In my last post (Adirondack Loveseat Project) I promised to upload plans for the loveseat you see in the photograph above.  So here they are.

The plans presented here are an amalgam of ideas garnered from several sources, including woodworking books, Internet websites, and of course, my own experimentation.  I have completed several of these loveseats to date, so I can attest to the fact that these plans indeed work as advertised.

Here are some quick comments and suggestions before presenting the plans.

After building the first prototype and assuring myself that the plans were workable, I created a set of templates (using 1/8″ hardboard) seen in the photograph above.  Because of the templates, I can build additional loveseats relatively quickly, but it is not necessary to go through this step if you are only intending to build one loveseat.  The plans can be plotted out directly on the workpiece if you choose.  If you take this route, however, I would suggest that for the seat supports (3 in all) you complete one piece, then use that piece as a template for the remaining two parts, thereby ensuring that all three end up with matching profiles.

The lumber that I have chosen for this project is 5/4 x 6″ x 8′ pressure treated deck boards.  This material is durable, readily available at most lumberyards or home improvement centers, and inexpensive.  It is also laden with chemicals of various pedigree, so it is imperative to take precautions when working with this material, especially if working in an enclosed area.

Notice in the photograph above, beside the templates, are a pair of tight fitting safety glasses and a box of respirators.  If you work with pressure treated lumber, these are the minimum safety precautions you should take.  If you do work in a shop environment, you might consider doing more.

Because pressure treated lumber is a material I will be utilizing in my projects for the foreseeable future, I invested in a dust collection system, pictured above.  It requires a bit of ingenuity to set up, and an additional equipment expense, but what price can you place on your lungs, anyhow?

Now, on to the plans, as promised.

Adirondack Style Loveseat Plans 

            

      

(Clicking on thumbnail opens full-size window, which can then be printed.)

Parts List

1 – Upper Back Support

1-  Lower Back Support

3 – Seat Supports

2 – Arms

2 – Front Legs

2 – Back Legs

2 – Arm Brackets

9 – Seat Slats

4 – Back Slats (A)

4 – Back Slats (B)

4 – Back Slats (C)

#8 x 2″ deck screws

Construction Notes

A.  Cut all parts as per drawings.  A table saw is highly recommended, as many parts require rip cuts.  Because this project has many curved parts, a band saw is also helpful, but a saber (jig) saw will suffice.   The only curves that are dimensionally critical are the curves that occur on the upper and lower back supports.

Use a flexible piece of scrap material or a metal rule to lay out the curves in the back supports, bending this guide until it aligns with the points indicated in the plans, as you can see me demonstrating in the photograph above.  With this exception, all other curves in the plans are decorative only, so use your sense of artistry to lay these curves out by eyeball.

B.  If you have a router or router table (as in the photo above), you can use a 1/4″ ball-bearing roundover bit to ease the exposed edges of the slats and arms.  If no router is available, a power sander or hand-sanding can serve the same purpose.

C.  Sand surfaces of all parts.

D.  Drill and countersink all pilot holes, which are marked with an X in the drawings (to avoid splitting the lumber, I suggest drilling pilot holes in the mating pieces also before driving the screws).

E.  On each seat support, make a mark  5-3/4″ in from the front, on the bottom face of the support.  Make another mark 2″ in from the back, also on the bottom face of the support.  These marks will be used to align the front and back legs to the outer seat supports.

F.  Using the straight front edge of your workbench (or a straight board as a gauge), position one front leg over one seat support, aligning the bottom of the leg and the flat area of the seat support with the straight edge.  Position the front of the leg with the mark you made in step E (5-3/4″ in from the front), being certain that the leg is perpendicular to the straight edge.  To double check the accuracy of your positioning, the angle formed by the intersection of the front leg and the bottom of the seat support should be 75 degrees.  When you are sure the positioning is correct, screw the leg to the seat support using three #8 x 2″ deck screws.

G.  Repeat step F for the other front leg, remembering that this side is not identical, but a mirror image of the side completed in step F.

H.  Attach the right and left sides you have just created to the lower back support, screwing the lower back support into the notches at the tops of the seat supports.

I.  Screw the remaining seat support to the center of the lower back support.

J.  With the chair assembly on a flat surface, use a square to position the back legs square to each seat support.  Align the rear of the back legs with the mark you made in step E (2″ in from the back).  Note that, unlike the front legs, which are attached to the outside of the seat supports, the back legs attach to the inside of the seat supports.  Clamp the legs, then screw them to the seat support.

K.  Attach the two arm brackets to the outside of the front legs, flush with the top of the leg, using two #8 x 2″ deck screws for each bracket.

L.  Position the arms on top of the arm brackets, with the notch on each arm fitting snugly against the back leg.  Attach the arms to the front legs, using #8 x 2″ deck screws.  Level each arm by measuring the distance from the arm to the floor at the front of the chair, and use that measurement to position the back of the arm relative to the back leg.  Clamp, and secure with two #8 x 2″ deck screws on each arm.

M.  Position the upper back support on top of the back legs, being sure the inner edge of the support is flush with the inner edges of the legs.  Secure with #8 x 2″ deck screws.

N.  Position one back slat (A) on the outermost edge of the curves in the upper and lower back supports, with the bottom edge flush with the bottom of the lower back support.  You will notice that because the upper and lower curves are not identical in radius, the bottom of the slat will not sit flush against the surface of the lower back support. 

The solution to this problem is to create a notch in the bottoms of back slats A and B, as shown in the photograph above, using a rasp or by sanding.  The slats will now sit flush against both the upper and lower back supports.  Clamp a back slat A to each outer edge, and fasten top and bottom with #8 x 2″ deck screws.  Position the remaining slats, being sure to space them equally apart at both the tops and bottoms.  Secure with #8 x 2″ deck screws.

O.  Place a seat slat against the back slats, at the rear of the loveseat.  Fasten with three #8 x 2″ deck screws.  Place another seat slat flush with the bottom edges of the seat supports, at the front of the loveseat.  Fasten with three #8 x 2″ deck screws.

P.  Fasten the remaining seven seat slats to the seat supports, spacing the slats evenly along the supports.  Fasten each seat slat with three #8 x 2″ deck screws.

Q.  Apply any finish or water sealer of choice, allow to thoroughly dry, and enjoy your new super-comfy Adirondack style loveseat.

UPDATE: The loveseat plans and guidance can be found HERE

You may recall a previous post wherein I declared a goal of erecting 100 bluebird nesting boxes around our property.  The progress on that project has been satisfactory.  To date, I have built 65 nesting boxes:  50 have been erected along our trails, 3 were given to others, and 12 remain in my shop, awaiting my ambition to pound more t-posts into the ground.

Since then, I have taken a short break from building nesting boxes in order to complete a couple of other quick projects.  First, there was the benchtable, the subject of my last post.  And now, I have just finished this Adirondack style love seat.

Well, it really isn’t finished, because to truly be called finished, I must apply some kind of finish to the love seat – then it will be, quite literally,  finished.  But it’s close enough.

I intended to build this love seat from plans obtained from a book Retta purchased some time ago.  After buying the necessary materials for the project, the next step was the preparation of the templates I would use to produce uniform, accurate parts.  It turns out the author of the book, or the editor, or both, did not check the construction plans for accuracy and/or completeness.  It soon became apparent that many critical dimensions and cutting angles were omitted from the plans.

Determined to build this love seat, I pressed forward, figuring (correctly, as it turned out) the worst that could happen would be a little wasted time and lumber.  The photograph above shows the contoured seat bottom assembly that had to be built, but because the plans offered little assistance, a lot of guess work (and wasted lumber) went into building this part of the seat.

The love seat is made from 1″ stock (5/4 x 6″ pressure treated deck boards), and feels quite sturdy.  It is designed with a series of three seat supports and substantial bracing, as you can see from the picture above.

The reason I decided to build this seat, even though the plans were deficient, was that the design promised to be extremely comfortable, with the contoured seat bottom that I mention before, as well as the contoured seat back, which is evident in the photograph above.

Even though I spent a lot of extra time, and wasted some lumber experimenting in order to get the seat angles just right, the project turned out to be well worth the effort.  This is one of those pieces that, once seated, you just don’t want to get up out of, due to it’s very comfortable design.  Now that I have a working sample in front of me, I will build accurate templates, so that I can build several at a time and scatter them around the property (along with all the bluebird nesting boxes and benchtables ;)

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In commenting on the Benchtable post, Karl suggested that I upload plans for the benchtable, so that they may spread throughout the Ozarks.  As it happens, I recently ran across a wonderful little drafting board while at Grizzly Industrial  in Springfield, Missouri.

Now, once I brush up on my mechanical drafting skills, I’ll try to figure out how to post the plans on-line for those who may wish to build something in their spare time.

Although my last blog post indicated that this current post was to be on the topic of barbed wire, that will have to wait, as I would rather show you my new benchtable (rhymes with vegetable), the latest project to emerge from my shop.

There are many locations around the property where Retta and I like to picnic, such as the woods behind the catfish pond.  Because we use this area to picnic regularly, we have “furnished” it with a fire ring,  a rehabilitated glider, and a picnic table.

This is the heavy, full-sized (8′ long) picnic table that I built a few years ago (note to self – picnic table needs a new coat of stain).  It is a sturdy table, and works just fine for a picnic, but as you surely know, picnic tables are not comfortable for sitting any length of time.  Hence the steel glider, which provides comfy seating for extended periods of leisurely reflection and conversation.  As Pablo, at Roundrock would surely agree, nice, comfy seating is a necessity for peace-of-mind and happiness here in the Ozarks.

Now, there are many locations (perhaps 20 or so) around the property where Retta and I like to stop and rest while on a hike, to simply sit and watch the grass growing under our feet, or the birds flying overhead.  But where to sit?  One needs a comfy seat to sit in (unless one likes to sit in the sometimes damp, sometimes tick-laden grass).

To provide comfy-seating around the property, I found construction plans for a wooden bench in a home-project book, and after altering some dimensions and angles to suit my tastes, built a prototype, which is pictured above.

The bench is made from treated “2 by” lumber, is six feet long, and is heavy enough that it will “stay put” in the winds that sometimes scream down the hollers of the Ozarks.  Most important, the dimensions and angle of the bench combine to create a very comfortable seat.

In this rear-view of the bench, you can see the stout (and rather unorthodox) supporting structure that forms the back of the bench.  Besides adding heft to the bench, this assembly allows the back of the bench to swivel up and lock in a horizontal position, which converts the bench to a picnic table.  And that is the real beauty of this bench design.  It is a bench, but it is also a table.  And so, I call it a “benchtable”.

This photograph shows one of the bench back/table top support brackets.  The back/top pivots on the lower, fixed hex-bolt.  The upper bolt (without a nut) locks the top into position.  To restore the picnic table to it’s bench form, simply pull out the upper bolt and lower the back/top assembly.

Even though this opens to only what amounts to a picnic “half-table”,  it is sturdy and still provides room for a portable BBQ and a couple of hungry picnickers.

Now that I have built one prototype, I have identified a few little details that I want to change, and I will then get to work producing templates, so that I can easily duplicate the parts.  My goal is to build enough benchtables to place at strategic spots on the property so that Retta and I will have no excuse not to sit back and watch the grass grow.

:) As I am doing here :)