My first Adirondack chair........

[Bill Huber]

I think it came out very well, looks good and sets great.

There sure is a lot more to it then I ever dreamed there would be.
I used the Lee Valley plans and did not modify them much at all. I did learn that redwood is not the easiest to work with for me, you look at it wrong and you have a line on it or if you don't really watch what you are doing it will split like mad if you try and tighten the screws up to much.

It is all heart redwood, that is what they called it, I thought it was called clear heart but then they are the ones selling it. It has all brass screws so between the wood and the screws it is almost worth its weight in gold.

Now I have to fine a good sealer to put on it and its ready to go.


P3314225.jpg P3314226.jpg

[Robert E Johnson III]

Those will look good outside of my shop, nice work.

[Dana Vogel]

Sweet, I think I'm going to use those plans I like that look. Very Nice.

[Howie French]

Bill, those looks great !, very appealing look.

Howie

[Jim Becker]

Very nice!!!

[John Dorough]

Congratulations on a great job.

John

[Steve Kolbe]

Wow! That looks great, Bill!

How much time did you spend from start to this point? I've been thinking about trying a pair of these for the patio! Any trouble spots to watch out for?

[Bill Huber]

Sweet, I think I'm going to use those plans I like that look. Very Nice.

The plans are very good, I made 1/2 mdf templates of it and that has worked out very well.

The only things that I did a little different was I added more dowels and I glued everything.

It could be just a little taller for me but it is just right for my wife and that who I made it for.

[Bill Huber]

Wow! That looks great, Bill!

How much time did you spend from start to this point? I've been thinking about trying a pair of these for the patio! Any trouble spots to watch out for?

The wood was the big thing and I have about $140 in that, and the screws were about $30 so I guess you could say around $170 in this one chair.

I do think I could have used some different wood, a good stain and sealer and saved a bunch of money but the redwood is really nice looking.

The build is really not that hard and it goes very good, there is just a lot of it, just more then I thought there would be. I made templates from the plans and I really thing that is the best way to go.

[Michael Pfau]

Nice work Bill. have built a couple of them before..and a love seat as well. I built one exactly like yours last summer, out of cedar. The other ones I made were out of Mahogony. I really enjoy building them. Yours look great, you will really enjoy it for years. I used spar varnish on mine. In alot of sun, you will have to give it a coat probably every year. thats what I have to do.

[Ron Fritz]

Bill, those chairs are saying to me "come & sit down". They look very comfortable. Nice job. Ron

[Andrew Pezzo]

My next project is a set of adirondack chairs. I also am going to the 1/2" mdf template route as the plans I have call for lots of curved parts. The templates and first set of chairs will take some time but after that making additional sets should be a piece of cake. I am going rough cut on bandsaw and then use the router.

This will be my first non-shop or jig related project which is kind of funny I think. I have made a lot of things already (just got into woodworking) but wife is wondering when she will get to enjoy something I make.

[Steve Kolbe]

Bill, Andrew mentioned something that is a great question!

How did you go about making this fabulous first set? Band saw? Jig saw?

[Don Bullock]

Bill, that's a beautiful chair. You did a fantastic job. Yep, redwood can be difficult to make furniture out of, but the end product is excellent. One word of caution from someone who has used redwood for exterior furniture, etc., it will last much longer than any finish that you can apply. The sun can destroy a good finish in one to two years. Good UV protection, especially when the chair isn't being used, is important.

[Andrew Pezzo]

Steve - being new to woodworking a bandsaw is a bit overkill for current skill level and needs but I dislike using a jig saw so much I bought a bandsaw. I will say though that using a bandsaw is an absolute joy (I have the craftsman pro 14" model - great baragin when purchased during sears craftsman club sales). I am also curious to what the OP used...