Rethinking the Adirondack Chair
Built like a yacht to withstand the weather, this knockdown Adirondack is secured with bolts and screws.
Take a detailed look at the anatomy of Robert Erickson’s comfortable, weatherproof Adirondack chair.
Robert Erickson wanted his Adirondack chair to be as weatherproof as possible. Therefore, he made the whole chair entirely knock-down, so the parts could be coated with marine paint before assembly and disassembled and repainted down the road. He dispensed with interpenetrating joinery, figuring it would attract moisture and tend to rot. Instead, he assembled the chair entirely with butt joints and face joints secured with brass or bronze bolts and screws. For comfort, he left off the low stretcher that adds racking resistance but stops you from tucking your feet under the front
of the classic version. To restore the chair’s rigidity, he added a welded steel bracket under the seat.
Built like a yacht to withstand the weather
Back planks are bent-laminated to lumbar curve from four plies of solid elm using waterproof Titebond III glue.
Fine Woodworking Recommended Products
Starrett 12-in. combination square
Estwing Dead-Blow Mallet
Jorgensen 6 inch Bar Clamp Set, 4 Pack
Comments
Tried to bring up the PDF for this article, "Uncompromising Adirondack," and got a "page not found" notice instead. Is there another URL for this?
Thanks,
leeh522
It's working for me. Might have been a server hiccup.
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