Adirondack Chairs

[Oahunative]

Hello Everyone,

I have purchased a bunch of Red Oak for outdoor furniture, I'm wondering if anyone here has experience buying plans online for this Adirondack style of chair & loungers? I plan on making a set of templates from the plans so I can easily make gifts for family and friends once I perfect my skills.

Also, any suggestions regarding a finish that will allow the furniture to live outside in the Southeasts humidity and heat.

Thanks folks, sure is nice to have this great site as a resource for opinions and guidance.

 

[skiprat]

Tim, shouldn't have to tell you guys about 'Norm'[]

He's a hero, even over here!!

Check out the New Yankee web site for plans[]

 

[whatwoodido]

Originally posted by skiprat
<br />Tim, shouldn't have to tell you guys about 'Norm'[]

He's a hero, even over here!!

Check out the New Yankee web site for plans[]

Yep Norm's plans are top notch. I have about 4 sets of plans for these chairs but his are the best.

No sugestions for the finish other than make sure what ever you use on the areas that come incontact with the ground seal the hollow grain of the wood, red oak (unlike white oak) has hollow straw like grain. You can actually take a piece of straight grained red oak place one end in a bucket of water and blow in the other end and see bubbles come out in the bucket. That is why red oak is not used in boat building.

 

[Mikey]

I have built two pairs of chairs, one with Wood Magazine plans and one pair with the NYW plans. The NYW plans are a whole lot more comfortable. Worth every penny IMHO. They charge a lot on shipping though, so check out the site thoroughly and see if there is anything else you want to build. In my case, I think I ordered 5 sets. This was 3 years ago and since then there are at least another dozen NYW plans that I would like to do.

 

[GaryMGg]

Probably less expensive to buy one of his books with the chair plan and get all the
other plans that're in it than to order the plans alone.
Additionally, lots of folks have commented how much they really like the Lee Valley version for comfort. I can't speak from experience on that.
Hope that's useful.

 

[wudnhed]

The LOML has one........half built and a year old[V]

 

[Rudy Vey]

I built two sets of two Adirondack chairs after the Yankee Workshop book (used the plan in the book and enlarged it by hand, tough job, but it worked well). One set was built in Cypress and one was built from Mahogany. Both are still around and have over the years developed a nice silver-grey color. Both have no finish whatsoever, just the bare wood. Both sets were always outside in the backyard. Our set, the cypress was always sitting on the lawn, the Mahogany set I built for a friend was always on a deck or patio. Every spring ours get hosed down and scrubbed with a coarse nylon bristle brush. I highly recommend to use stainless steel screws, bolts and nails. Needed to replace some of the heavy galv screws on the cypress set after 5 years, rusted and rusty stains on the wood.
I would not use Red Oak for outdoor furniture!! White Oak is what you want or as I used Cypress and Mahogany, or Teak is also a (expensive) possibility. I have a wind chime that has the wooden parts made from Red Oak and within a year it split and started to rot (although it was supposed to be used outdoors).

 

[martyb]

I've got the set of plans for the folding Adirondack from Lee Valley.
Haven't built it yet, but it's a full size set of plans for a fair price.

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=44835&cat=1,46158,42665&ap=1

 

[GBusardo]

Sorry I missed your post. Check out www.woodmagazine.com for full size plans. I have made quite a few of the folding ones from their plans and everyone seems to love them. They also have quite a few different versions. I also made templates out of hardboard, rough cut on the bandsaw and used the router, bearing bit and template to finish off each piece. As far as finishing goes, the wood is more important than the finish for outdoor furniture. As Rudy Vey said, if you choose the right wood, even with no finish, the chair will last many years. Ceder, Cypress, Mahogany and White Oak are all good choices. If you need to use pine, the only way to preserve the wood is with a film finish such as paint or deck stain. Stainless screws and bolts, at a reasonable cost, can be found at Mcfeeleys (sorry I am not sure about the site address). The picture below is a folding chair and table I made from plans from WOOD Magazine. It is finished with solid white deck stain.
Enjoy, the chairs are a lot of fun to make. Easy too, you can make a set in a day.

<br />

 

[Oahunative]

What can I say but Thanks to ALL of you for your suggestions, I really did not expect such a fast response. I'm going to study each post and do some research on the wood types that have been recommended.

Terrific!!

 

[fiferb]

Tim,
I have a lot of back issues of some woodworking magazines with plans in them. If you're interested I'd be happy to lend them to you. We still need to get together and trade anyway. Doing anything on Saturday?

 

[Oahunative]

Hey Bruce,

Mighty nice offer, thanks! I'd like to hook up with you. Saturday is a wood day for sure, I just started on a dresser for our spare room. I also found a source for Cedar, rough sawn for a buck a bd.ft. in Newberry so I may be chasing lumber also. Seems like Cedar would be a better choice for the outdoor furniture.

 

[fiferb]

Tim, send me a PM. Newberry is about 35-40 minutes away. Want to come here after your cedar hunt? My wife will be in Myrtle Beach for a bridal shower and I'll be home all day.