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by
Adrian Jones
photos: Tracy Cox
illustration: Len Churchill |
ELEGANT PATIO SET |
| This
table and chairs set is great on the deck, patio or balcony |
Sometimes
simpler is better, and these bar-height table and chairs show
how well good looks and clean lines can go together. My design
calls on mortise-and-tenon joinery for the frames, while the
horizontal seat slats and tabletop are fastened with corrosion-resistant
screws. This approach is strong, attractive, easy to build and
makes it easy to replace parts later, if needed.
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| The
bar-stool height of this table and chairs set makes
it an upscale alternative to a traditional patio
set, perfect for a toast to a warm evening |
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The
tabletop is large enough for four chairs, one on each side.
All of the parts are cut from one-inch and 1 1/2"-thick
white oak. This terrific eastern hardwood looks great and stands
up to outdoor weather well. It’s heavy, hard and strong,
with excellent wear-resistance. It also holds screws solidly,
although you’ll need to predrill for them. Oak contains
high levels of tannic acid, a substance that reacts with some
metals to produce black stains. Choose stainless-steel screws:
they minimize discolouration of the wood.
Start with the Chairs
Each chair consists of four frames connected at the corners
with 1 1/4"-square legs. All rails are cut from 3/4"-thick
material, organized as a set of thin lower rails and wider upper
seat rails. You’ll join them with blind mortise-and-tenons,
which are hidden.
Mill the front and rear legs to
1 1/4" square, then cut them a bit longer than required.
The angle on the top of the legs will be cut later, after you’ve
shaped the armrests. Mark the legs according to location: front
right, front left, back right, back left. Don’t forget:
the front legs are longer than the rear ones.
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| This
chair was designed for life outdoors. All parts
come together at a slight angle, so rain won’t
pool and weaken joints, particularly on curved parts
such as the armrests (above). The slats are joined
to the frame from below with corrosion-resistant
screws. The curved profile of the chair backs (below)
provides lower back support. Danish oil is an excellent
finish for this project: it protects by penetrating
deep into the wood |
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Carefully
lay out the mortise locations, making sure the joint orientation
is correct relative to the other legs. Cut all mortises 1/2"-wide
and 3/4"-deep, centred on the legs. The simplest way to
prepare mortises involves boring out the majority of the waste
with a drill, then squaring the holes with a chisel. You can
also use a plunge router or, if you’re lucky enough to
own one, a mortising machine.
Regardless of how you prepare
them, lightly chamfer the edges of each mortise to prevent chipping
of the wood along the edges. White oak is especially prone to
this! As you work, keep in mind that the longer mortises for
the seat side rail meet inside the legs with those for the face
seat rail.
Next, mill face seat rails, side
seat rails, the lower face rails and the lower side rails to
3/4" thick. It’s easy to get these parts mixed up,
so bundle them in groups with tape to keep things orderly while
you cut to final length. This is especially important if you’re
building four chairs at once.
Use a dado blade in your tablesaw
to prepare the 3/4"-long tenons you’ll need on the
ends of all the frame rails. Cut the tenons to width first by
tweaking the height of the blade until the tenon is a snug fit
into the mortise. Cut all tenons to the same width at this machine
setting, then cut the cheeks to bring the tenons to the correct
height in the same way. Make sure your machine settings are
correct first, then run all the parts through.
Take a look at the plans and you’ll
see that the side and face seat rails meet in the corners. Make
this happen smoothly by trimming the ends of the tenons on these
parts to 45º, so that they meet without interfering within
the mortises. By now you’ve probably discovered how splintery
white oak can be. That’s why you should lightly chamfer
the corners of all tenons.
Test-fit each joint and use a
chisel and file to tweak the joints until they’re snug.
Clamp the chair frame together without glue, checking that all
the joints are tight and the frame is square. Carefully label
each part (on end grain surfaces) to make it easy to reassemble
the frame during glue-up.
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PART 1 | PART 2 | PART
3 | PART 4 |
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