Adirondack Furniture

Jim DeLaney

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Perhaps taking a lesson from Allen, I built a couple Adirondack chairs last week.

I did go sort of against tradition, though - instead of 'lightweight and airy', mine are stocky, blocky, and heavy.

I had a cheapo plastic 'Adirondack style' chair that I found comfortable, so I copied its dimensions in these.

Since they'll remain outside 24/7/365, I made them from pressure treated wood. 4X4 front legs, 2X8 seat supports/back legs and 5/4 decking for the rest. Very heavy, but they're not likely to either blow over in a moderate wind, or sink too deep into the ground.

They're drying out in the sun right now. I'll sand them down in a week or so, then let them 'weather in' for a couple months before I put any kind of a sealer or finish on them.
 

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Lookin' good. All that's missing from the pictures are a couple beers. :D
Why finish? Howzabout just letting them get 'nature grey'?

Larry and I christened them with Bass Ale last Friday afternoon... :D :D

Letting them 'naturalize' to grey is also an option. Since they're PT wood, they'll eventually match my deck surface, and they really don't need any finish. Oil will rub off on clothing, and varnishes will eventually crack and peel - and need redone - so 'natural' may well be the way they go. :thumb:
 
yeah, baby, there aint nuthin in the world like relaxing in a home built adirondack chair.
What I cant figure out is why you only made two.
four is a nice number and it allows company to relax with you.
And the beefy look is suberb!!!!!!

thompsons deck sealant with a stain built in works great on pressure treated.

(Ive built a few of them out of 5/4 decking, when someone ripped down their deck. They are a bit heavy, but they love them)
 
Larry and I christened them with Bass Ale last Friday afternoon... :D :D

Letting them 'naturalize' to grey is also an option. Since they're PT wood, they'll eventually match my deck surface, and they really don't need any finish. Oil will rub off on clothing, and varnishes will eventually crack and peel - and need redone - so 'natural' may well be the way they go. :thumb:

Hey, they are Adirondak chairs (almost as good as Ozark ;) ), wat could be more natural?
Answer: drinking from a jug a shine instead of beer from a can. :D
 
yeah, baby, there aint nuthin in the world like relaxing in a home built adirondack chair.
What I cant figure out is why you only made two.
four is a nice number and it allows company to relax with you.
And the beefy look is suberb!!!!!!...

I like the look, too.

As for only two - others may follow.

These two, when I'm done, will go under a small pergola on the far side of my little pond. The pergola will only be about 8 X 10, and the two chairs and table (yes, it is a 3-legged table, BTW) will just fit nicely there.

I love to just sit and watch the waterfall and the fish. Very relaxing!
 
Great-looking work, Jim. :thumb: Looks like a great place to sit and watch the world go by. My back doesn't get along well with Adirondack-style chairs, but I'm sure they're comfy to other people.
 
...My back doesn't get along well with Adirondack-style chairs, but I'm sure they're comfy to other people.

Vaughn,
As a general rule, I didn't like the 'classic' Adirondack chairs either, but I found that cheap plastic one very comfortable, so I ended up measuring it up carefully, and using those dimensions to build mine.

FWIW, the seat is 14° off horizontal, 19¾" wide at the front, 18½" wide where it joins the back, and 15½" deep. The front of the seat is 14½" off the ground.

The back sits at a 15° angle to the seat, and the staves splay in an arc of about a 42" radius.

The arms are about 8¼" higher than the seat - at the front - and slant back at about 2°

Just as an aside, the PT decking was so wet when I got it that it'd make a splash when I tried to drive a nail in it. I weighed a 30 inch section of it every day for a week. It started out at 72 ounces (on a digital postal scale) and was down to 39.8 ounces after a week. I figure the ~50 pound chairs will weigh about 30 pounds in a month or so...
 
Those are very substantial looking chairs, Jim. I really like the look of PT lumber for outdoor furniture. I'd also like to see a side view of the chairs to see how you did the back leg/seat support.

At one time we had some of those plastic Adirondack-style chairs. They were comfortable and I always wondered how they could afford to sell them for $9 and make much profit. :huh:
 
Those are very substantial looking chairs, Jim. I really like the look of PT lumber for outdoor furniture. I'd also like to see a side view of the chairs to see how you did the back leg/seat support.


Cody,
I'll try to post a 'side view' pic later today, but the seat is flat, not contoured, if that's what youre asking.

At one time we had some of those plastic Adirondack-style chairs. They were comfortable and I always wondered how they could afford to sell them for $9 and make much profit. :huh:

Yeah, those plastic chairs are amazingly cheap, aren't they? FWIW, I've got about $95 invested for both chairs and the table.
 
Ive tried around a dozen styles of adirondack chairs when I started, some with plans, some without, tweaking things a bit from plans.
2 things I found I liked were the contoured seat, its very little effort, just a bit more jigsaw, and I usually keep the seat width 22 inches. 22-24 inches offers a whole lot of room, a bit more weight to the seat, but its a nice area to plop down into.(but Ive made them as thin as 18, and up to 26)
 
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