Adirondack Chairs (1996)
The first furniture pieces I made. Certainly not fine, elegant chairs ready for Fine Woodworking, but I'm happy with them nonetheless. They started the bug to build furniture, and they've served us well for many years.
They're both #2 pine spray-painted forest green. Originally under a covered porch, now out on our patio exposed to the elements, they have survived the outdoors well. A fresh coat of paint is probably still a few years away.
The plans for these chairs were found on the Internet and I'd highly recommend them to anyone of any skill level. The chairs are called "Jake's Chair" by their creator, and the plans can be found at this web site.
One of the first hard-learned woodworking lessons was gained on these chairs. The first chair I built was assembled and painted in my basement shop. As I proudly surveyed the finished chair, I lifted it for the trip up the stairs and onto the patio. Much to my dismay, the chair would not fit through our basement door, no matter how hard I tried. Unfortunately I was forced to carefully cut off one of the arms to reduce the width, then reassemble and repaint after I got it outside. Needless to say, I did not make the same mistake on the second chair - or on any project since.
Very comforatble. Simple to build. All around a successful project.
© Copyright 2006 Chris Billman