Custom Adirondak type chair

[metalworkz]

Hello.
I have been making some custom Adirondack style wood chairs for about 6 months now and this is my last attempt at creating something just a little more custom than your regular plain wood chair. I have posted some of these chairs in my machine build thread but perhaps I have overloaded that thread with things I have made with my CNC machine so I decided it was time to just post in separate threads.
This chair is designed for a Raiders football team fan and it is my first attempt at painting the logo along with the stained wood. A lot of extra work but all in all I think it turned out better than I originally expected so well worth the extra time spent. Take a look and as always I value all input.
Wes

[BillK]

Hi. I like the chair and the painting. I have made a couple dozen Adirondacks over the years. One thing that I think you’ll need to improve is eliminate that back leg add on. If the chair is outside that will eventually wiggle loose, even with 5 screws. Find a way to extend the seat support board so that it becomes the back leg as in a traditional style Adirondack and you get a longer lasting design. Just trying to be constructive because you asked, hope that helps.

[TReischl]

Nicely done and finished.

Now and then over the last 40 years I think I have built about 20 of these chairs. I started with Norm Abrams plans from one of his books. Those chairs were sort of my start with real wood working. The following is just my opinion of adirondack chairs and the morphs I went thru, it is no way meant as a criticism of what anyone builds.

What I liked about Norm's plans were the curved seat and curved backs. Much more comfortable to sit in. Definitely worth the effort if you plan on sitting in them for more than about 10 minutes at a time.

What I never liked about that style of chair is the effort it takes to get out of one, YIKES! And the older you get the worse it gets. So I started fiddling with the design. It eventually changed into this shape:

It doesn't look a lot different from Norm's design but the angle of the seat and back have been tilted forward which makes it a lot easier to get out of the chair.

Funny thing is, after building all those chairs I do not have a single one these days! We moved quite a bit and every time we sold our house the folks wanted us to leave the chairs.

One of the tricks to having those chairs last a long time is cutting a small strip from a plastic cutting board and fastening pieces to the bottom of the legs. That way they do not wick up water, start the paint peeling and the leg rotting. The other trick is to tilt them against something during the winter so the legs do not sit in the snow.

Those chairs are downright fun to build! And these days, the ones out of Trex, etc cost a small fortune. I highly recommend using stainless steel hardware on them.

[BillK]

Haha Ted, me too with the Norm Abram plans. Made traceable patterns designed in AutoCAD. Made a bunch of chairs in cedar. Then made double chairs, baby Adirondacks, etc. lol. All pre-CNC for me. Chairs in this pic are all over 20 years, One is maybe 27 years. I used to haul them down the basement for the winter, they have lived outside now for the last 10-13 years.

[metalworkz]

Thanks guys for the input and suggestions! I had added the rear foot as an attempt to adjust the angle of the chair, and as is they do not really offer very much adjustment. I'm still making these chairs and always looking to improve them as well as include more CNC carving on them. I have already been thinking of including some metal into them but did not give too much thought to the bottom of the legs since here in California the weather probably is not as severe as in some states except in the mountain areas, but it is a fairly simple modification and perhaps I will see about improving those things. I am not sure how much longer I will be making these so I am currently making one for each of my sons( I have 3 sons) Then I have several more to do along with a ranch table and bench seats. I still work full time(at 71 this month) so this is just a hobby type thing for me but I really enjoy making things!
Wes

[metalworkz]

Here is another chair this time a 49ers fan chair. Painted the logo at top, need to stain and finish it.

[metalworkz]

I got the chair stained so here is a pic after stained. There are some minor areas needing attention still but closer to finished.

[wood_fly]

I also started with Norm's chair and built a number of these with special modifications. In a great collection of circumstances, my high school English teacher noted that he loved reading outside in his chair, but it was too low and he needed a crane to get out...that sent me to the internet for a search and low and behold, I discovered Barley Woodworks "Grandpa's Adirondack". It is built higher than normal with wide arm rests. You could purchase PDF plans OR...wait for it...CNC plans! What? Ok, I'll give it a go. Great directions (including jigs to make alignment and assembly SIMPLE) and voila! I had a piece of flame redwood just waiting for a good project and these are the results:

[GeneMpls]

I developed this one from someone on this forum for my laser cutter- people love them. Gene

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[metalworkz]

Nice! I like the lumbar curve on the backs and have contemplated adding that to the chairs I make but don't think the time spent will be appropriately compensated.