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Tag Archives: wooden chair

Front Porch Chair

09 Monday Feb 2015

Posted by Jean in Home Decor, Wood Crafts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DIY, diy chair, do it yourself, home decor, homemade furniture, outoor furniture, wood craft, wood furniture, wooden chair

I finally got out of the house today. I’ve been trying to get the house fully in order where it can pretty much stay fully in order. This, however, is a long process and is about dull as dishwater. I’ve been itching to get outside and build something, ANYTHING.

A couple of months ago I decided that the front porch needed a table and a couple of chairs. The big back patio faces west and is just too hot to enjoy for about 5 months out of the year. Once the sun moves over the house, the back patio starts heating up and I could bake stuff out there by 3:00pm. Gosh knows John and I have baked ourselves pretty thoroughly out there trying to get projects done last summer. Thus, the front porch will be our go to spot for bbqs and such. I can even clean up the old grill and put it out there. Add a few plants and make it a spot I’ll actually remember to use. I’m pretty sure the front yard landscaping would appreciate it if I remembered it more often.

I had John cut the wood for the chairs back when I thought of this project, but then got side tracked by an intense month of house keeping and organizing. The past two days have been so beautiful that I just could not stand to work in the house again today. I needed sun, blue sky and creativity before I went berserk.

Here are the cut pieces of 2×4 for two chairs. Right where they’ve been sitting for over a month.

woodcutsYup, the cute work table we used all last summer before we finally painted it and made it a part of our patio decor is being pressed into service as a work table again.

I pre-drilled pocket holes in the chair back boards, front apron, side boards and support board. While doing this I had the first inkling of problems caused by not getting around to doing this for over a month. The wood was damp and devilishly difficult to drill because the bit kept getting clogged. I finally got it done though and began putting the chair together.

This is where I noticed problem number 2. I had disregarded my rule of using lumber within a day or two of purchase. No matter how straight a construction grade 2×4 is when you buy it, it can warp, bow and twist while waiting to be used. I had actually thought of this and had John go ahead and cut the pieces the day after we brought them home. Then I put off building the chairs, thinking the cut pieces were too short to bow, warp or twist. Wrong.

The job was more difficult than it had to be, but it’s rustic right? Rustic is a great rationalization.

buildingbackClamping the back boards to one back leg, the job was fairly easy until I had to attach the second back leg. That’s when I noticed slight twists in those tiny short 13″ boards. This would mean that I could line them up perfectly with the 2nd back leg but the twist in the short back boards would make the leg slightly crooked. Rustic. That’s the ticket.

chairbackNext on the assembly list is the chair front. The front apron wasn’t too deformed so attaching it to the front legs was ungainly, as usual, but not difficult.

chairfrontOnce the front of the chair was built and I leaned it up against the back I noticed problem 3. The plans were off by about 1/2 inch. The lowest back board, back apron board, was 1/2 inch higher than the front apron. Not quite enough slant to slide a guest onto the ground, but enough to make them feel like they would. The back apron had to be unscrewed and moved down so that the seat would be level.

Then it was time to add the side boards. The plans said to attach the side boards 1/2 inch from the outer edge of the legs. I measured and marked the spots. These boards also needed to be attached flush to the top of the front legs and even with the top of the back apron.

chairframeVoila! A chair frame. This was when that slightly crooked back leg began to neener me. Because that one back leg was slightly crooked, the chair wobbles slightly. Rustic. That’s what it is.

Next it was time to screw in the extra seat support board. This board needed to be attached flush against the back apron board, between the two side boards. It didn’t fit. It was, guess what, about 1/2 inch too long. Either the side boards needed to be removed and attached at a little less than 1/2 inch from the edges of the legs or the support board is going to have to be cut again. These are 2x4s. No one is going to fall through them. I’ll recut that support board at some point, but not today dammit.

Next, the three middle seat boards needed to be attached to the front and back aprons. You have NO idea how joyful I was when all three boards fit neatly, and without argument, through the opening in the back. If that measurement had been off I might have just had a bonfire at that point.

Next it was time to add the side seat boards. This is where that slightly crooked leg gave me a full on raspberry. One side seat board was lovely and even with the three middle seat boards. The other, not so much.

chairWe have a jigsaw. Nuff said.

Once the other chair and the table are built, we’ll sand, putty and paint. For all it’s issues, it’s still a cute chair! You can find the plans for it here: http://www.morelikehome.net/2012/10/day-4-build-simple-chair-with-2x4s.html

If you build this chair, it might be wise to build the front of the chair first. This way you can be sure that the back apron is attached at the same height as the front apron. Also, before attaching the side boards, place the seat support between them and mark where the outer edge of the sides strike the legs.

 jailedagainThe dastardly dachshunds were jailed by the open back door. They just don’t understand why their help is not appreciated.

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DIY Billiam’s List Patio Chair

25 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Jean in General Farm Stuff, Home and other Repairs, Wood Crafts

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DIY, diy chair, do it yourself, garden, home decor, home furniture, homemade furniture, outdoor furniture, outoor furniture, patio chair, wood chair, wood craft, wood furniture, wooden chair

Working strictly with the 2x4s that were included in the Craig’s List haul several months ago, I built a patio chair this weekend. You folks could do this in just a few hours, but I have to take frequent and extended breaks. Even with breaks, I’m a hurting unit right now and will need to take a couple of days off. However, as I recline with my bottle of Tylenol, binge watching Netflix, while my back and hip realign themselves, I will be smiling with pride, because this is the first of our many projects that I built entirely without help.

The original project plans, not using 2x4s, by Ana White, can be found here: http://ana-white.com/2010/05/plans/simple-modern-outdoor-sectional-armless-section

The above plans were modified for using 2x4s which changes the “cut list”. If you plan to make yours out of 2x4s, which to me are sturdier as well as less expensive, use the cut list on this page: http://www.morelikehome.net/2011/06/our-new-outdoor-sectional.html

To the above cut list, you should add another 2×4 cut to 21″. As you will see in my photos, the chair really needs another back board midway between the top of the back and the back of the seat. This board is not added to the 2×4 cut list, yet it is shown in her photos of the finished sectional.  Ana White’s page doesn’t show this board at all in her diagrams and only shows cushions resting against the back, which doesn’t look comfy.

patiochairsectionseatbottomFirst I put together the seat using the Kreg Pocket hole system. This photo shows the pocket holes at each end of the seat boards. This is the bottom of the chair seat which will be unseen unless someone turns the chair over to check my handiwork and that someone will likely not be invited back anytime soon. Using the pocket holes on the bottom saves you from screwing in from the top to attach everything, leaving visible screws if you care about things like that.

patiochairsectionalseatThis is the top side of the chair seat. See? No screws. It’s magic! This technique also seemed to make the seat very easy to attach to the support frame.

patiochairsectionalsupportAlthough neither of the above sites mentioned it, I used pocket holes in the support frame, not only to attach the frame to the front and back of the chair, but also to the seat boards. I placed three pocket holes along the top edge of each support board as well as the side and front aprons. I laid each piece out on the chair seat and marked where the pocket screws would connect to the seat and then drilled the holes. This took all guess work out of attaching the seat and, again, left no visible screws in the top of the seat.

Ana White’s measurements for the distance between the side apron and the seat support boards is only 3 inches. This is fine until you have to attach those support boards to the back apron. By then, you have all your side aprons and seat support boards firmly attached to the front apron, the seat, and the front legs. I saw this problem coming, so I added another inch and a half between the sides and the supports to allow for the drill. That still was not enough room for my small hands and my Ryobi drill to get between the boards and attach them to the back apron. I would suggest you leave at least 5″ inches of space between these boards.

patiochairsectionalbackIf you are making this chair from the 2x4s, remember that many of the measurements change. Be sure to check the site for the 2×4 built sectional for these changes. For instance, the back seat board for the 2×4 plan needs to be 13 and 1/2 inches from the ground, rather than the 15″ shown on the Ana White plan. One day, I’m going to do the smart thing and print these plans out so that I don’t have to burn wheelchair batteries running back and forth to my computer to double check! I did double check the measurements and instructions each step of the way, and wrote myself about a dozen sticky notes, so I didn’t have any major oopses. Also, you can really see in this picture that another board across the back is needed.

patiochairsectionalfrontHere is the finished patio chair. The plan is for a sectional which I hope to build. Ana White’s page shows how to attach the pieces to each other. To me, that defeats the purpose of having a sectional, so I’m not going to attach each piece. This way, if I need extra chairs by the pool or by the fire pit, I can just swipe a couple from the sectional.

Remember, this is reclaimed wood from Craig’s List. The boards are not perfect and, therefore, neither is the chair they’ve been used to build. If you’re using reclaimed wood, prepare for a few surprises. The board you cut so precisely to fit, may have just enough of a mild twist or bow that it doesn’t fit the way you expected. This is what they make wood clamps, power sanders and cuss words for.

 

 

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