Show All ItemsThese chairs are my heavy-duty version of the classic 2-piece wooden beach chair (or "camp" chair). They are comfortable to sit in and are rock solid. They hold my 250 pounds without a creak! The best part is that they pack away tidily with the seat section nesting into the back section for storage or transport.I made these from 1" thick solid ash wood with cotton canvas and lightly padded seats. I'm very happy with how they turned out, and I hope you'll use my plans to make some for yourself.Thanks for taking a look.Step 1: PlanShow All ItemsI wanted a pair of wooden portable chairs that were especially robust and heavy duty, but was not impressed with what I could find available to buy (for example, this or this). So I decided to make my own, up to my own standards.I laid out some butcher paper on a table and began working out the geometry and details full-scale using rulers and an angle gauge. I'm old school like that.My goal was come up with a plan that used simple measurements and maximized use of material.
I think it was a successful effort, and I'm quite proud of how it all turned out!The top image is a digitized version of my finalized plan and contains almost all of the details needed to complete the wooden frames for one chair. However, I have covered the entire build process in the coming steps as well.What tools do you need?This project requires access to common woodworking tools. There are numerous ways to achieve the same results though, and what route you take depends on what tools and skill level you may have. I used a table saw and band saw, as well as drills, router, sanders, and common finishing supplies. For the fabric portions, I used a sewing machine along with other common sewing supplies.« PreviousNext »View All Steps Download Make It: DIY Wooden Camp Chair See how you can whip up a few of these wooden bad boys by visiting The Merrythought for the full tutorial! DIY Wooden Camp/Beach Chair by [The Merrythought]Over 100 Free Outdoor Woodcraft Plans at AllCrafts.net
Free plans for all kinds of outdoor woodworking projects. Arbors, chairs, patio furniture, benches, gardening tables, outdoor storage and much more! DIY Pallet Wood Hose Holder with Planter Adirondack Lawn Chair and Table How to build a CNC machine in an afternoon using parts you can find at any store Build a Wood Folding Sling Chair Bench and Planter Modules Build a Custom Tree Bench build a peaked top arbor Build a Porch Swing Build a Tough Toolbox Build an elegant patio set Build the Perfect Picnic Table Building a Bench Planter Cedar Chaise Lounge Plans Cedar Garden Bench Plans Cedar Patio Chair Plans Cedar Patio Table Plans DIY Outdoor Lawn Furniture DIY Pallet Art Projects Easy Chair Project Plan Factory Cart Coffee Table Folding Double Adirondack Chair Plans Free Porch Swing Plan Garden Bench Project Plan Garden Closet Storage Project How to Build a Garden Arbor
How to Build a Picnic Table How to Build a Planter How to Build a Planter Bench How to Build a Sandbox How to build a simple garden bench or seat How to Build a Wood Arbor for Garden or Yard How to build an Arched Garden Bridge How to Make an Adirondack Chair and Love Seat I Love Old Windows Inspiring Pallet Gardening Ideas Make a Bamboo Wind Chime Make Your Own Arbor Modern Outdoor Bench Project Plan Natural Non-Toxic Wood Stain with Coffee, Berries and More Play Washers - Build a Set of Washer Boxes Porch Glider Project Plan Power Sculpted Contemplation Bench Provence Beam Dining and Benches Simple DIY recycling center Simple Stackable Outdoor Chairs Simple White Outdoor Sofa Workbench for the GardenerHow to Prevent Your Cutting Board From SlidingWhile attending grade school in Sweden, I took a mandatory hemslöjd (arts and crafts) class where we worked on wood and sewing projects, including making a simple beach chair.
Considering that my mother keeps everything my brother and I ever made, I’m sure it can be located beneath some dust in my parents attic. If you don’t want to take the handy route, consider these two options at different ends of the price spectrum. Above: The Dania Folding Beach Chair by Skagerak is $275 from Fjí¸rn Scandinavian. Above: The Caravan Wood Chair is $74.90 from Beach Mall. N.B.: This post is an update; the original story ran on July 19, 2012, as part of our A La Plage issue. Dania Folding Beach ChairPlease Select Username to appear on public areas of the site like community and recipe comments.Inflatable DockFloating InflatableFloating ToysBoating GadgetsSummer GadgetsDock MeasuresMeasures 10Solstice FloatingHikey StuffForwardNo dock? The Solstice Floating Inflatable Dock measures 10’ x 8’, ample room to set up some beach chairs and relax. Add a cooler and an umbrella to create your own oasis. Four D-rings can be used to anchor the dock. Eight handles around the dock help with boarding – just grab on.
Tie your stand-up paddleboard or kayak to the side. When you’re ready to paddle, just step in from the dock – easy loading.Build it for the beach Now, a place to sit Finish first, fabric last Build it for the beach Begin by preparing your stock. I picked maple for most of the parts, along with some cherry pieces for accents. Your goal is a chair that is fairly light and portable, using some fairly thin components. But as a chair, it still needs to be strong enough to hold you up. You might think you need to use a rot-resistant species, such as white oak, but the chair will be stored in a sheltered location most of the time. As such, most sturdy hardwoods will work. Weatherproof glue and stainless-steel screws are a good idea for all joints on this chair, since it sometimes will support a body in a wet swimsuit. When your day at the beach is through, fold up your comfy beach chair and store it until your next day in the sun. Begin by cutting the back legs and upper and lower crosspieces to the dimensions shown in the parts list.
Mark a 4"-wide x 1/4"-deep hand-hold in the upper crosspiece, and cut it out with a scrollsaw or jigsaw. To create the angled feet, mark a point 1" up from the bottom of each back leg on the rear edges, and another 7/8" in from the rear on the ends, then connect the marks and saw off the waste. These two cuts face to the rear of the chair, so take care as the assembly progresses to keep pieces oriented correctly.
Next, mark the positions for the two lower crosspieces. The first of the two goes on the rear edges of the back legs, positioned on the front edge of the back legs so its bottom edge is 8 5/8" above the feet. The second, lower crosspiece is positioned on the front edge of the back legs so that its upper edge is 7" above the feet. This setup provides a gap of 1 5/8" between the two lower crosspieces—1/8" more than the width of the seat legs in the seat assembly. Sand all the back’s parts before assembly. I recommend being quite aggressive in rounding over various edges.
This chair will be moved and carried a lot, as well as sat upon, making sharp corners and splinters most unwelcome. Position the two back legs on your bench, with the rear edges facing up, then glue and screw the upper crosspiece and rear-facing lower crosspiece into position. One simple way to keep everything parallel is to rip a scrap of plywood to 13 1/2" wide and use it as a spacer between the two legs.
Next, flip the assembly over, then glue and screw the other lower crosspiece into place. Mill the seat legs, seat crosspiece and seat slats to size. Cut the rear, downward-facing corners of the seat legs at an angle to form feet (as you did with the back legs), marking a point 1" up the leg and another 3/4" in from the front edge on the end to get the angle right. Connect the two points and then cut off the waste. Again, sand all parts before assembly. Position the seat legs on your bench with exactly 11 5/8" separating them. As before, a plywood spacer makes this setup easier.
The goal is for the assembled seat legs to fit inside the legs of the back component with just a bit of clearance for ease of movement. Double-check these measurements against your actual finished back assembly, in case you have deviated from the specified dimensions. Just remember to allow space for the back’s fabric as it wraps around the legs. Next, mark a line 91⁄4" in from the upper ends of the seat legs. The five seat slats are then spaced out evenly within that 9 1/4" area, which works out to a gap of about 3/8" to 7/16" between each slat. Then take the seat slats over to the drillpress, and use the fence to position and drill all countersunk screw holes so they are evenly spaced and in line. This is a small touch, but it does look better on the finished product. Position the seat slats on the legs, then secure them with glue and #6 x 11/4"-long screws.
The final step is to secure the seat crosspiece, with its lower face positioned 4" up from the foot of the legs, with glue and #6 x 11/4"-long screws.
Normally, applying a finish is the last step, but not with this project. Installing the fabric back needs to happen last.
I finished my chair with two coats of Circa 1850 Tung ’n Teak oil, allowing 24 hours between coats. This oil is an outdoor-rated finish, and is easy to apply and reapply later. If you used cherry, as I did, leave the chair outside on a few bright sunny days for several hours before finishing. The UV rays give you a jump-start on the natural darkening of the cherry. Allow the finish to cure fully for several days before taking the final step of adding the fabric back. (See “In Stitches,”)
There is one more thing you need to do: find yourself a nice stretch of sand, preferably near the water, slide the seat and back together, then sit yourself down for some relaxation. There is a practical purpose to this, of course, which is to make sure that the fit of the seat is just right for you!
Be sure to take your time. If you find the fit of the chair isn’t quite right for you, then experiment with your prototype.
I am 6'3", and I sized the chair for me—but then again, my young sons also have sat on it and pronounced it fine. Cutting the legs shorter on the back assembly tips you forward. Cutting the legs shorter on the seat assembly tips you back. Cutting both sides lowers everything. (Make sure you make only small cuts at a time.) Adjusting the space between the two lower crosspieces on the back component affects the seating angle. There are a lot of minor tweaks you can do to make everything just right, but perhaps you’d like to just relax on that warm, sandy beach with a book and a glass of lemonade in hand. Applying the fabric back on the chair can seem intimidating to a woodworker, for whom the world of sewing machines and seam allowances may be a mystery. First, as with any project, you need to find the right material. Fabric is sold in metric lengths, in a number of standard widths. Look for fabric that is 120-cm wide and buy a 60-cm-long piece to give yourself enough to work with.
To make two chairs, 24" x 20" is roughly 58-cm wide x 50-cm high. If you can’t find fabric that wide, or if the pattern does not “divide in two” easily, then you will need a piece just over 1 m long to give you enough material for two chairs. When working with fabric, ideally you want to have the edges finished, so they don’t unravel with time. This can be accomplished by finding a friend or family member with a sewing machine. My wife was a big help, as she stitched the vertical edges, then folded over and stitched the top and bottom edges. The result is just a large rectangle of fabric—nothing complicated. A second set of hands makes installing the fabric easy. Fold the fabric around one of the back legs and staple or tack it into place with fasteners all along the inside front edge of the leg. When the fabric back is installed, it covers all four sides of the leg. Once the fabric is attached to one leg, pull it tight to the other leg, wrap it completely around, then staple or tack it securely into place.