Custom DIY Patio Set

Do you ever go strolling thru Costco and see a wonderful 7 piece patio set. And then say "I GOTTA HAVE THAT"? And then be like "$1500". " WHHHAAAATTT!!". OK. That's a lot of air quotes. Right? That whole conversation happened to me back in the spring time. Then I settled down from my sample food high, and started plotting a course to have some executive patio furnituring. So, I really liked the high seating with big cushy cushions. And don't think that I need two end tables, an ottoman, or a coffee table. Now the suit will be a three piece patio furniture set. I hope you enjoy, and also check out the link below that I took the design from. I tried to put some videos of the harder processes.

These are made to go into our screened porch. The design is largely taken from.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/projects/contem...

The chair is striking and beautifully designed. Also the measurements and jigs are easy to use. Now the reason for changing their chair, to my chair.
1. I want to build the chair around a set of cushions that are standard and cheap at lowes.
2. I wanted mine to be taller.
3. I don't have their sophisticated router jig. But I do have the necessary tools for a good mortise and tenon joint.

So, know that I really love the chair that I'm copying but want to make it easier to build to someone with standard wood working tools.

Table saw
Crosscut jig
Dado blade or tenon jig
Bandsaw
Clamps
Lots of glue titebond II
Router
Mortise template(matching router bit)

Material
Per small chair
2/3 sheet of 1/4" luan. $13
2x8x10'. $7
4x4 yellow pine post. 8'. $8
Some 3/4" scraps for bottom. $5?

Per bench
2/3 sheet of 1/4" luan. $13
2x8x14'. $10
4x4 yellow pine post. 8'. $8
Some 3/4" scraps for bottom & back. $10?

Hinges per chair $5-ish?
1/4" ID pipe 2" long
4" lag boltx2
4" pin by 3/8"

The legs are going to end up being:
- [ ] Front leg. 25 1/8"x2 9/16"x2 9/16"
- [ ] Back leg. 22 7/8x2 9/16"x2 9/16"

Cut down to correct width first. Keep the drops. They will end up being the back slats and bottom slats. 3/4"x3.5"x8' &3/4"x2.5"x8'

Each chair has four legs that equal up to 8'. So measure 4 times to make sure that you cut correctly.


Now layout the mortise jig for the top and bottom rail. My jig is offcentered. It's made to put the top rail to the inside of center and the bottom rail will be outside of center. This is to give the cushion a snug fit. And adds some flare. Probably for the builders eyes only.

With that said, I lay out the jig to the place that I want.

First lay out where the inside joint is and the side joint is at

Per chair
4x-26.25"x4.5"x1.25"
4x-26.25"x2 1/16"x1.25
Per bench
2x50.25"x4.5"X1.25"
2x50.25"x2 1/16"X1.25"
2x26.25"x4.5"x1.25"
2x26.25"x2 1/16"x1.25
Q&D
Cut to length
Plane from 1.5" down to 1.25"
Rip from 7.5" wide to 4.5"&2 1/16" wide. Take off the factory round edges. There is left over pieces on the 10'&14' pieces. Plane them down and use them to set up the tenon jig.
The mortise I made used a crosscut sled jig on the table saw and a dado blade. The end product is a 7/16" X1" deep tenon

This is all details that I copied from the original I found online. The arch is made from a flimsy piece of scrap. Hold down the two ends and make a 3/4" bow in the middle. And Cut. Voila. Repeat. Since i'm making three chairs, eight boards per chair, time to get the bandsaw sawing.

Next is to add the little line at the top. I set my fence to 1/2" and 1/4" deep. I cut all 24 boards front and back because you can see the inside from all angles. It's not necessary but another little detail that the builder will recognize.

The mortises are a little tedious to make. I used a 1/2" router bit on a plunge router. I set it to two depths and did it shallow then deep. It is just easier on the bits. My jig is made up to clamp onto a table. I have an insert to use when I start my bottom board. It just acts like a small spacer . I made the jig a 1/16" wider than my bit. So that when I make my second pass it makes it 9/16" mortise. sounds complicated but really it's just tedious and makes for a very clean cut.

I could not get a good resaw on my yellow pine. So, I ripped down two sheets of luan plywood to 40"x6" pieces. Then used the jig plans and hooked up six arched arm rails. Routed quarter round edges. Then sanded the crap out of them until I was satisfied.

These pics are from the build up. I'm not going into much detail here. I used my scraps from the legs, and some pallet slats to make the backs. I had some bead board laying around and made the bottoms. The hinge that holds the back to the rear legs are a 4" carriage bolt. The leg has a recessed T-nut inserted in the inside. Then just screw it in to get a good strong hinge.