Finally ready for the elements

My chair is finally completed. It's got two coats of Intergrain timber oil in natural, so should be able to handle the elements. It's a little orange for my liking - it looks like its got a case of fake tan gone wrong - but I figured that with time, it'll look less orangey new.

Might not use the same stain on the second chair and experiment with a different stain. We'll see... Stand by for chair number two!

Front view

View from the back

My masterpiece

It was a pretty tough challenge but thoroughly enjoyable. So much so
that I've signed up to another term of the course. Next time, it will
be made of pine fence palings which will be put through the planer,
instead of the comparatively dressed pine that this was made of.

Let's see if it comes out as well. At least there have been some
learnings that can be brought across to the next chair.

Dan having a go

Proud I finally achieved the goal of building some furniture, after
years of talking about it!

Hard worker enjoying the fruits of his labor

A minute to enjoy a break after all his hard work! Maisie enjoyed the
attention too.

Momentous occasion

Final screw being worked in very carefully.

Wow! It's really starting to look like a chair!

Precision work

No drill allowed to finish the assembly...

One step forward, two steps back

D'oh! The drill won't fit the space available to attach the back
slats, so had to dismantle the previously attached seat slats.
Frustrating...

Bring in the cavalry!

With the broken piece replaced, it was time to call in the cavalry.
Dragged in Peter's engineering (and drilling) expertise to help speed
up the assembly process.

Beware the knot!!

When trying to drill the supporting part to the back, the knot created
a huge crack in the timber. Project on hold for a day until the piece
can be replaced.

Legs attached

Getting the angle between the seat and the legs were a bit of a
challenge but I finally managed to work it out. The spirit level
confirmed everything is even. Phew!!

Stage 1 of assembly completed

It's starting to look like a chair...

Adirondack Chair Plan - Imperial to Metric conversion

Add caption

Sawdust everywhere!!

Hard at work with the new toy

My first woodworking power tool

The little router bit (to shave off corners into curves) cost a third
of the price of the router itself!

Does it all fit together?

While waiting for the router to be freed up, I thought I'd see if the
seat slats fit on the supporting pieces.

Very pleased to see everything fits together for the most part,
despite any roundings of figures between the imperial an metric
conversions.

A few of the seat slats suffered from my careless/inexperienced
handlin of the router (to curve the sharp corners).

One I can live with. It might even become one of those little things
to remind myself, and more important, others, of my first foray into
woodworking.

But another was so badly gouged I decided to redo with the spare back
slat that I was no longer using. Carrying all that extra wood came in
handy after all!!

This evening I completed all the cutting and shaping required to
complete the chair. I managed to get my hands on the router and worked
on half of the back slats. Unfortunately there are still too many to
do.

Seriously thinking of buying a router on the weekend so I can get all
the pieces routed and start to assemble! That way I can hopefully
start on my second chair next week.

Let's see what happens...

Complicated shape

My final complex shape to cut out - the supporting structure for the
seat slats to sit on. Haven't used a protractor since high school
math!! It all came flooding back. So, there is a reason for all that
math at school after all!

My first "cheat"

I've decided not to taper the back slats. It was just going to be far
too complicated and take too long to do. So I'm removing one of the
panels and simply fan the slats out. Should work, although it won't
look as good. Bit of a bummer but I have to accept some compromises...

Next stage, cut the tops of the back slats in a fan shape and it'll
slowly look like a proper adirondack / cape cod / muskoka chair.

Slowly taking form

Almost all the pieces cut and ready for "routing" the edges. It's
becoming to feel more tangible now. That serves me right for using an
imperial guide... It just made the process all that much harder...

Quite possibly the most dangerous piece of kit in the shop

Definitely not a good idea to have the usual glass of wine with dinner
before operating this beast...

Preparing to cut some tricky rounded shape on the jigsaw

A small pile of wood all cut and ready to go

Getting ready for action at Mt Roskill woodworking shop.

My very first curves (week 2).

Thanks to Popular Mechanics for the awesome Adirondack chair plans that I have decided to build. I've converted all the sizes to metric, which I'll post up separately.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/how-to-plans/woodworking/2919751

I thought that after years of dedicating too much of my life and spare time to my job, it was time to pursue some of my other passions in life. To me, there are few things as amazing as the smooth grain of wood under your fingertips as you run your hands along its surface. It sounds corny but it truly is one of life's simple pleasures.

I've always loved doing things with my hand. Whether it's building Lego structures, wiring AV or tech equipment together or putting together furniture, I've always found a deep sense of satisfaction seeing it all come together.

So I thought instead of talking about how beautiful I find wooden furniture, I would just go and build one. It is so typical of me - always biting off more than I can chew. There's nothing quite like a massive challenge to spur me into action!

I fell in love with Adirondack (aka Muskoka or Cape Cod) chairs ever since I stayed with my partner's cousin and his girlfriend in their beautiful house in Ealing, West London. We spent numerous afternoons and evenings making the most of London's limited good weather, drinking wine and engaging in random banter on the comfiest outdoor wooden chairs I have ever sat on. I was determined to own a pair one day.

So after much discussion and deliberation, I've finally signed up to a basic woodworking course. We're expected to bring in our own plans and materials and they would provide a DIY master to make sure we didn't lose any limbs on the scary looking power tools in the process. So in true personal style, I brought in an ambitious plan of an Adirondack chair. Not only is it a pretty complicated project for a first-time woodworker, but it was all in imperial units and therefore not standard sizes for wood in New Zealand!

Anyway... this blog has been created to follow my journey from being a complete novice, to hopefully a successful chair-maker. Any comments are welcomed!

Thanks,
Woodworking Enthusiast