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Portable Outdoor Chairs

• Step by Step construction

instruction.
• A complete bill of materierals.
• Exploded view and elevation
drawings.
• How-to photos with instructive
captions.

• Tips to help you complete the

project and become a better
woodworker.

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SKU# www.woodworkersjournal.com
 Portable Outdoor Chairs
By Rick White

Fun to make, comfortable to sit in and surprisingly lightweight,

these outdoor chairs will be a welcome addition to your backyard.
Made from white oak, they’ll provide years of service.

32 Outdoor Projects Summer 2004

W hether you’re sitting around
a warm fire after a day in
the boat, cooling your heels at camp
after chasing upland game, or just
leaning back and soaking up a couple
of cold ones after you mow the lawn,
it’s nice to have a comfortable place
to take a load off. These slide-
together outdoor chairs are not
a new idea; in fact, the inspiration for
this updated white oak version was
rolled out 20 years ago in the
May/June 1984 issue of the Journal.
I did spruce up the design a bit
(with some help from my cohorts
here at Woodworker’s Journal) by
making them more compact when
they are nested together for storage.
We also added a few strategically
placed cleats, to eliminate the
chance of racking.
I chose white oak for building
these chairs because it’s so durable
and because these chairs really don’t
eat up a lot of material — there are
only about 12 board feet in each one.
I raided my scrap bin for some of it.
At a little over $3 a board foot, these
chairs come in at a very reasonable
price. Spanish cedar or cypress
would also work well.
With your perfectly-
sized templates
complete, transfer
the shapes onto the
seat and backrest
stock. Then band saw
the pieces to shape,
keeping just outside
the pencil lines.
Getting Started: A Pair of Templates
I wanted to make a few of these
chairs, and the thought of making all
the cur ved side pieces one at
a time was out of the question.
Instead, I constructed a couple of
perfectly-sized templates (see the
Seat and Backrest Sides Drawing
on page 34) and traced around them
to lay out a series of paired seat
and backrest sides (pieces 1 and 2)
on my hardwood stock. Then
I carefully cut these pieces to shape
on the band saw (see photo above),
staying just a hair outside of the
pencil line. I used double-sided
carpet tape to attach the templates to
the stock for template routing and
added three small brads — just
for insurance. With a 1/2" flush-
trimming, bearing-guided router bit
mounted in my router table, I was

Cleaning up your edges on

a spindle sander takes just
a few minutes. One of the nice
things about template routing
is that it leaves just a few
machining marks that are
a snap to remove.

33
 MATERIAL LIST
T xW x L
1 Seat Sides* (2) 3/4" x 61 ⁄ 2" x 41"
2 Backrest Sides* (2) 3/4" x 61 ⁄ 2" x 44"
3 Seat Slats (8) 1/2" x 11 ⁄ 2" x 17 3 ⁄ 8"
4 Back Slats (7) 1/2" x 11 ⁄ 2" x 1815 ⁄ 16"
Exploded View 5 Seat Cleat (1) 3/4" x 2" x 17 3 ⁄ 8"
4 6 Backrest Cleats (2) 3/4" x 2" x 1815 ⁄ 16"
*Length and width are slightly oversized.

Seat Side 7
(Slat and Cleat Locations) /8" 11/2"

3"

7
2
/8"
2

2 1

5 3

1
6

Chamfer
Detail 1
(End View) /4"

1
/2"
1
/4"
3
17 /4" 113/4"

Backrest
Side
(Slat and Cleat
Locations)

Seat and Backrest Sides One square equals 1"

34 Outdoor Projects Summer 2004

 Guide to Template Routing
As contributing editor Mike McGlynn once said, “Template routing is a great
way to ensure multiple pieces are identically shaped. It’s also a great way
to destroy parts and injure yourself if you are not careful.”
Here are four rules you should always follow:
1. Leave a bare 1/16" of stock to mill off.
2. Keep your hands well away from the cutter.
3. Attach your template firmly to the stock.
ready to rout. (For tips on template
4. Be keenly aware of the bit’s rotation before you begin trimming.
routing, see the sidebar at right.)
One final caution: Template routing at each end of a piece (across the end
The only problem I had with this grain) must be done slowly and with the utmost care. Rick ruined one of his
whole project was when I first side pieces before he got the hang of this aspect of the task. We suggest you
attempted to trim a rounded end of make a test run on scrap before you move to the real thing.
a seat side. With my template firmly
in place, I started to trim across the
grain at the end of the part. In the
blink of an eye the bit caught and
shattered the stock. It was like the
wood exploded! My second and
third attempts (on scrap wood)
ended in the same dramatic fashion.
After a little more experimenting, I
came up with a successful technique
for this task. The key is to band saw
your stock, particularly at the ends, Step 1: Begin the template routing sequence by Step 2: Attach the template to the stock with
using your template to trace the shape of the double-sided carpet tape. The author also used
so that you leave just the barest bit
piece onto the hardwood stock. Step to the three small brads driven through the template
to be trimmed away by the flush-trim band saw and cut out the piece, staying just to ensure that they were firmly secured to the
cutter. Equally important, go slow outside the layout line. hardwood.
and hang on tight! If your bit creates
a bit of a burn on the ends, don’t
worry, it sands off easily. I sanded
the edges on a oscillating spindle Step 3: Great care
must be used when
sander. Go ahead and make all the routing around the ends
shaped parts at one time. of a template. The end
grain is susceptible to
Moving to the Seat and Back Slats fracturing (as shown in
The seat and back slats (pieces 3 the illustration below)
and rushing a cut can
and 4) have the same thickness and ruin your piece.
width, but differ in length. Rip
a sufficient quantity of slat stock and
then cut them to their appropriate
lengths. Again, if like me you are
making more than one chair, set up Router Bits and End Grain: A Deadly Combo
and cut them in groups. (Maybe
A flush-trimming, bearing-guided router bit follows the shape of the
even make one or two extra in case
template exactly. But using such a bit to cut across end grain can
of a machining error ... not that I’ve lead to big trouble. Limiting the depth of the cut by first trimming
ever had that sort of problem!) close to the layout line (thus reducing
Next, I drilled counterbored holes the penetration of the cutter’s
centered at each end of the slats blade) will greatly reduce
(one setup works for both types of your chance of splitting
slats). Later these holes will be the wood.
plugged to hide the screws.
As long as you are ripping and
drilling, go ahead and make the seat
Split wood
and backrest cleats (pieces 5 and 6)
from 3/4" stock. The cleats are

Template not
shown for clarity.
Summer 2004 Outdoor Projects 35
wider than the slats and have two
screws in each end. They keeps the
backrest and seat assemblies from
racking, although their main func-
tion is locking the chair securely in
each of the various seat positions
possible with this design. Cut them
to size and bore the screw holes.
Now grab the slats and cleats and
move over to your router table.
Chuck a chamfering bit in the router
and get busy easing the edges of the
combined slats and cleats. (And if
you happen to be unlucky and
machine the wrong side of one of the
slats, don’t worry; remember you
made extra ... I wish I had.)
Putting it All Together
If you have two drill/drivers, get
them ready. First make a 7/8" x 7/8"
x 20" spacer. Start attaching the seat
and back slats as shown in the
Elevation Drawings on page 34, and
use the spacer to locate each
successive slat. Drill a pilot hole with
the first drill and then drive the
screw home with the second. When
you place the final seat slat, use the
spacer again to locate the seat cleat.
Make sure you square up the
assembly before you drive in these
screws. Simple as pie.
When you’ve placed the
last back slat, you need
to go to the Elevation
Drawings once more to
locate positions for the two
backrest cleats.
Plug the screw holes with
white oak dowels (you
should use a water-resistant
glue to make sure they stay
put), and after the glue
cures, sand each
of the chair
assemblies
thoroughly. You
are almost ready
to sit back and make yourself
comfortable.
exterior grade polyurethane or spar
Finishing and Upkeep varnish would also look great on
I considered a few finishing options these white oak beauties, but it
for my chairs but settled on an easily would scratch and chip with the use
applied outdoor oil finish. I think an I had in mind for them. I like the oil
for many reasons: it’s easy to get into
nooks and crannies formed by the
slats and cleats, it looks great and,
most important to me, it’s simple
to touch up and renew. You will need
to reapply the finish on any piece
of outdoor furniture, and oil is the
easiest way to go, in my opinion.
A good cleaning and then a quick
rubdown with a coat of oil, and your
chairs will be ready for another
season of outdoor adventures.
Whether that would include a trip
to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area
or setting them up in your outdoor
Brew Area, is entirely up to you.
Drilling the
counterbored screw
holes in both the slats
and the cleats gets
you ready for the final
assembly step.
Outdoor Projects Summer 2004