Pergola & Swing

I designed and built this pergola using solid cedar timbers. Cutting the curves was an incredible challenge because I do not own a timber saw. So, I rigged up an old bandsaw on rollers which I then passed through the stationary timbers. The faux pegs are walnut (the picture is actually of pegs on my house, but it is the same look as what I did on the pergola). One really neat feature is the mulch under the swing is not ordinary mulch… it is rubber mulch that is all glued together with a binding agent, so it is more like a rubber floor.

The swing is also my own design, although I drew inspiration (“creative plagiarism!”) from a lot similar ones out there. The best thing about the swing is that is is made entirely from oak that comes from a tree that was felled from my property. In fact, when you are sitting in the swing you can see the remaining stump from the tree from which it came. It is full of really cool worm holes (the reason the tree was felled). The hanger is also made so that it can be switched to face either direction.