Preface/Disclaimer: I am switching to a new font. It's called Default Font. I had previously used the font called Trebuchet, primarily because it's fun to say, but, it also looked nice. I also liked that it could be seen as a reference to one of the types of chunkers in the Punkin' Chunkin' competition. But, mostly because it's a fun word. Tray-boo-shay, for those of you who don't parle le Francais. See, isn't that fun to say?
Anyway, I decided about 4 minutes ago to switch to Default Font when I opened the Blogger page and, predictably, Default Font was selected. In previous posts, I wrestled with the problem of the Blogger software reverting to Default Font even after I told it that I wanted Tray-boo-shay. I would be trucking right along and then I would look up and realize that the last two paragraphs were like my old student loans. In Default...
You laughed, didn't you? Maybe a little?
Ok, so I don't have any student loans left, thank goodness. But, you get my drift. I would have to go back and change everything to Tray-boo-shay. I decided that Default Font just had too much going for it and that I should pick my battles. So, Tray-boo-shay, until we meet again...
Now, to the real stuff.
I've never built a chair. At least, not from scratch. I did dismantle and reconstruct one as detailed
here, but never from nothing but a pile of wood. But, Tanya decided that it would be a good project for us to work on together.
(Preface/Disclaimer Addendum #1-Please ignore the improper placement of prepositions. I write in a style that's a mixture of conversational and correct.)
We have both commented in the past that we like Adirondack style chairs. We've contemplated buying some to use outside, but we just never did. We probably didn't have the money because of all those student loans. But, hey...You want an education? You gots to pay up for it. Besides, once you get that degree and get a job that's directly related to your major, you'll be making plenty of cash and you can pay off those student loans in no time. At least, that's how it worked for me...
But, we like Adirondack chairs. Like this one:
But, if you've ever priced them, you know they aren't cheap. Anywhere from $90-$150. I just couldn't bring myself to do that, so we've never had any. But, we've talked about making some ourselves. Never got around to it, but we talked about it.
Then, she got a book. A book that shows how to make them. She said, "Hey, look at this book! It shows how to make Adirondack chairs! We could build one together!"
Well, I looked at the book. And, I must say that there were quite a few ideas in it that caught my attention. And, after analyzing the Adirondack chair plans, I agreed that we could probably do it. But, the issue of spare time, or lack thereof, kept rearing its ugly head. Between tee ball, school functions, church activities and a myriad of other things that demanded our presence, the chair sat languishing in the planning stage.
Until Saturday.
We actually had nothing planned for this past Saturday. Tee ball is over for the year, school is winding down and nobody else needed us on Saturday, so we carpéd the diem.
(Preface/Disclaimer Addendum #2-Sometimes I coin phrases, take linguistic liberties or just make stuff up. <<<If ending the sentence with "up" bothers you, see Addendum #1)
Saturday. Generally, it's a good day. This one promised to be a productive one, and that goes a long way in making a Saturday, or any other day, a good day. So, after getting up and taking care of the morning routine, we made a material list and I headed to Lowe's. It's about a mile from our house and I know my way around, so it's my go-to hardware store. However, Home Depot is on my way home from work and they now accept PayPal, so that's a big plus, in my book. The bad part of that is that I could very easily spend all my ebay earnings at Home Depot.
Well, I got the stuff (Dave's not here! ;-) and I got everything
unloaded in the garage. The book had a handy little cut list that gave a
run down of all the pieces that we would need to cut for the whole
project. So, I commenced to cuttin'. Tanya read off the list and I cut
the boards. There were a couple of miter cuts and she was quite
impressed with the miter saw and how it works.
(Preface/Disclaimer Addendum #3-Thanks to the sometimes cantankerous Blogger controls, you may encounter blank space. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
So, after cutting for a few minutes, we had everything ready to start the assembly process. Looking at the picture, it doesn't look like a lot of boards. Each of the stacks had as many as 6 boards in it, so it's probably a little more than it appears.
As you can see, I have paint on my garage floor. In addition to the blue paint, there's also black, white, green and possibly a couple of other members of the ROY G. BIV family. The blue paint is a remnant of the school lockers I fixed up for Jack's room. I still really like the lockers and I'd love to run across another set.
The first part we assembled was the legs. There's not a lot I can say about the legs that ZZ Top didn't already cover, so I'll let this picture serve as a 1000 word description.
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| Give me an A! |
So, I did the same thing again and then connected them with a front apron piece. Like so:
Ok, at this point, I must leave out some proprietary information. I could give all the secret details and steps involved in making the chair, but then what would happen? I suspect that there would then be a rash of copycat chairs and nobody wants that. So, out of a sense of responsibility, I must at least keep the visual details to myself. Trust me. It's for the greater good.
Yeah, of course I'm just yanking your chain. I just forgot to take pictures of the back and seat construction.
But, basically, I laid slats across the seat and screwed them in. Then, I laid the back slats face down and put brace pieces across them. Then, I screwed them in. I like the use of screws, as opposed to nails, on something like this. Screws are a little more of a hassle but they hold a lot more securely. Because this will be an outdoor piece, I used galvanized screws for their weather/corrosion resistance. And, while I'm thinking about it, I also used treated lumber which is made for outdoor use.
Which segués me into the subject of lumber, in general. Why is it that it's dang near impossible to find straight pieces of lumber. I had to go on a treasure hunt for boards that weren't warped, knot-ridden, chipped or otherwise damaged. For every 10 boards I pulled down, I probably found one that was useable. Why is that? I know that no two boards will be exactly alike, but come on. Surely, it can't be that hard to cut more than 10% of the boards straight. But, maybe I'm wrong.
I got the seat and back put together, then attached it to the previously revealed legs. When I got it assembled, it looked like this:
From this angle, it actually looks finished and, for the most part, it
was. I just did some touch up work like filling the indentions of the
screw heads.
I used a countersink bit to pre-drill the screw holes and
that allowed the screw heads to fit just below the surface of the wood.
Then, I used wood filler to fill the holes and screw heads. Just a
little attention to detail. It really does make a difference.
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After the holes were filled, dried and sanded, it was time to paint.
I'll forewarn you, the pictures don't really show the color accurately. It's a light blue and it looks really nice. And, I have to give Tanya credit for picking the color.
But, my problem is with the name of the color.
I used Krylon paint because of its durability. I've used it before and have been pleased with it. Since I was familiar with Krylon paint, I was aware that they have a variety of colors like red, blue, yellow, green and also variations such as light red, light blue, light yellow and light green. Admittedly, those don't sound terribly exciting and I'm sure that Krylon has struggled with that issue. Well, they feel like they've at least licked the light blue problem by calling it...are you ready?...They call it
Peekaboo Blue.
Peekaboo Blue? Really?
That sounds like a 1950's dirty movie that's really not as scandalous as the name implies.
But, it is what it is and the chair is Peekaboo Blue. As I said, it looks good and, overall, I'm pleased with the outcome.
It looks white, or maybe grey, but it really is Peekaboo Blue. I took these pictures at night and I suspect that had something to do with the washed out appearance.
All in all, I rate this chair endeavor a success. I enjoyed working on it and I especially liked getting Tanya involved and working with her. She's a good wife and mother and I'm very fortunate, blessed, lucky or whatever you want to call it. I'm thankful that I have her.
We're planning to make more chairs and I figure we'll try some other pieces pretty soon. I might even let her run the saw. Stay tuned for more!
