# building adirondak chairs and picnic tables



## thehunter (Oct 27, 2010)

i just had a revalation. i was thinking about next summer starting a little business building picnic tables and adirondak. i pretty much have all the tools. i am going to build each before selling. i think all i need to get for tools is a portable belt sander. what do you guys think. i am trying to find some googd plans. i foind some in a library book but would like to finds some others


----------



## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds like a great idea. If you are going to start fresh i would build one full set for a display and then build them to order. That way you dont have a lot of money tied up while you are waiting for someone to buy one.


----------



## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

That is how you do you it. Build your product, develop a market and the next thing your know you are in business.


----------



## thehunter (Oct 27, 2010)

Handyman said:


> Sounds like a great idea. If you are going to start fresh i would build one full set for a display and then build them to order. That way you dont have a lot of money tied up while you are waiting for someone to buy one.


 thats what i was thinking i wa going to do


----------



## Ledhead (Aug 3, 2009)

New Yankee Workshop did a show on Adirondak chairs, I think they sell the plans on their web site. 
Picnic table plans are all over the place, google will show you many. 
Consider some hexagon picnic tables, they can be made from common 2 x 4 and 2 x 6 stuff (cedar? PT?). I have a xerox copy of plans somewhere, could scan / email to you if needed.
Another consideration for you would be child sized picnic tables.


----------



## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

1. if you are going to build (chairs) adirondak's, make sure they are comfortable, 2. hard to make money on the standard picnic table, i can't buy the materials they are selling them for sometime, 3. mass produce when you are ready to build something, 4 or 6 at a time. one at a time will kill your profit.


----------



## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

Here is a plan that has worked well. I make one change, I subtract 3/4" off the top of the front legs and attach a D shaped piece to the top of the leg and the arm brace. I then attach the arm from underneath instead of from the top. That makes for a smoother arm. I build mine out of Eastern Red Cedar
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10227036/Adirondack-Chair


----------



## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

TimPa said:


> 1. if you are going to build (chairs) adirondak's, make sure they are comfortable, 2. hard to make money on the standard picnic table, i can't buy the materials they are selling them for sometime, 3. mass produce when you are ready to build something, 4 or 6 at a time. one at a time will kill your profit.


I totally agree, also build jigs right away.


----------



## usmc6531 (Jan 26, 2011)

Mizer said:


> Here is a plan that has worked well. I make one change, I subtract 3/4" off the top of the front legs and attach a D shaped piece to the top of the leg and the arm brace. I then attach the arm from underneath instead of from the top. That makes for a smoother arm. I build mine out of Eastern Red Cedar
> http://www.docstoc.com/docs/10227036/Adirondack-Chair
> View attachment 18267


Here's another site that has a walkthrough of building an Adirondack Chair. I'm currently building one of the chairs using the plans, only have the base done so far. These plans also include the support pieces under the arms Mizer was suggesting.



http://www.lowescreativeideas.com/idea-library/projects/shop_class_adirondack_chair_0309.aspx


----------



## ink (Feb 3, 2011)

Lesson Learned from these: leave the farthest back slat off of the seat (or cut it narrow). Just leave enough space for leaves to fall through.


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

Here is a nice round picnic table. I've made several of these, they're not hard at all. If you like it I'll see if I can find where I got the plans.

I posted the pic on "my photos"...for whatever reason it would load there and not here.


----------



## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

I looked into that idea a couple years ago. Lots of people doing it, including many retirees/hobbyists that are happy to price their product just high enough to be able to buy more materials and an occasional piece of machinery.

Here's what I have learned about trying to mass produce:

You have a lot of money tied up in material. It can take an entire year to use the material when trying to take advantage of quantity "discounts". In the mean time there may not be enough money to properly market.

Storing product takes up a lot of precious space. Storing bulk materials takes up enough space, once you have finished product to store, space becomes even more of an issue.

For me, it has been a huge improvement on my bottom line to build as ordered. This keeps cash free to take care of other needs and allows me to offer more variety. I'm not so worried about pushing the product that I have built already, I can just focus on getting the customer exactly what they want.

The shop is a lot more organized and the work space is very open. This allows much greater efficiency. This more than makes up for the discounts I was getting for buying in quantity.

In order to make this approach work, you need dedicated setups. A stop table with multiple stops on your chop saw is a great investment. As has been stated, make all the jigs you can. If having dedicated setups means duplicating machinery, so be it. Buy another small table saw if it will save you significant set-up. Just using the table saw as an example, you can figure out exactly what machines you will need more than one of, if any.


----------



## frankp (Oct 29, 2007)

What about something slightly different... break down Adirondack chairs? You know, something you can disassemble and store "flat" during the winter months... prolong the life of the chairs and also give you a little differentiator from the competition.


----------



## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

Folding adirondack chairs are becoming pretty commonly available. I think that is the way to go if you do it but it won't differentiate you very much. When I first saw one, I thought it was a unique idea but after doing some research, most of the home-based businesses do folding adirondack chairs already. 

Not trying to discourage you, just letting you know what I found out. 

Cedar and Pine chairs were widely available at prices lower than what I would need to sell them for so you might think about doing higher-end chairs with teak, black locust etc. 

Another idea I had was to do unassembled kits. One marketing point is that when the customer applies a finish, all parts of the chair will be covered. If I were to buy an adirondack chair, I would dissasemble it before finishing so you are actually saving people work by providing an un-assembled chair.


----------

