Adirondack: do-it-yourself lounge chair in the country

In the considered option for making the Adirondack chair with your own hands, the design features are preserved, but there are no difficult joinery connections. It will not be difficult to repeat the project by making wooden parts according to our drawings and assembling the product using screws.

The work uses a planed 20 mm pine board, galvanized screws 4.5×40 mm, bolts 10×60 mm with a square headrest and nuts with washers. A jigsaw and a grinder will speed up the process, and a hand router will allow you to neatly round the edges, but all workpieces can be cut out with a regular hacksaw, and the burrs can be removed manually with sandpaper.

The device of the Adirondack chair: 1 – back bar; 2 – screws; 3 – upper cross member; 4 – back leg; 5 – side support (spar); 6 – bolts; 7 – armrest; 8 – front leg; 9 – seat strip; 10 – armrest support

Manufacturing of parts

The most difficult elements of the chair are the two side supports of the seat. Make a full-size paper template for the side members.

Side support drawing

Draw the lower side of the part, lift the first perpendicular line to the left and two more at appropriate angles to point A. Mark point C and draw a cutout for the cross brace as shown in the diagram.

Mark a 75 ° corner with vertex C, extend the bottom side with a line. Draw an arc with a radius of 116 mm, measure the corner at point D and connect them with a segment.

Draw a rounding between points A and B using a square grid or an improvised template as in the photo.

Place the cutout template on the board, avoiding large knots and leaving small ones away from the edges of the blanks. Trace the contours and saw the parts using a saw in straight sections, and cut the curly contours with a jigsaw. Guide the tool blade in the direction of the grain to reduce chipping of wood.

Transfer the drawings of the remaining elements of the chair to the boards, using the same template, or draw directly on the blanks and mark the next identical part according to the cut out first.

Detail drawings: 1 – upper backrest guide; 2 – the lower cross member of the back; 3 – armrest (2 pcs.); 4 – armrest support (2 pcs.)

The shape of the curvature of the armrests is not constructively important; you can draw them by hand or using a template. Mark the second part mirrored so that the chips when sawing are at the bottom of the workpiece.

Detail drawing: 1 – backrest strip (7 pcs.); 2 – seat strip (8 pcs.); 3 – front leg (2 pcs.) 4 – back leg (2 pcs.)

Grind the ends, if possible joining the same workpieces together. Mill the edges of the upper surfaces of the armrests and backrest slats, or simply soften sharp edges with a sander.

Assembling the chair

Wooden furniture always starts to rot from joints, the inner surfaces of which cannot be processed on a finished chair. Therefore, cover the parts before assembly with 2-3 coats of antiseptic.

Most of the components of the chair are connected with screws, the pilot holes for them are drilled with a combined countersink, matched to the thickness of the screws. When they want to hide the caps, they are deepened and closed with glue plugs.

Place the unnecessary board on the table, and on top place the left side support and front leg. Align the workpieces according to the drawing, mark the drilling points.

Seat side assembly diagram

Make holes for the bolts and fasten the parts together. Install the rear leg by placing it perpendicular to the bevel of the support. Assemble the right side of the frame in the same way. Connect the sides of the chair with the lower cross member of the backrest and the first bar of the seat.

Next, attach the remaining slats with a uniform pitch, except for the one closest to the back.

Install supports on the front legs, fixing them with clamps for convenience. Fasten the armrests with screws.

Attach the upper backrest guide by aligning it with the lower cross member. Right now, it is possible to correct the possible accumulated millimeter inaccuracies of marking and uneven cuts.

Minor errors are eliminated by shifting the headrail and trimming the corner underneath. As a last resort, you will have to unscrew the lower crossbar and adjust the cut.

Mark center lines on the cross-boards and center plank of the back. Holding the latter at the top with your hand or using a clamp, drill a pilot hole and tighten the lower screw. Check the vertical position and secure the top of the rail.

Screw all the planks one by one at regular intervals. Take a string and tie one end to a pencil and the other to a nail attached to the junction of the seat and back. Draw a radius of curvature, cut the planks along the markings and sand the edges.

After adjusting the width of the last seat rail, replace it. Inspect the assembled chair and sand the marks, chips and other defects. Sand thoroughly the upper surfaces of the backrest and seat parts.

Coat the wood with oil if you want to keep the natural color. Use glaze on synthetic resins to create an opaque colored surface.