@akamcfly requested this project. This is a basic adirondack chair setup. I need a lot of help to get this one completed. I have loaded as the sizes too be cut from one sheet. Here are pictures that I used to finish this.
This is something I would like to do, although I am not sure plywood would be the best medium for outdoor furniture. Perhaps the stringers need to be solid wood?
They make marine grade plywood or at least pressure treated plywood that would last for a while. I don’t think you would get the longevity of solid wood.
My main concern is that several screws are going into the edges of the plywood, not usually a good idea. Baltic Birch is another outdoor capable plywood. I understand that the marine stuff is pretty pricey.
Thank you. I am not really planning to cut any of these out. I am doing this to help other people out and to learn how to use onshape. I am hoping that some people will jump in and collaborate with me on these projects.
I used sketchup. Onshape is a really great program and probably the future of all cad designs. I watched the videos and I am still learning. There are a lot of really good shortcuts that make it a really great program to use.
Another consideration is using the CNC to cut templates for precise cutting of multiple parts via a flush trim bit in handheld router. You could use the CNC shaped templates on 1/8in plywood.
Your Pictures show a chair designed to be built from narrow boards of solid wood. Plywood wuuld be inferior to that and much more expensive. Also it can be cut from Boards in shorter time with simpler tools. So I would consider this not as a Maslow projekt.
Phil Barley at PlansInWood.com has great Adirondack plans. I built his two piece beach chair for an Instructables contest. Full disclosure, no connection, just a very satisfied customer and he’s a great guy to work with. Click on pic for link. Worst case scenario, convert PDF to SVG.
I agree with you. I have templates and I would make them and sell them. I agree that plywood isn’t the best choice either. However, someone requested this build so I designed. If nothing, you could use this to draw out your cut lines.
I made my chairs from S4S red oak from the big box store because I wanted them to be durable enough to take camping. They come in standard widths and lengths, so you can nest/optimize your parts on the boards. Most parts are made in pairs, so it’s easy to flip one around so the tapers offset each other, etc. Once you know your work area (e.g. 3.5" x 24"), you can then drop the two nested parts that fit into an Easel file (back_1.svg), for example. Set your zero to the corner of the board and let it cut. Also, when talking about Adirondack chairs, most people don’t just make one, so there’s lots of opportunity to add some production-line streamlining. I would even go so far as to print the PDF plans and cut them out so I could manually lay them out on the boards I bought, then arrange them in Easel the same way.
Since Maslow has a fundamentally different approach than say an X-Carve, you could make a set of “shims” that are the same thickness as your workpiece (3/4"), then surround the solid wood board with these shims so the sled has something to ride against. It could even be as simple as other solid wood boards that will be cut out later, acting as each other’s shims. You could leave tabs so the pieces wouldn’t come loose, then just move your zero to the next board when the first cut is done and rerun the same file if you’re making multiple chairs or a different file that fits on the new board. You could even move the boards around if needed to keep the sled in the middle of the assembly. A few dabs of hot glue would probably be sufficient for “clamping”. A set of four sacrificial plywood shims that could surround the various solid wood parts might also be economical. I’m thinking they could be screwed in place into the waste board, capturing the work snugly.
I spent several hours cutting the pieces and sanding them just to make two chairs. While I was doing that, I kept thinking that this is definitely a job for a CNC. All the edges are straight, which are actually more difficult to do by hand. I used the “factory edge” whenever possible to help. Being able to setup a board, start the cut and go do something else in the shop (i.e. the next project, file, etc.) while it cuts a perfect set of parts that only need a little final sanding is an amazing way to make a set of chairs.
I’m looking at having to make a set of chairs for our new covered deck. PlansInWood.com has a set of folding Adirondacks that I may make next. That way they could live on the deck, but are easy to take camping or store in the garage for the winter. While I love my beach chairs, it would be very nice to have arm rests. BTW, whenever I go camping, lots of people stop by our campsite and ask where we got the chairs…
Here’s a quick drawing of what I’m thinking. It allows a lot of flexibility for clamping different sized boards. Note:
make sure your parts are farther apart than your bit diameter. Same thing for the distance between the part and the edge of the wood.
While I was perusing the PlansInWood.com site, I had a few thoughts. You could use Maslow to make templates and hand route them with a pattern making bit. If you’re looking at making the Maslow pay for itself, it could cut out several that you could sell at a local craft fair or farmer’s market. Having the machine do the heavy lifting would certainly lower the labor/unit cost and maximize your profit margin. These chairs would sell themselves. Also, one testimonial showed how he used a CNC to engrave a pattern into the backs of his chairs. Very cool!
That is beautiful. I though about us making the main boards as a guide and engrave into the boards what they are and how many to cut. Some could use them as a template and guide to cut everything they need. We could also add indexing holes that either have a hole big enough to pencil in a screw site or the size you need as a guide for countersinking holes.
Hi,
I tried downloading the DXF but I can’t seem to get it to download correctly. Would you mind re-uploading it to her or to Dropbox or something if possible?
Thanks,
Nathan
This was the files that I had. Im not sure if that is what you need because it has been a long time since I worked on that. If you need more just let me know.
