Adirondack chairs

[woodworker88]

Have you checked out Norm's designs? It is one of his most popular projects.

[D. J.]

I've sat in quite a few but I prefer the New Yankee Workshop design. I think Norm put allot of thought into it. It has wide arms that are level giving you plenty of room for a drink and to lay your arms. They are easy to get in and out of and both the seat and the back are curved.

I made a couple of folding ones that are similar out of Lee Valley but in the end, my wife and anyone else who sits in them, prefer Norms.

Don

[Barry Lennox]

My wife wants about 6, maybe 8, Adirondack chairs to adorn a new deck. (Then I think a friend wants about 4) Now, I have too many Adirondack chair plans including the "Jakes Chair" variant. Most of them have been published in FWW and Wood. I'll make some jigs and templates and start cracking them out in mass-pro, once I settle on a design.

So, do you have strong views on what is a comfortable design, or just as importantly, what makes an uncomfortable one?

Thanks in advance,

Barry Lennox

[JGS]

[Andy Dingley]

Angle. That's as much a personal thing as anything.

If you put a lot of recline onto them, then they're hard to get out of - especially for people getting on in years. So if that's your audience, keep the seat flat and get the heights right (not too low).

As for aesthetics, the _only_ Adirondack plan I've seen that isn't plug ugly is the FWW plan (May / June 1999). The ugliest is either Jake's, the fish-shaped ones, or the worst of the lot, the one in the FWW reprints book "Things to Make".

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Some have flat backs, some have curved backs. Curved fits the body better.

[Joe C]

I've made 6 of Andy Rae's design in American Woodworker. I'll try to find the two issues it was in (it was reprinted years after the original article). If I remember correctly, the seat back angle was 59deg. The feature I liked most was that the front legs were turned 90deg to most designs, thus eliminating the 'shelf support' piece for the arm of the chair. This way, the front leg rode in a sliding dovetail in the arm of the chair. *Very* strong construction.

Joe C.

[Todd the wood junkie]

I built two adirondak chairs and the foot rests from the wood magazine. I used honey locust heartwood, and finished with sikkens. I used approx 50 bf for both chairs and footrests.

Everyone who has sat in them says they are very comfortable. I followed the plan dimensionally except for the thickness of the wood I made smaller (their plans called for cedar, which is much weaker and 'dentable' than honeylocust).

[Robatoy]

I have built a few Lee Valley version (non folding) and those who have slept in them say they were magnificent in terms of comfort but a little difficult to get out of with a belly full of beer.

[Woodchuck34]

Barry,

My first woodworking project was some Adirondack chairs, takes me back. I personally like the curved back seats, just feels more comfortable. If the angle is on the steeper side, make sure you round over the front edge of the seat. Makes it a little eaiser on the back of the knees. DAMHIKT, of course that was before I bought my first router.

I have a plan out of "Building Garden Furniture: More Than 30 Beautiful Outdoor Projects" by Ray Martin, Lee Rankin:

was a good plan.

Good luck,

Chuck

Chuck

[Olebiker]

I have built dozens of Norm's chair and everyone finds them to be the most comfortable. The back is curved, the angle of the back is just right, and the seat is a little higher than many chairs out there. Many chair designs are so low that they are hard for us superannuated folk to get out of.

Dick Durbin

[Dave Hall]

Not what you asked and most probably not what you want to know, however, I was at Costco's (or was it Sam's Club) and they had a rather nice adirondack chair along with the curved footrest piece made out of a teakish wood for $139. I doubt that you could buy any decent wood for them at that price unless using PT ;-) Anyhow, to make it a shop project, they could have used a little sanding, a good finishing and maybe a tweak or two with the joints and fasteners (which appeared to be brass?). Not to mention they are flat packed with "some assembly required". Hell, I don't need any of these chairs and I almost bought one just for the wood to use on some trim projects on my boat.

Dave Hall

[Robatoy]

[snipperectomy]

*Phew...wipes brow*.. now you're talking. Barry could need a sander, a compressor, an HVLP spray gun. lemme see.. what else could he need..

(Just helping here, Barry)

[Damon Heron]

How about throwing in a little variation? I built a Adirondack Rocker several years ago from plans in "The Woodworker's Journal" Vol.15, No. 3 (June 1991). You can probably still get archived issues from them. Anyway, it has been a superb chair, very comfortable, and still gets plenty of use :)

[John DeBoo]

I've sat in several and not found any of them to be comfortable for my

6'2" 250# frame. Grandpa John

Barry Lennox wrote:

[Charlie Self]

About the same size--well, a bit heavier--and I have to agree. We've got several spotted around the place, and absolutely no one has sat in any of them in many years. The seat is at too steep an angle for one thing--the older the knees, the more murderous it is on them to get out of the chairs.

[Ray]

[John DeBoo]

For sure! The cush in the tush is thinner now and I need a pull rope to get out of them.

Grandpa John

[Phisherman]

Too high or too low is bad. I prefer a rounded chair front--where the slats form a gentle curve. I like the back curved too. Of course, curves make the chair a little more challenging. One that has level armrests and large enough to allow a plate to rest is good. One that sheds water and dries quickly--good spaces between the slats.

[Barry Lennox]

Thanks! But like all good woodworkers, I have those things. But, a far bigger practical problem looms, I'm in NZ, so the freight from Sams would be a deal-killer !!