Adirondack chair plans, sized to your space

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Jigsaw
• Drill bit, 3/8″ (long enough for 3″)
• Clamps, 2 at least 12″
• Level
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Cut the two stringers

   Each stringer (A) starts as a 36 5/8″ length of 2×6. Pick boards with no big knots near the ends; the bolts and screws go there.

   Front end: on the top edge, mark the very end. On the bottom edge, measure 1 1/2″ in from the end and mark. Draw a line joining the two marks and cut on it. This 15° cut becomes the plumb front of the chair once the stringer slopes.

   Back end: from the top front corner, measure 35 1/8″ along the top edge and mark. Draw a line parallel to the front cut through that mark (set your speed square to 15° for both) and cut.

   Foot: at the back bottom corner, measure 2 1/16″ along the bottom edge and 9/16″ up the back end. Join the marks and cut off the small triangle. That flat is what sits on the ground.

   Use the first stringer as a pattern: clamp it on the second board, trace all three cuts and cut the same way.

   • Tip Cut on the waste side of each line so the board keeps the full length.
   • Tip A 15° line is easy to draw with a speed square: pivot it on its corner until the 15 mark lines up with the board edge.

   ✓ Stand a stringer on its foot with the front end plumb (check with a level). The top front corner should be 14 1/4″ above the floor.

4. 4Bolt on the front legs

   Stand a front leg (B) on the floor with its narrow edge forward. Hold a stringer (A) against the leg's inner face so the stringer's foot is on the floor and its top front corner is 14 1/4″ high, with the leg's front edge 1 1/2″ behind the stringer's front end.

   Clamp them together. Check that the front end of the stringer is plumb (a level held on it reads straight up and down).

   Drill two 3/8″ holes through leg and stringer together: 11 7/8″ and 9 1/8″ above the floor, centred on the leg. Push 3/8″ × 3 1/2″ carriage bolts in from the leg side and tighten the nuts with a washer until the square heads pull into the wood.

   Build the other side as a mirror image: the leg goes on the outside of each stringer.

   ✓ Both side assemblies are mirror images: lay one on the other and the stringers and legs line up.

   STOP. Drill straight through. A hole that wanders out the side of the stringer weakens it; start again with a new stringer if that happens.

5. 5Join the sides with the apron and seat slats

   Stand both sides up, 22″ apart outside to outside. Glue and screw the front apron (C) across the front ends of the stringers, top edges flush: 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws into each stringer end.

   Lay the first seat slat (D) on the stringers tight behind the apron. Predrill and drive 2 screws into each stringer, 3/4″ in from the slat ends.

   Add the other 4 slats with 3/8″ gaps (a scrap of 3/8″ plywood is a good spacer). The last one ends 19″ back along the stringer top.

   • Tip Predrill every screw within 2″ of a board end. Cedar and pine split easily near the ends.
   • Tip Ease the front edge of the front slat with sandpaper or a round-over bit: it is where the backs of your knees rest.

   ✓ Measure corner to corner across the seat both ways. The two diagonals match within 1/8″, so the chair is square.

6. 6Cut the arched back slats

   Lay the back slats on the floor in order, bottoms lined up and 3/8″ apart: outer (J), inner (I), the centre 1×6 (H), inner, outer.

   Mark the top of the centre slat at 34″ and the outer corners of the outer slats at 31″. Bend a thin, straight strip of wood (about 1/4″ × 1″ × 30″) through the three marks, hold it with a helper or small nails, and draw along it.

   Cut each slat along the curve with a jigsaw, then sand the curve smooth so it flows from slat to slat.

   ✓ Lay the slats back down in order: the curve is smooth with no steps between slats, and the two sides match.

7. 7Fit the lower back support and the back slats

   Fit the lower back support (E) between the stringers, 19 1/4″ back from the front along the stringer top, leaning back 25° to match the back. Drive 2 2 1/2″ stainless screws through each stringer into its ends.

   Stand the centre slat (H) on the stringers in the middle, against the front of the support, leaning back. Predrill and drive 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws through it into the support.

   Add the other slats either side with 3/8″ gaps, bottoms touching the stringers. They only get one row of screws for now; the arm support holds their tops.

   • Tip Clamp a straight scrap across the slats at the top so they lean back together while you work.

   ✓ The slat bottoms all sit on the stringers and the gaps are even.

8. 8Fit the arm support and arms

   Hold the arm support (F) behind the back slats, on edge, with its top 21 3/4″ above the floor (level with the front leg tops) and centred side to side. It sticks out 5 1/4″ past each stringer. Screw each slat to it: 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws, predrilled.

   Round the front corners of each arm (G) on a 2″ radius (trace a can). Lay the arms on the leg tops and the arm support, inner edges just clear of the back slats and the back end 2 1/2″ past the support.

   Predrill and fasten each arm: 2 2 1/2″ stainless screws down into the leg top and 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws into the arm support.

   ✓ Lay a level across both arms: they are level side to side and the same height front to back within 1/4″.

   STOP. The back slats should be firm before you sit. If any slat flexes at the arm support, add a screw.

9. 9Add the back brace

   Screw the back brace (K) flat across the back of the slats about two-thirds of the way up, 23 13/16″ above the slat bottoms, centred.

   One 1 1/4″ stainless screws through the brace into each slat, from behind, two into the 1×6. 1 1/4″ is the longest that will not poke through.

   Screw four nylon glides under the leg bottoms and stringer feet so the end grain never sits in a puddle.

   ✓ Push on the top of the back: the slats move together as one panel.

10. 10Finish it for outdoors

    Cedar can stay bare. It weathers to silver-grey in a season or two and still resists rot. To keep the warm colour, use an exterior penetrating oil or a semi-transparent stain with UV blockers.

    Outdoors, choose a finish that soaks in rather than one that forms a skin. Oil and stain fade gently and you just clean and recoat every year or two. Indoor polyurethane cracks in the sun, water gets under it, and it peels. If you want a hard clear coat anyway, use spar urethane and expect to sand and recoat it.

    Brush two coats on every cut end. End grain drinks water like a straw and is where outdoor furniture rots first.

    • Tip Finish the bottoms of the legs and the undersides too; they stay damp the longest.
    • Tip Oily rags can catch fire on their own as they dry. Lay them flat outside to dry, or keep them in a closed metal can of water.

    ✓ Sprinkle a little water on a finished surface: it should bead up. When it soaks in again (usually next spring), it is time for another coat.

11. 11Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Outdoors, use an exterior finish: a penetrating deck oil or exterior stain, or primer and exterior paint. Leave cedar bare to weather silver if you like. If it holds soil for food plants, leave the inside unfinished.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.