So I've been lusting for an Adirondack Chair for my deck or patio. I sat in one somewhere, can't remember where, but it seemed to be one of the most comfortable chairs I've sat in for quite a while. Right then I decided I neede one or two for my deck and the search began. Untold hours searching the web....days on craigslist....haunting log furniture places. And what I found was that the things are bloody expensive! Want 2 Adirondacks and a matching loveseat for patio furniture? No problem...send me your check for $1500 and I can have the manufacturer ship them anywhere in the country. Well, that's a bit rich for my blood so I started thinking of alternatives. Back to Craigslist. Finally I found one for $25 with a footstool! The pics looked pretty good so I went and got it. Well, as always there's a reason it was $25 when new ones are nearly $200...it was weathered pretty badly. No problem says I, there's a garage full of power tools at home and I can replace the really bad parts.
First were the arms. I measured them up and made a trip to Lowes for a piece of lumber to cut the new arms out of. Using the old arm for a pattern it was easy to cut out new arms and install them. Then I decided to replace the seat slats so back to Lowes for some lumber. Got the slats replaced and looked at the chair. Looks great but maybe I should sand the back slats. Pulled them off and started sanding when all of a sudden the little guy in my head started getting me in deeper. "Hey dummy, if you just sand these down, when it comes time to build another chair you'll have to take them off again. Just get some lumber and make new ones." So I did...then it was the legs...then the back braces. Finally, I gave in and just replaced everything, using the old chair parts for templates. I learned a lot in the process...here's the list.
1. Between 7th grade wood shop and watching DIY network and HGTV, I'm pretty good at this stuff and it appears to be at least a little theraputic.
2. I built this one out of mostly redwood which, in retrospect, might not be the best. Redwood is durable and weathers well but it also splits easily when driving screws near the end of a piece of wood. I had to replace a few pieces and got into some pretty extensive pre-drilling.
3. I have all the tools I need to produce chairs like this except one: I need to find a way to effectively taper the back slats. I can cut the tapers with a jig saw but it's pretty crude and not at all attractive. Back to the drawing board!
4. This is still the most comfortable deck chair I've found and a perfect project for a weekend.
Next up: Make a lumber list, one trip to Lowes, and find out truly how expensive it is to build one of these. I think I've got about $50 in materials but I made several trips to Lowes and bought non-chair related stuff on a couple of the trips so I don't really have a perfectly clear idea how much it cost me. Maybe one of these weekends when Judy is traveling........
Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I haven't yet quite perfected my technique to the point of making them for other people, but who knows...after the next one, I may be soliciting orders.
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