Cedar chaise lounge plans

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
• Chisel, 3/4″ or 1″
• Handsaw
• Drill bit, 3/8″
• Clamps, 2 at least 30″
• 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. 3Build the base frame

   Lay the two side rails (A) on edge, 20″ apart inside. Fit a cross support (C) between them 5 1/2″ from the foot end and another 42″ from the foot end, bottoms flush with the rail bottoms. 2 3″ stainless screws through each rail into each end, predrilled.

   Lay the head support (D) flat between the rails, 1″ from the head end, its top 3 1/2″ below the rail tops. The back rests on it when it lies flat.

   Clamp a leg (B) to the outside of each rail, 2″ in from each end, tops flush. Drill two 3/8″ holes through leg and rail, 1 1/2″ in from the leg edges, and bolt with 3/8″ × 3 1/2″ carriage bolts.

   ✓ Flip it onto its legs: the frame sits flat without rocking, and the diagonals across the top match within 1/8″.

4. 4Cut and fit the notch rails

   The back's pivot bolt goes 48″ from the foot end. Mark that line on the inside of both rails, 1 3/4″ below the top.

   On each notch rail (E), mark notches at 18 1/4″, 13 9/16″, 6 1/4″ from its foot-end end, for a back at 30°, 45°, 60° in that order (the farthest notch gives the lowest back). Each notch is 1 5/8″ wide and 3/4″ deep.

   Clamp the two rails together and cut the notch sides with a handsaw, then chop out the waste with a chisel, so both rails match.

   Screw the notch rails inside the side rails, bottoms flush, starting 2″ past the pivot line, notches up. 3″ stainless screws every 8″.

   • Tip Cut notches a little narrow and pare them wider: the bar should drop in without forcing.

   ✓ Lay a straight 2×2 across the two rails in each notch: it sits level in every pair.

5. 5Build the back

   Round one end of each back rail (F) on a 1 3/4″ radius (trace a 3 1/2″ can). That end swings at the pivot.

   Lay the rails on edge 19 1/2″ apart outside to outside. Screw the 4 back slats (G) across them, 1/4″ apart, the first 1 1/4″ from the start of the rounded end. 2 2 1/2″ stainless screws into each rail.

   Drill a 3/8″ hole through each rail 1 3/4″ from the rounded end, centred: the pivot. Drill another 13 3/4″ from the rounded end for the prop arms.

   ✓ The back panel is square (diagonals match) and slips between the side rails with about 1/4″ to spare each side.

6. 6Hang the back on its pivot bolts

   Set the back in place lying flat on the head support. Mark the pivot hole position through onto the side rails, then take the back out and drill 3/8″ through both side rails.

   Refit it with a washer between each back rail and side rail. Push a 3/8″ × 4″ carriage bolt through from outside, add a washer and a nylon lock nut, and snug it up until the back swings without flopping.

   ✓ Lift the head end: the back swings up smoothly and lies flat again on the head support, its slats level with the seat slats.

   STOP. Keep fingers out of the gap at the pivot while the back moves.

7. 7Fit the prop

   Round both ends of each prop arm (H) and drill a 3/8″ hole 1 3/4″ from one end. Bolt one to the inside of each back rail at the prop hole with a 3/8″ × 3 1/2″ carriage bolt and lock nut.

   Hold the prop bar (I) across the free ends of the arms, 12 7/8″ from the arm bolts to the centre of the bar. Drive 2 3″ stainless screws through each arm into the bar ends.

   Raise the back and drop the bar into a pair of notches. To lay it flat, lift the back slightly, swing the bar toward the head and lower the back onto the head support.

   ✓ In each notch the back holds firm when you lean on it. Try all three, then flat.

   STOP. Make sure the bar sits fully down in both notches before you lean back.

8. 8Screw down the seat slats

   Lay the 7 seat slats (J) across the side rails from the foot end, 1″ apart, the first 1/2″ in from the end, overhanging the legs equally both sides.

   Predrill and drive 2 2 1/2″ stainless screws into each rail. Keep the last slat 3″ short of the pivot so the back can swing.

   • Tip Round over the foot-end edge of the first slat; it is where your calves rest.

   ✓ Raise and lower the back: nothing rubs, and the seat slats sit level with the back slats when it is flat.

9. 9Finish 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.

10. 10Finish

    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.