, its nicely designed in my opinion, but its not comfortable.(I believe a big part of the failure of comfort is because I put in curved seat rails, maybe good for a chair, but not so much for a stool when you sit more foward, and I will cut off 3 inches in depth on the next one)

Thats why I only built one.

I can keep trying. and keep posting pictures until I get it right, the stool, not the posting.(sorry about the shaky picture again)
 

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Hi Allen, you at it again. I looked at the pictures then read your post. Hey i like the stool but would prefer it be a chair type top that I could lean back on. I thought the curved seat was nice and original and took that into account. Then reading your post realized i had it wrong or at least your intentions wrong. I agree narrow it down a bit in the front to back direction. Width is great.

Do you finish the cut ends before glue up or do you not even bother with them until you are finished?

I like the arm rail. Could be a bit difficult at the bar though when placed together. Getting out and moving around someone next to you in the same chair could be a bit difficult but that gives one space at the bar.:thumb:

I really like the curved legs and the joints. Look forward to seeing the next version.:wave:
 
I run all the pieces over the roundover bit on the router table before I assembly anything, just not the tenon areas.
After its all rounded over, I glue, then like this morning, I sanded everything.

my stools now, and the new one.

I dont have any more lowes coupons, so when I get one, Ill get more pt, and work on another one, or just wait a bit, theres no rush, and my wife is now pressuring me to work on the tv cabinet.

and ofcourse, the second thing I ever built, my first tiny tiki bar and the stools
 

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looks good allen but i thin yur right its to deep shorten it up on the deptha nd yu will be surprized at how it comes to gether for comfort,, doesnt take much change to make a big differnce in fit..:D:thumb:
 
wasnt easy pulling it all apart, but I cut the rails down to a much more comfortable size.
I didnt have any more long pieces to recut the arms, and restyle the back, this time with a backrest.
I did play with the scraps, but did not glue any of this.
when I purchase more PT, Ill recut arms to match the new chairs and figure out a design for back.(I took 3 inches off the depth of the chair, and now all agree its comfy)
 

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I threw out all the scrap pieces of pressure treated last night, taped up the long pieces, the cutout sections from the curved legs, and this morning, when I got back from an appt, the garbage was still there.
I dragged most of it back into the yard. Those curved pieces, well, I cut it all down, and made this, a little lawn ornament.
Just cant get myself to go back to the big box cabinet yet.

Its no work of much value, but someone will stick it in their garden, and it wont go into a land fill, at least not by me.Its about 30 inches long, around 10 inches wide.
 

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