How to level the legs on this deck chair

[Alan Lightstone]

Well, the long saga of my building a replica deck chair from the Titanic continues. Lately its been giving me that sinking feeling.

Right now, the obstacle I'm facing is one that I'm sure must be common for chair builders.

Of the present 6 legs, they are clearly not level. I've labelled them on the picture below, to help in understanding the issue.

Leg 1: Leg does not contact ground, is 1/8" in mid air.
Leg 2: Makes contact, though unevenly.
Leg 3: Makes good contact
Leg 4: Makes good contact
Leg 5: Floating 1/8" in mid air.
Leg 6: Makes contact, though unevenly.

deck chair for leveling question.jpg

Basically, what is the best way for leveling the legs? I'd prefer to keep the chair together as much as possible, as I'm going to start stripping parts if I keep taking things apart.

If nothing else, I'm getting pretty confused as to which legs to shorten. And using a block plane on leg 6 made for an uneven bottom, so I did myself no favors there.

[Bill Orbine]

How does the chair look when you bear weight on it? I think if you do anything now, you could be chasing the chaise because of wood movement or uneven ground or floor. Leave it alone, I say!

[Jerry Miner]

Try this method. Works for me:

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/te...s-the-easy-way

[John TenEyck]

I've used sandpaper spray mounted to a TS top or bench to sand down the long legs, but that TS method looks very cool.

John

[Alan Lightstone]

Do you start with the legs that are making contact, and later move on to the ones that are floating, if the bottoms aren't perfectly parallel to the table saw top?

[Alan Lightstone]

Actually, thought of a plan C and tried it. I forgot that I have a Flatmaster sander on my outfeed table, so I ran the 6 legs over it, until it was perfectly resting on all 6 legs. Eureka - or so I thought.

Then I brought it over to my tablesaw top, and then realized that my outfeed table isn't perfectly square, so I certainly didn't improve matters.

Unfortunately, my outfeed table is about 3/64 lower than my table saw top, and the deck chair is too large to run it over the table saw without the outfeed table supporting it, so I'm at a loss.

I might need to do the 6 sandpaper disk bit, and tediously rub the legs over them. Unless I can figure out a way to do that table saw trick, which is really interesting.

[Jerry Miner]

If you're within 3/64" you're probably good to go. I doubt your deck is within that tolerance!

[John TenEyck]

Do you start with the legs that are making contact, and later move on to the ones that are floating, if the bottoms aren't perfectly parallel to the table saw top?

Regardless of how, you only shorten the legs that are too long (the ones making contact). If nothing else is possible, spray adhesive some full size sheets of sandpaper to your bench under each leg. Now push the chair back and forth until you start to see sawdust on all the sheets of paper.

John

[Lee Schierer]

Here's what I suggest. This assumes you have a flat surface where the chair can sit with all legs referenced to the same flat surface.

Measure the height of the leg that is farthest above the table surface. Create a block of wood or stack of feeler gauges that match this dimension. Lay that block of wood on the table next to each leg and mark that gauge height on the five other legs. Your marks will tell you exactly how much material to remove from each leg so they all hit the table.

[Wade Lippman]

I put something (felt pads, rubber bumpers, even wood pads) on the short legs. Trying to get them all even is a fools errand.

[Tom Ewell]

Lee's scribing method is how I start, just to have a reference on which legs cut and how much.

I use a shim to slide under the high leg, mark the shim at the touch spot as reference for measurement or actual scribing point.

Keep another shim under the high leg (and any others off the surface) while you're marking to hold all steady.

Actual trimming is up to you, table saw method, sanding, plane whatever works for you.

[Prashun Patel]

Nice chair!!!

I'd first fully assemble the chair and put it on the deck and sit on it and feel where it's really off. Then I'd just flip it over and use a rasp or block plane on the offending leg a little at a time, flipping again and sitting again. There's enough play in the frame of that kind of chair that your weight will have an effect on actual rock.

[michael langman]

Why not buy some nice leveling pads to add to the bottom of the feet. And be able to adjust it wherever it sits.

[lowell holmes]

Gary Rogowski's trick is great.

Another method learned at Homestead Heritage in Waco:

Three points establish a plane. So set three legs on a table saw, letting the fourth leg hang over the edge. Let the side of the fourth leg touch the saw table and mark it with a razor knife.
Saw it off at the mark.

[Pat Barry]

Three points establish a plane. .

With a 6 legged chair you have the potential for countless planes. Obviously you just shave a bit off the longest legs and leave the short ones alone but I think you should leave it alone UNTIL YOU FINISH IT AND SIT IN IT WHERE ITS INTENDED TO GO. I doubt that place is a flat surface anyway and as some have noted, you probably won't notice anything but a large imbalance. If you do proceed to shave off one leg that is the rocking point and do a little at a time