DIY 2 X 4 Outdoor Modern Lounge Chair

When I saw the one board contest, I became inspired to make a chair, but I didn’t want it to look traditional or typical.

As a designer/artist I started with a sketch idea I thought was sculptural and architecturally inspired in design.

It looked nice on paper, so I made a small Maquet chair from scrap wood which was fantastic.

I loved it so much I couldn't wait to create one from a 2 x 4 which turned out great!

Since I enjoyed making my first chair so much,

I decided that for this Instrucable entry I'd move on to a 2” x 6” x 96”, so it would be even more comfortable, and it turned out twice as nice!

Next, I'd love to try out this design on 2" x 8" x 96"!

Hope you enjoy my design and have fun creating one for yourself!

It's very fun and simple to create!

Here’s a list of what I used:

1. Table saw

2. Miter saw

3. Circle saw

4. Power drill

5. Framing square

6. 1.5” screws (outdoor grade)

7. Pencil

8. Tape measure

9. 17/64” drill bit. (or any bit slightly bigger than 1/4”)

10. 3’ of 1/4” threaded rod.

11. 6 regular nuts to fit the 1/4” threaded rod

12. Six finish cap bolts to also fit the rod

13. Six 1” fender washers

14. One 2” x 6” x 96” ‘treated’ wood board

(If all you have is a 2” x 4” x 96” it will also work great)

First thing we do is to pencil mark our 2" x 6" x 96" at 16” and at 60” from the end to make 2 cuts on the miter saw.

We will end up with three pieces once done

One piece at 16” and one piece at 44” and one at 36”

Now we take our pieces to the tablesaw and set our fence at 3/4” of an inch and our blade just above 1.5” and continue to cut 3/4” strips until you’ve gone through all the boards.

Once all the strips are cut you should have 18 pieces.

After they’re all cut let’s take the longer ones (44” and 36”) and measure 2” from the one end and mark center on the board to drill a hole.

Stack three together flush together then clamp them all down and drill a 17/64” hole (or any drill bit slightly bigger than 1/4”) through all of them at once.

Let’s keep drilling only on one end until all 6 of the 36” pieces are done and do the same for the six 44” pieces.

So now we take the 1/4” threaded rod and clamp it down and use a grinder with a metal cutoff blade to cut and clean two pieces at 6” and one at 12”.

After we have cut the threaded rod, stack all 6 pieces together and use our hammer to tap it through all 6 holes.

Now we need to make two measurements in order to drill our next holes that the 12” rod will feed through to hold the main axis of the chair together.

So, mark a line at 19” up from the threaded end on the 36” stack.

Then mark a line at 32” on the 44” stack.

(Personally, I drilled through three at a time like we did earlier)

Once you have drilled them on center of each strip, we can start to splice the open end of the strips together until the holes are aligned in order for us to push the threaded rod through.

(This step will take a little finesse and a hammer)

Now that the threaded rods are all in place.

Let’s use our 6 washers, 12 nuts, and two 11mm wrenches to tighten it all up.

Start by tapping the rod (use a hammer) close enough to the wood to place a 1” fender washer onto the rod first with space for a regular nut a finishing cap nut.

Now thread your nuts onto the rod in that same order...1" washer, regular nut then finishing nut.

(You don’t have to double up the nuts, but it helps with safety and appearance. Lock nuts will work as well.)

Move over to the other side and do the same thing.

Now tighten it up.

We will have excess length on the rod that should be cut off and cleaned up with the grinder.

This is so we can put the second finishing nut on to tighten it all up.

Do this to all the threaded rods.

Now it’s starting to look like a chair!

In this next phase we want to make a straight cut using a handheld circle saw to cut across the curved end so we can screw our 16” stabilizing brackets nicely into place.

In order to make this cut it’s important to clamp or brace the chair onto a table with the sticks facing out for accessibility to cutting.

(I found it helpful to use the chair turned against the table as a nice stabilizer)

Once we have it stabilized, use one of the 16” strips to draw a straight line across the arch of the sticks (near as you can to the ends) for our circle saw cut.

Make sure our blade is dropped down to cut all the way through and proceed to cut the ends off along the straight line to take out the arch.

Now they are ready for screwing the 16" brackets on.

Once the ends are cut straight,

We can now screw the 16” wood strips onto the front of the straight cut sticks.

I marked center on the 16” board at 8” and used it to help me find center when I place it onto the sticks before I screw 1.5" outdoor screws it onto the front of each stick.

It's also best to screw from the center out.

(I used 1.5” finishing screws so the head disappears into the wood, but any long enough outdoor screw will work.)

Ok guys we are almost done!

All we have left now is the support brackets at the bottom that will lock the chair securely into place and ready for lounging!

Take one of the 16” strips left and measure two inches up from the bottom of the chair and use a 1” screw to secure the cross bracket between the front and back of the chair’s base.

Make sure you stay in the center of the 1.5” wood strips for the strongest connection.

Ta Da!!

We’re ready to lounge!

Have a seat!

Ideas for finishing are to use a butane torch to bring out the grain for a beautiful burnt look.

You can also always stain it, paint it, or simply leave it alone.

It's made of treated lumber so your lounge chair will live a good life!