Oak & Pine Adirondack

Technically, it's not done because the arms haven't been screwed on yet. But it looks done!

I got the seat slats attached tonight and I cut the notches out of the arms so the fit the way they should, but I'm tired so I'm going to call it a night... but first some details and pictures!

It seems like everything I read about woodworking, there is talk of grain matching. Basically this is when the woodworker takes great care in selecting the pieces being used. A simple example would be two dresser drawers that are next to each other. These drawer fronts should ideally be cut from the same piece of wood so the grains flows from one drawer to the next.

I took this philosophy and applied it to the seat of this adirondack chair. Take a look, you can see in this picture that the two seat slats used to be one piece of wood. The front three pair of seat slats have this look. Since there are seven total slats, the one in the back is the odd one out.

Here are a couple more shots of the chair in full view.


and, of course, it's quite comfortable!

From the Ground Up

As I mentioned the other day, I have started working on a new dresser for my youngest daughter. The style is a modified Thos. Moser seven drawer dresser. One of the biggest differences in the Thos. Moser seven drawer dresser and my modified design, (other than quality!), is the base. As much as I like the style of the Thos. Moser version, I'm not a big fan of the base on his. So I found a design from an entertainment cabinet in a woodworking magazine and modified that a little more to my liking.

I've completed all of the design and sizing work. I have even thrown together a quick mock up in pine in to a better idea of how things will look. And I've started piecing it together! The base design that I have is separate from the rest of the dresser, so I've started there. Here are a couple of pictures of what I've got so far...





I realize this doesn't show off much, but that's kinda the idea... is just a tease!

All in a Days Work

I got to spend most of the day down in the dungeon today. I even made some progress on the two projects I'm working on!

I finished painting all of the pine pieces for the new adirondack. I also cut all of the white oak pieces needed as well. The back is partially assembled, there is only one more support brace that I need to attach.

And then there's the new project... This will be the my biggest undertaking to date. I'm building a new dresser for my youngest daughter. This will be another seven drawer dresser, similar to the one I made my oldest daughter, except is going to be about 6 inches wider and a few inches taller. I'm also taking some comments made on the other dresser into consideration on this new one. I'm going to a larger drawer at the bottom, and each drawer will get progressively smaller.

Project Preparation

It's Spring time, so it's time to get the Adirondacks rolling again! I've decided that for this next one, I'd build the base with Eastern White Pine and paint it with a semi-gloss exterior white paint. The back, arm rests and seat are all going to be made with White Oak that I will leave natural. I've read quite a bit lately that shows White Oak has a nice resistance to rot, so it should handle the weather well. Right now, I'm finishing the painting on the frame and I've cut the seat slats to size. I'm hoping to get this wrapped up by next weekend.

it'll be like merging these to chairs together...



I've got another project that I'm working on as well, but I'm not ready to start getting into the details of this quite yet...

It’s Just Sad Really

I’ve got a great wood supplier that’s only about a 20 minute drive from my house. Tommila Brothers have a great selection of locally grown lumber including Red & White Oak, Cherry, Birch, Black Walnut, Hickory and Eastern White Pine among others. They are also one of those places where you can get Kiln dried rough or S4S lumber. Most of what I have purchased has been the S4S since I don’t yet have a thickness planer.

Last year, right around my birthday, my father and brother-in-law both won gift certificates to Tommila’s at a local home show. I dropped a couple of not-so-subtle hints that these gift certificates would make a great birthday present. Money for wood is always a nice thing to have, and sometimes seems hard to come by. So I ordered 50 board feet of S4S White Oak and with the gift certificates it only cost me $20! Trust me, that is a heck of a deal!

So Chuck, at Tommila’s, took my order and let me know it might be a couple weeks before the order’s ready. He even offered to drop it off at my house since he drives that way to get home each day. Four days later I got a call that my lumber order was ready and Chuck would be dropping it off that night.

I had already cleared a spot on my enclosed front porch to stack my loot, making it a nice easy shot to unload. When Chuck arrived, I grabbed the top board on a stack of about 7 pieces. I place the board down on the front porch and turn to see chuck carrying the whole stack…!

All I could do was laugh and try and explain away the fact that I sit on my butt each day in front of a computer talking on the phone. I quickly grabbed the next stack of Oak, hoping that I wouldn’t embarrass myself any further!

You Want Me to Build What?

I've got a new small project in the works, but I've been a little under the weather lately and need some more Black Walnut to complete it. So I'm going to share a little flashback with you...


Back in November of 2004 I was asked the question that I’m sure all woodworking fathers would love to hear. My oldest daughter, Jasmine, asked me to build something for her!

Not just a random thing, but a specific request. At the time of this request, Jasmine was 10. She’s a smart girl, but she has a habit of proving that common sense just isn’t all that common!

So, I’m in the hallway upstairs one night putting my programming books on a shelf. I had to move them up there to get them out of the way in the dungeon. Jasmine came out of her room and following conversation took place:

Jasmine: “Can you build me a drawer for Christmas?”
me: “You want a drawer?”
Jasmine: “Yeah, you know, to put my clothes in.” (...like I’m some sort of idiot.)
me: “Where are you going to put it?”
Jasmine: “In my room.”
me: “A drawer. Just a drawer?”
Jasmine: “Yeah.”
me: “You realize that a drawer is the box that that goes in a dresser, right? Do you want a dresser?”
Jasmine: “Oh yeah, that! Can you build me one of those for Christmas?”
me: “Yeah, sure.”




It ended up being ready for her birthday in April!





I built it with Eastern White Pine. It's finished with a couple coats of Ipswich Pine and a few coats of clear semi-gloss polyurethane. My father-in-law was nice enough to do the finishing for me. Though I had tofight to get him to use the stain I wanted. He wanted to go with more of a Dark Walnut. I'm not really a big fan of dark stained wood, and since I bought the stain, he did it how I wanted. I also chose to not use any mechanical drawer slides, figuring that they will only be the first thing to wear out anyway.

And I think this picture was taken the last time all of the drawers were shut at the same time! Soon after, it went up to her room and has had clothes sticking out ever since...