How to Build a Fold-Up Adirondack Chair
- 1). Find a free plan for building a chair online. There are some plans listed in the Resources section. Print the plan out.
- 2). Put a piece of shelf paper with adhesive backing onto your sawhorse. Copy the plan onto the shelf paper, measuring to make sure you draw the actual size of each piece.
- 3). Cut each shape out and affix it to a piece of hardwood. Use a band saw to cut out the hardwood pieces.
- 4). Sand each hardwood piece with a belt sander. Be careful to follow the curves exactly when sanding.
- 5). Look at the original plans again. Find the screw holes on each drawing. Mark these holes on the hardwood pieces. When you have done this, label each piece.
- 6). Put each hardwood piece onto a wood board. Drill 3/4-inch pan-head screws into the screw holes to attach the pieces to the board.
- 7). Follow the shapes to cut the wood boards. Be careful not to cut the hardwood pieces. There should be an extra 1/8 inch of wood on the edges of the wood boards when you are finished.
- 8). With a router, trim the excess wood off each piece.
- 9). Put a radius rounding-over bit in the router and round piece edges as needed.
- 10
On a piece of 1/4-inch plywood, mark the center line. This will be used as a guide to help you lay out slats for the back of the chair. - 11
Mark the center of each wooden slat. Put it on the layout board and clamp it down. Put spacers in between the slats. - 12
Drill a brad into the center slat, 17 inches from the top. A brad is a small fastener that is somewhat of a cross between a screw and a nail. Use a 17-inch ruler or wood stick and this brad to help you draw an arc across the top of the slats. - 13
Cut off the arc with the band saw. - 14
Screw the base pieces of the chair together. - 15
Attach the hinge bars to the bottom of the back of the chair using bolts. Place washers in between each slat of the back of the chair. - 16
Using a square as a guide, line up the front leg- and arm-runner pieces. Screw these pieces together. - 17
Attach the cross brace to the back of the chair, putting only one screw at each side. - 18
Position each slat and attach it to the back brace with a brad. Test out the chair. Adjust the back as necessary before replacing brads with screws.
