Woodworking Project: Granddaughter’s Adirondack Chair
When I pick out a woodworking project to do, I always keep two things in mind, and they are:
1. Is it something that will get used, because I don’t like to spend a lot of time on a project that nobody ever sees or uses. To me that is just a waste of time and material.
2. Is it a project that I can get done in a weekend. I have found that I if I don’t other things get in the way and some of my projects sit in my shop for a long time.
The child’s adirondack chair was a perfect weekend woodworking project, and my granddaughter really wanted one to match the ones I built for her mommy and daddy.
I really had fun with this woodworking project, I loved the fact that it would be for my grandaughter. I know that when some of you look at the picture of the child adirondack chair you are are going to think that it looks to difficult to build. I just want to say with the woodworking plans that I used, it is an easy weekend woodworking project, as long as you have basic carpentry/woodworkers skills . To start we need to pull out our complete set of woodworkers plans and we will see that they do all the up front work for us. We will have a material list, patterns needed to lay-out and cut parts, and a step by step guide so even the novice DIY’s can succeed.
Time to go shopping, we need to get all the supplies to build our Child’s Adirondack Chair . Of course I took my granddaughter with me, she had to have her say on the wood type and stain color. We discussed where she would keep her chair and if it needed to match any other furniture. We decited that her chair would stay outside with the other adirondack furniture that grandpa built and it probably should match, boy that was easy. So the wood type we are using is clear cedar, with a clear spar polyurethane finish. Okay then, with all the material purchased, time to head back home to get started.
If you took my advice and purchased a quailty set of woodworkers plans for your adirondack chair woodworking project then the next step will be like I said quick and easy. Your plans will have a step by step guide that will walk you through the process. In your plans there will be templates that you use to layout for your cuts. After you have all the parts cut, sand and prep. It is always tempting to want to assemble as soon as the parts are cut but believe me sanding after you put the chair together is much harder.
With all the parts sanded it is time to put your chair together. This is where you want to take your time and follow your woodworkers plans instructions very careful, this is where your project gets its integrity. Make sure you use the right fastners and the proper method of assembly, no shortcuts here. If you do your childs adirondack chair will last for a very long time.
The final stage is the finish, that will depend on what material you used to make your chair and what look you are going after, your local paint store can help if needed. I went with a clear spar polyurethane and sprayed it on. I put on five very light coats, sanding between the forth and fifth coats with 220 grit sandpaper and my granddaughter’s adirondack chair looks great.
This woodworking project was a fun to build and knowing that it was for my grandaughter made it very meaningful. I used a great set of woodworkers plans which cut the planning time down to just picking out the type of wood and finish material. All I had to do was follow the step by step plans and I was able to complete the adirondack chair project in one easy day putting the final coat of finish on the following day.