All Replies on Used my Chicago sprayer today

HVLP totally rocks, and the clean up goes quickly. I’m glad it worked out for you Russell.

I thought you were spraying Oil base material ? If you are you want to clean your gun with Mineral spirits .

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I decided to go with a water based finish, it’s easier to clean and a bit less toxic.

Hard to see, but it looks really good and even.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

I like water base too ,looks very well done.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Jim, I think the back brace where all those screws are going into, need to be a 2by from now on. The complex angle makes it very hard to keep the screws from poking out in a 1by. If you keep the screws flush with the back of the chair, the angle is too steep and I’d have to use shorter screws which makes me afraid it would come apart too easily.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Have you thought about counter sinking them and using plugs ?

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

No, but I have thought about fastening them from behind instead of from the front. That brace across the back is one of the most frustrating pieces to make in the whole project and I need to come up with a standardized way to make it. It’s a compound bs cut, but depending on the chair back material, 4” or 6” the cut is always different. My wife told me to not obsess about it because it’s “just outdoor furniture”, lol.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

A couple of other ideas, you could drill all the way through and have nuts and washers on the bottom or go ahead and use the smaller screws and put a dab of construction adhesive under each one or just use some stainless steel finish nails and construction adhesive.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I’ve hesitated using glue for fear that it would crack if the chair was flexed. It does have some play which is good, not much though. I think I might try the 2by idea and just use the caps like you suggested on the back side. I hate seeing the screws and it would shorten the time to make it plus it would look much better.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Carriage bolts maybe?

Sounds good ,but I would be concerned about a little dab of construction adhesive under each slat I have a unfiished cedar bench thats been out side for 6-7 years with with out and problems.

Edit
I meant to say I would NOT be concerned.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

It’s super hard to get the back of the chair to meet the brace flush or I would likely use a bit of glue. The process of clamping the backs in place while I square it all up is tedious at best. Maybe if I glued them up I could just let that dry and then be able to at least move the chair around while I’m assembling. It’s a learning curve for sure, but I’m almost at the top of it.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

I also designed the cedar chair to have some braces under the seat. The cedar flexes a bit and that worries me, so the 2by adds stability and insures no one will break one of the seat slats. Cedar is so light weight, I cant believe how light this chair is compared to the pine prototypes.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

It’s great to make a quality piece of furniture and getting all the details right ,it makes a big difference. You know Construction adhesive(the stuff in tubes” liquid nails”) is a lot thicker than most regular glues and very strong I use it in out door construction all the time, just a little pea size dab makes for great insurance. As far as the flex in the seat is concerned I wouldn’t sweat that, my bench has 1/2” WRC with about a 30” span ,I’ve had some 350lbers set on it no problems. Your 1”material should do fine. when I install slats I clamp and connect them one at a time.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Jim, what do you think about making them from white pine. If they are sealed properly, will they last as long as cedar? I think pine is a more uniform wood and with Neil’s conditioner, it looks great when it’s stained.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

It’s not a wood I would use outside but I know others have, it just relies on the purchaser keeping paint of stain on it every year and most folks don’t think about doing that and then they blame the product.

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

I wonder if Fir is a comparable price to cedar. The thickness of the cedar here is not uniform at all. Planing every other piece is time consuming.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.