Adirondack Chairs

This is a really nice chair that should do well at the auction. These are timeless it seems in that they just don’t seem to lose their popularity. You did a nice job on the staining as well.

Nice post.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

Very nice job

-- Jim from Heirloom Woodshop, custom furniture ,maker, woodworking school, heirloomwoodshop.com

Very nice job.

-- Father of two sons. Both Eagle Scouts.

Curious how (and why ;) you changed the design? Since this does look very similar to jake’s chair.

Very nice…I am sure they will be a big seller for the auction…

I have built two so far—-but never hear of a “Jakes” chair…what is the difference?

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

I didn’t do a radical overhaul of the design but did change it in some noticeable ways. I will assume readers of this are familiar with the Jakes chair. If your not, it is easily googled.

Here are some of the changes I made:
-Most notable the back foot/seat piece is made from 2-by stock rather that 1-by. It just didn’t feel strong enough. Another Jakes chair maker gave me the idea. Also this piece is kind of the hallmark piece of the chair because of its shape. After the decision to use 2-by stock I didn’t feel like it needed the ‘hump’ brace for the backrest piece.
-The seat width was shortened. My understanding is that the creator of the Jakes chair was a Big guy and wanted a wider chair. I didn’t feel like it needed to be as wide and it also allowed for more efficient use of standard stock sizes.
-The arm height was decreased and the arm rests were widened. The arm rests felt to high and unnatural.
-I increased the height of the back slats to look more like an Adirondack style chair. Jakes chairs back pieces are a little short and they kind of make the chair look stubby.

Maybe it is unfair to call these a new design but if you compare them to other Adirondack chairs there may be as many similarities as differences. Adirondack chars come in many shapes and sizes so I thought this could be one more for the road.

These are pretty easy to make. A pair could be cut, routed, sanded, and assembled in a long day. If you only lightly sand the critical parts (arm rests and seat slats) you could possibly even get the staining done, let them dry over night and have them ready for the next day. The second one goes together much faster than the first.

Getting the design the way I wanted it took two complete builds and tear downs to use the pieces as templates. When I make a few of these for myself I think I am also going to eliminate the brace under the armrest that attaches to the seat back. I am kind of tired of working on these so I may never get to a set for myself. There is just to many other things out there I am interested in trying to build. My wife lets me spend a lot of time in my shop so I want to honor her request for a headboard.

-- All trees have projects inside of them, it is your job to get them out.

They sold for $275 last night and the auctioneer actually accidentally cut of the bidding so they might have gone as high as $325 but I am happy at $275.

-- All trees have projects inside of them, it is your job to get them out.

congrats!!! what a nice fundraiser..and the auction winner got something very special!!!

-- Matt, Napa, CA...fun is beautiful...just trying to have some fun...

Very nice job, i like it a lot.

-- Dominique Barbier - Dallas, TX