Blood, Sweat, and Sawdust

My life is hectic planning for the move.  I’m obsessing over every detail.  I haven’t spent as much time in the shop as I’d like.  However, I did find some time to complete a nice little commission for a friend: a high-back cypress porch swing.

I milled the structural components from 8/4 Cypress, and the slats from 4/4 Cypress.  These boards are beautiful.  All of them had tight grain and were completely free of knots.  Most of the boards where 12 inches or wider.  It was a shame to rip them all down.  I used Tite-bond III wood-glue and stainless steel hardware.

I started by milling up the 8/4 boards.  With the seat and back supports roughed out, I cut the half-lap joints that join the two pieces together.  I did this before cutting the curved profiles.  This made cutting the half-laps on the table saw much easier.  If I ever do this again, I will use bridle joints.

With the half-laps cut, I cut the curved profiles on the band saw.  I did this before gluing the assemblies together.  Then, I cleaned everything up on the spindle sander.  I also routed a round-over on the top of the arm-rest and the arm-rest bracket.

With the structural components complete, I ripped my 8/4 stock down and routed a round-over on the top of each seat slat.

Assembly was very straight forward.  I started with the side assemblies.  I screwed and glued the arm rests to their brackets.  Then I bored the holes and counter-sinks for the carriage bolts that will hold the side assemblies together as well as support the chain.

With the side assemblies complete, I started attaching the seat slats.  I started at the top of the back and front, and worked my way inwards.

With the swing assembled, I bored a hole to accept the swing chain through the arm-rest.  I finished the swing with a quick sanding.  I think it turned out well, and it should last for some time.