Update, Plus

[Sonny]

Anyone have a project going?

Checked on the chestnut trees this past weekend. I had planted 10 trees.

4 trees are doing well. 2 others are questionable, something seems to have damaged them, so not sure they will survive. Couldn't find evidence of th e 4 others. Delivered some potted Plumeria and Blood Lily plants to my sis ter while out that way.

Need a little activity during this social distancing venture? Check out th e ISS sighting in your area.

Progress on my brother's rocker. Stock is old cypress, 2" and 4" in variou s places, to be carved, so much of the bulk & weight will be reduced. At l east 3 more weeks of off & on work to do.

1) Installed Dutchmans on the seat bottom for surety of strength. Cypress is a soft wood, so I re-enforced the seat. 2) Seat is being contoured.... needs to be carved up to the blue tape-line (pic). Seat jointery of arm posts and backrest styles/legs are the Maloo f joint. Again, soft wood needs to be beefed up a bit, there. 3) Contoured backrest slats and arm rests. 4) Some dry fit pics.

Scroll right, 7 pics total.

Sonny

[DerbyDad03]

SWMBO wants a pergola for the front of the house. Will probably go with a free standing unit, something like this, but without the swing. (For now)

Zoning issues and location of house in relation to the property line prohibits anything bigger and more permanent.

Just waiting on the final design specs from the client. ;-)

[Bill]

I can't say I've seen alot of pergola's, but that's as pretty of one as I have seen! Your client appears to have good taste! Champagne tastes and a beer budget? : ) Thanks for sharing.

Bill

[DerbyDad03]

I could buy the entire swing kit in the dimensions I want for about $1,500.

82" H x 94" W x 60" D, Stained Cedar, 12-14 weeks delivery.

But of course, the SWMBO...err...I mean, the client, wants it a little taller to fit with the picture window height better.

Besides, 12 to 14 weeks is ridiculous. It looks like a couple of weekend's work for the pergola w/o swing, even for a slow poke like me. Once I have the material, of course.

[Sonny]

Nice project. As pictured, seems like mostly straight cuts, so that helps reduce ornate type work, but some curved brackets/braces are easy to cut if need be. *I like curves.

As for as a swing, for future consideration, framing is essentially 14 easy

-cut short boards. Width of the slats will determine how many you need and those are usually straight cut operations, also. I chamfer or round over the top edges of my slats.... looks nicer. On that pictured swing, the arm s' top edges don't appear to be chamfered/rounded, so I'd suspect the seat/ backrest slats aren't rounded or chamfered. For hanging, don't settle for skimpy small gauge chain, either. Some of these swing-making folks around here install cheapish chain and small gauge S hooks and eye bolts on their products.

If you've never made or hung a swing before, note on that pic how high abov e the arms the upside down "V" shaped chain, from the seat/arms connection, connects to the upper "ceiling" chain. That connection is about/at least

2' above the armrests. If that connection is significantly lower, the swin g will tip over backwards when swinging. Make sure that connection is suff iciently high enough.

Sonny

[DerbyDad03]

s reduce ornate type work, but some curved brackets/braces are easy to cut if need be. *I like curves.

sy-cut short boards. Width of the slats will determine how many you need a nd those are usually straight cut operations, also. I chamfer or round ove r the top edges of my slats.... looks nicer. On that pictured swing, the a rms' top edges don't appear to be chamfered/rounded, so I'd suspect the sea t/backrest slats aren't rounded or chamfered. For hanging, don't settle fo r skimpy small gauge chain, either. Some of these swing-making folks aroun d here install cheapish chain and small gauge S hooks and eye bolts on thei r products.

ove the arms the upside down "V" shaped chain, from the seat/arms connectio n, connects to the upper "ceiling" chain. That connection is about/at leas t 2' above the armrests. If that connection is significantly lower, the sw ing will tip over backwards when swinging. Make sure that connection is su fficiently high enough.

Are you channeling Swingman? ;-)

Did you notice the springs at the top of the swing chains?

I've seen them on a few other swings while looking for pergola ideas.

I've been looking for small pergola ideas and not really finding much until I decided to search instead for "porch swings with stands".

Lots of ideas now.

As far as "cheaping out on parts", some of the reviews mentioned that the provided screws for the kits didn't hold very well in the soft cedar. Some folk upgraded to bolts for the key stress points of the structure, making it feel a lot more solid.

[Sonny]

LOL. No. Now and then I wonder how he's doing. He needs to come visit.

I didn't look that closely. That's an idea worth exploring.

Yep, I recently repaired this cypress framed swing (couple of framing boards rotted) and installed new eye bolts with 1.5" washers. Delivered it Sunday when checking chestnut trees etal.

[Michael]

Looks like a great project. Are you going to use cedar or something else?

[DerbyDad03]

Probably cedar, stained/sealed in some way so it doesn't turn grey.