Woodworking 101

We have a great fire pit in our front yard…and since 2005 I think we’ve used it less than a dozen times. When it starts to get warm enough to sit outside in the evenings it’s getting too dry to have a fire, even in a pit it makes me a little nervous…it only takes a spark.  So in the heat of summer when we have gatherings we’re all crammed on the deck trying to find shade under one umbrella.  

I’ve wanted to create a space somewhere in or very near my garden with seating and a table for a while-what’s better than eating dinner in the same place you grew your food!  Since my garden is mostly terraced I was stumped.  But then, aha!  It came to me.  Why not build a round table that fits exactly over the fire pit and put an umbrella in the center for shade?  If we want to have a fire you simply have to lift off the table.  So first step was the table…I headed out to the  “surplus” lumber/metal/car parts/tractor pile on our property and find some leftover deck wood.  My husband helped me by showing me how to use the air gun and jigsaw to round it off…once that was done I then need to find the perfect chair…it had to sit on gravel without sinking into the dirt/mud, so no small spindly legs.  An adirondack chair fit the bill…but the ready made ones just didn’t feel sturdy enough or quite big enough and the really nice ones were $200+ each…and I wanted something with a little more modern look, something unique.  

Then I remembered my super stylish friend Cheri had built some chairs for their lake cabin out of some old,  reclaimed semi burnt wood. (Well, actually her husband built them and she was assistant)  I was really close to just hiring him to make me a set of 4 but then she directed me to a website with a detailed pattern and cut list…so I decided I wanted to try to make them.  I’ve never built anything myself so I knew I would need my husband to be my woodworking professor…I learned how to run the rip saw, table saw, clamps, importance of pre-drilling, etc.  It was a lot of work but once we got through one chair it went pretty fast.  All in all in took us probably 15 hrs to build all 4 and $130 in wood.  I used pine and I’m only plannning to oil them with linseed or tung oil and just let them age/grey. I debated about painting them but I absolutely hate painting!  and to paint these it would take several days, 2-3 coats with sanding in between plus a top coat of polyurethane.  No thanks!  Of course cedar or teak or another harder wood would have been a better choice but since this was my first attempt at making furniture I wanted to keep the wood costs low.  

I’ve got a bit of leftover wood because of the changes we made so looks like I can build some bird condos!  Maybe one day when you go out for a nice drive in the country you’ll see a sign on the side of the road selling custom Adirondack chairs, by Jill.  

An antique Dewalt rip saw from the 70’s that was given to us.  The owner had passed away but all the original
manuals and attachments are still in the drawers…kinda cool.  

First mistake…I precut all the wood according to directions.  Once we put the first chair
together we decided to take “creative license” and do some design changes.  I wanted a
really wide arm to easily accommodate a beverage or plate.  I decided to change the lay
out of the backs too. 

Day one...First chair almost complete.

Memorial Day BBQ lunch with friends.

I decided to make 2 different styles…one low back one high back.  Professor Murdoch taking a break.

After we put the table in my husband came up with a brilliant idea of using leftover steel
lawn edging to wrap around the table to give it a modern/industrial look.  It will soon
rust giving it that “Corten” steel look. 

Installation of fire pit area in 2006.

2006.

2012

UPDATE:  I decided I should treat the chairs with some sort of oil based stain to protect them and make them last longer.  Even after a week the wood was starting to crack from rain and sun exposure.  I  used a semi-transparant oil based deck/outdoor furniture stain from Ace Hardware.  I picked a color that most resembled “grey” wood.  The whole process was pretty easy….it took about one hour per chair.  I put down a drop cloth in the garage, flipped the chairs over and slopped on the stain.  I decided to keep the coat very light so after I completed a section I wiped it off with a lint free rag.  (the stain wasn’t drying quickly on this day so I could do quite a lot before I went back and wiped it off)  This way I didn’t have to worry about keeping a wet edge or even brush marks.  Once I completed the entire chair I went back and added a solid coat to just the top side of the arms.  I figured the arms are going to get the most wear and tear from water and sun since they’re completely flat.  So right now the arms are a bit darker than the rest, I may keep it like that or I may add a thicker coat to the tops of the seat and back.
Once it stops raining I can move them back to the fire pit.

One of two snakes that were sunning themselves on our
driveway while i was painting.  Fortunately they’re not
rattlesnakes.