(upbeat music) - If you're looking for the ultimate camp chair, well, this just might be it.

And I'll tell you one thing, it's built to last and it's comfortable!

Learn how to make your very own today on "The American Woodshop."

- [Announcer ] "The American Woodshop" with Scott Phillips is brought to you by, - Woodcraft since 1928.

Providing traditional and modern woodworking tools, and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(dramatic music) - Pro tools, for tool pros.

(dramatic music continues) RIKON tools, - "Woodcraft magazine," projects, plans and web links, designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- When it comes to American furniture, this is a classic, an Adirondack chair, and I love this simple design.

It's easy to make, but you have to use the right woods for outdoor sun exposure.

Eastern red cedar, Northern Western cedar, Bald cypress, white oak, you just can't beat it.

Now, let's head on inside and make one together.

I've created a mock-up chair so you can see the details before we start making the pieces, and it all hinges on using the right woods for the job.

The arms are one inch thick, Western red cedar.

The back, beautiful Eastern red cedar, and then the arms that are supported, this is all white oak.

The stuff that carries the bolts, it has to be white oak, for it to be durable.

And then stainless steel, everything, or exterior grade deck screws.

Now, I want you to look at one thing, look at this piece of wood.

See those tiny little holes in it?

That's recycled white oak.

Man, there's a story there.

Time for a road trip.

I recycle everything.

And when it comes to wood, there are some things you need to know.

If you're going to take it into a heated space, the one thing you do not want are Powderpost beetles.

And let me show you what I'm talking about, because honestly, this board is spectacular and it's ancient, but this infestation has absolutely gone crazy.

Look at all those tiny little pinholes, and those bugs.

I'll hold it up on end, so you can see this.

Absolutely, riddle a board.

And this is a chunk of hard maple.

You can tell by the heartwood here.

And if you try to crease hard maple with a thumbnail, it's real dense.

If it's soft maple, you'll leave a mark.

So, this is high in sugars.

Okay?

And that's why these bugs, especially when it's damp, love to chew it up.

So, if you keep it dry that helps.

Now, a couple of ways you can get rid of them.

Number one, stick it in a kiln, raise the temperature up to about 165 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let that board really cook, and that kills them, right?

But the other thing is, let's say you don't have a kiln.

Well, right here is the stuff you want.

It's called Shell-Guard, and you shake it up and you get a bucket of hot water, hot tap water, mix it 50/50, and stir it with a brush, and then brush it on all surfaces and let it dry for a week.

You can, with a mask, sand off the excess, let it dry another week, and then you can finish it.

You do not want Powderpost beetles in any of the wood that you recycle, that's why on the barn, we were very careful about that.

Now, over here, you can see some boards that I'm recycling.

Absolutely no Powderpost beetle in this Walnut board, and that's over a 100 years old.

These all came from barns.

Look at this board!

There's a little bit of post beetle marks in here, we'll treat that with Shell-Guard.

But with wood, the other thing is moisture content.

You want it to be when you build furniture, no more than 8%, ideally 6 to 8% is good.

So, get a good moisture meter, keep it dry, that's number one, and if you do see those marks, treat it.

Okay?

Now, let's get back to that project.

So, remember, if you're recycling wood, stay away from the Powderpost beetle on outdoor projects, because even after you treat it, man, it can lead to problems.

And you wanna build things that will last, and so, all this recycled wood Powderpost beetle free.

Now, the legs are the foundation of this.

So, this is called the bottom or back leg, and I've got a template for that right here.

And because my white oak isn't good enough to use for this, we're going to use Southern yellow pine and see my template.

It goes like that, the flat spot forward, I have that traced out.

And so, we'll cut these out at the bandsaw, and then we'll make the front leg and bolt them together.

So, whatever you do, be sure to read, understand, and follow all the instructions that come with the tools and products you use in your woodshop, work safely.

I'll get this set up, and we'll make those curve cuts.

Now, this column is locked in place and ready to roll.

And so, I'm going to make my straight cuts first.

That's a 3/8 inch, 3 TPI blade.

Allows me to make good straight cuts and curve cuts on the end, and I'll get both these pieces cut out.

Some folks would use double-sided tape, cut them out at the same time, it's hard to recycle wood that way.

This is scrap from a construction job.

So, I'll make that cut, let it come up to speed, straight cuts first.

(bandsaw engine revving) And when you take scrap off, reach around behind, and take it off that way, you can't get your fingers in the blade.

(bandsaw engine revving) Leave the line, because you can sand down to it.

And I'll never forget watching this very famous man make a chair, named Sam Maloof.

When he used a bandsaw, he said, "Just flow with it."

(sawing) Don't try to be too rigid in your approach to it.

He said, "Be like an artist.

Let that blade be your, instrument of creation."

(sawing) And then, when I finish this cut, my hand is out of the plane of the blade, and I sweep this around like so.

And before long I have all the curves I need for the legs.

And once I get these two done, it's over to the drill press, to cut the vertical post, or drill the vertical post.

My two leg work pieces here are stacked on top of each other, they're just shy of an inch thick, white oak, and clamped in place, three and a half wide, and twenty-one and three quarters long.

These will be for the two front legs.

And I'm using a Brad point forstner bit.

And I'm not trying to force my way through the woods, I'm just cutting my way through like that.

Turn that off.

It always pays to use good, sharp bits.

And I wouldn't dream of drilling a work piece on the drill press, that lines everything up, without clamping it securely to the table, and that's perfect.

And, of course, there's a hole under there to let this bit go all the way through without hitting the metal table.

And some folks would say, "Well, you should use a sacrificial table underneath."

Well, I'm using a sharp bit, I don't have to have that.

I want you to understand exactly the dynamics of that leg.

Okay, so, there is how it fits to the total assembly of the chair.

And so, as long as this is square right here when it sits, everything's right, and that's bolted together.

So, on my template, I have holes here and you can get this template and the plan for this off of Facebook, just check it out.

And let's lock that down like so.

And I could drill this on the drill press.

And you don't have to have a drill press, as long as you're good at keeping the bit square as you drill these holes.

And I need that down just a bit more.

I need it secure.

And I'll drill these holes all the way through like that.

And boy, it pays to have good sharp bits.

And then we'll bolt the parts together, the legs that we just drilled at the drill press with these.

Time to put the parts together.

So, this vertical post goes on the outside, and this is the inside leg now.

And galvanized 5/16 inch diameter bolts, and stainless works as well, on the inside like that.

And you want these to be three-inch long.

And so, that draws it all together.

There's the first leg assembly, I'll just use a clamp on the tail to hold that upright.

And this little block of wood right here, toggles in.

It's three, the same width as this, but the grain's running this way, toggles up like this and that's bolted on.

And this will hold the arm, that makes the Adirondack style chair so comfortable.

So, that's one side.

Note the orientation of the longer Southern yellow pine board.

I've already assembled this one, it goes on this side, and I'm going to clamp that down in place as well, so I can do the next thing.

And I'm just gonna come around to the front, and you'll see how this needs to be oriented, just to the edge.

I'm using the bench as a jig, sighting down the legs.

And then, I'm bringing up the front rail, that goes flush here and here, and that needs a graceful curve.

And I have templates for that.

And I'll cut that out with the bandsaw, and I need a back rail then too, that will accept the back pieces of the Adirondack chair come... And this is a square cut.

It's curved here, but it's square to these two faces.

And then on the very middle rail, it has been traced out, a template as well.

But this has to be cut at a 27 degree bevel cut, so that will be the third of three bandsaw cuts that I'll make.

I'll get those done right now.

(bandsaw engine whirring) All right.

Now, that's that 27 degree bevel right there, that the seat boards will go into, this is the middle rail.

This is the front rail like that.

Okay.

The bottom rail was already curved cut.

The other curves that we have to cut, are of the Eastern red cedar.

And what I'll do is cut out the pieces now.

I have two very distinct curves.

Once that's cut out around the defects, Eastern red cedar is gonna have a lot of knots in it.

It's super durable outside, but you wanna stay away from knots that are going to check out.

A surface knot is okay.

If it goes all the way through, don't use it, it's just not durable.

And you want it to be 7/8ths inch thick.

So, I'll get those cut out, and then we can go, start doing the back assembly too.

So, get it done.

And dust collection's important on all these woods, especially, woods that don't decay.

Why don't they decay?

Well, it's because they have toxins in it to stop the fungi and bacteria from eating the wood.

You breathe that, that's hard on you.

So, great dust collection is key.

I wouldn't dream of making this cut without good dust collection.

(bandsaw engine whirring) And then, we'll get all these red cedar, Eastern red cedar parts cut, and we'll pre-drill everything, make those beautiful pieces shine.

(bandsaw engine whirring) Okay.

Now, let that come to a stop.

And I'll show you one other thing.

This is just a leveling pin that helps to keep that cast iron level.

And that's a pretty good straight cut for a bandsaw right there.

But if I really wanted to be finicky, I'd take it over to the jointer and that... Now, this is a good straight edge, but that angle cut, I'll just joint that, so it's straight as well before I start doing any assembling.

(jointer cutting wood) This is a step counter-sinking bit.

And what I'm doing is drilling pilot holes an inch apart in the very front oak board with that curve that we just cut with the bandsaw.

And now, what I can do, is drive these screws into the square cut on the front of the leg assemblies.

And I'm using the workbench as a jig to hold the legs.

You can see how I have them clamped.

So, that's solid, that gives me the perfect spacing.

I'll drive this.

And these impact drivers are great tools, but you don't want to over torque things.

We need to bring that forward and keep it square, flush with the front of the bench.

And now, I'll draw that in.

Everything's flush here and here.

And the next thing, to draw this all together, to make it right, is to bring up a Bald Cypress seat board that has the edge rolled over and it's already been counter bored.

And what I can do is balance it left and right, just like that.

That's exactly where I want it, and I drill just one hole to begin with, keeping the spacing just right, balanced left and right.

Now, that's should do it.

And again, remember these are stainless steel, I don't want rust.

So, I'm only worried about tacking one side right now.

And you'll see why in just a second.

Everything...

This is actually like a jig, the very first board that overhangs half an inch on this front edge.

So, now, I eyeball it, and I use this to set the depth, like so, that's perfect.

I can bring it over to the other side, bring it out.

That's perfect.

I know that edge is absolutely lined up, where it needs to be.

Now, I can drill this hole.

And the reason this is so important, is that this establishes the rest of the run.

We have six more seat boards going in.

So, to make those all come together, I bring up a spacer, thin piece of walnut, lay it right in place, bring up the next board, put it up against the front board, and the spacer.

Balance it left and right.

And then, I can set that.

And I repeat this process, until I have all seven seat boards of which the seventh one is cut out a little bit differently.

Once we're to it, you'll see what I'm talking about.

(bronze drive screwing) This is cool.

And here's that final piece that's curved, to match the back curve of the seat.

And I'll just fasten that, and then, this comes off, and we will put on the back assembly.

So, that's the seat, and that is rock solid.

And to do the back, you can see that when this square shouldered piece is canted on the base leg, this rocks back, and because that's 27 degrees right there, when it rocks back, it gives me the perfect place to rest and fasten the arms.

But now, to put the red cedar in, right here like this, we balance it left and right.

And I've pre-drilled it, and I'm going to use a bronze drive screw here to draw it tight.

And then what I can do, is again, checking visually to make sure everything flows, and it does.

Just like that, I can flip it right over, and you'll see again, visually checking, to make sure that everything lines up and it looks right.

And I can do, a very special exterior grade square drive with a washer head.

That's what it looks like right there.

The washer is built right into it.

And because these are painted, those will never corrode.

So, now what I can do.

Let me swing this around.

Here's the test drive right here, is line this bottom rail up, left and right, and bring it up to that bottom crest curve right there.

That looks good.

I've got it lined up, it needs come over just a hair.

And now, with everything balanced left and right, that's perfect right there.

I can drill pilot holes right here to accept these heavy duty fasteners.

Okay, with those pilot holes, look at that heavy duty fastener star drive.

I bring that up and I locate it, right where it needs to be, and I drive that in very slowly.

Make sure it seats into that pilot hole, and I draw that tight.

And because this is so strong, look at that.

This is a rock solid design right here.

And then, what I can do, is bring up the arm, butt it into the back.

And to make these arms, what I did, I went to the bandsaw, and I used the template to lay in the basic curves, and then just cut those out.

But I also tapered one edge, just to make it a little bit more graceful.

And the final thing that I'll do, is I will join everything together with screws underneath from the back edge, and also from the front edge.

(screw driver driving) Now, once I get that all put together, it's outside to do the sanding and finishing.

Now, (chuckles) let's listen, solid.

It's square, everything about it is built to last.

And what's the secret outdoor finish?

Well, on this, because we used everything that's resistant to decay, the right woods, I'm going to let it weather for a couple of years, get that gray color, then lock it in with outdoor oil, and then rejuvenate that every two or three years.

But man, this is so comfortable.

And for plans on this, be sure to check us out on Facebook.

And that is the ultimate camp chair.

Hope you join us next week for more great woodworking tips.

I'll see you.

- Woodcraft, since 1928, providing traditional and modern woodworking tools and supplies to generations of craftsmen.

Woodcraft, helping you make wood work.

(dramatic music) Pro tools, for tool pros.

(dramatic music continues) RIKON tools.

- "Woodcraft Magazine," projects, plans, and web links, designed to help you make wood work.

PS Wood, home of Timber Wolf Swedish Silicon steel bandsaw blades, and super sharp scroll saw blades.

- A bed to sleep on, a table to share meals, a house that feels like a home.

The Furniture Bank of Central Ohio, providing furniture to neighbors in need.

- For more information on tips behind "The American Woodshop," and watch free episodes 24/7, check us out online, and like on Facebook.

(funky upbeat music)