Coming together
Assembly starts with the main legs, front legs and seat slats. Predrill and countersink all the screw holes to prevent splitting.
Attach the rearmost seat slat (the one that the back slats attach to) into the pockets on the main legs by using a couple of #8 x 13/4" screws and a weatherproof adhesive. I like Type II PVA glue, but a polyurethane glue would work well too. Just be sure to dampen the mating surfaces prior to assembly if you are using polyurethane glue. It needs a bit of moisture to cure properly.
Attach the next seat slat to the main legs. Continue assembly by positioning and attaching the front legs. Secure them with screws through the inside faces to avoid having visible fasteners on the outside. The angle cut on the back of the main legs helps to locate the correct spot for the front legs. Don't forget that the legs (and arms) are offset and non-symmetrical.
Finally, fasten the arm blocks to the top of the arm braces and then attach the arm braces to the front legs by driving screws through the inside faces of the legs.
Take your time
The next few assembly steps are a bit tricky because the parts have to hang in mid-air before you join them together. It's important to follow the correct assembly procedure so that everything lines up properly.
Start by attaching the bottom end of the back slats to the rear seat slat. I like to measure and mark each screw location carefully when they'll be visible in the final project. This leads to a more pleasing look in the end.
It's easier to attach the rest of the seat slats now, rather than when the arms are in the way. The slats are best spaced by eye, since the undulating surface of the main legs makes using a fixed space difficult. Lay out all the remaining seat slats now. Make sure to leave a gap between the back's slats and last seat slat to allow water and debris to fall through and not get trapped. When you're happy with part positioning, screw all the slats in place.
4 Comments
How do you get the blue prints or specifications to this design? For example how tall are front legs that support the arms? How wide are the seat slats? How tall are the back pieces?
It would be very convenient if these articles, with plans, would be summarized into one downloadable PDF. It's really tedious to have to print each page and pdf individually.
william_ryan it tells you everything you need in the "you will need" list. all the dimensions are right there.
In the picture it looks like the screws attaching the seat slats are hidden but the instructions don't indicate how. Is there a step missing?