Project: Patio Chair
Overview: Assemble this chair with nothing
more than a rubber mallet and a bottle of glue.
This chair folds up for easy storage and transporta-
tion to ones favorite beach or camping location.
Materials: Exterior grade plywood 3/4”
Minimum Cutting Area: 48” x 48”
Bit Size: 1/4”
Finishing: Most people use this chair outdoors
so Minwax SparUrathane is recommended for this
project. Or for the end users who want to paint
these to match their porch deco will should use an
exterior latex based paint. Easy to apply and
cleanup.
**Always read the entire project details before starting to cut the file yourself**
**Account for the thickness of the physical material on hand and the material thickness in the file**
**This file is zeroed to the tables surface, Zero your bit to the tables surface**
Included with the cut file is a hold As the file starts cutting the pro- Tabs are use to hold all the pieces
down toolpath that shows where it file of the parts make sure the cut to the scrap wood attached to
is safe to put screws. Run this file is going all the way through the them. Use a utility knife to score
separately from the cut file so you work piece and into the table these edges. Never try to push a
can screw down the work piece, or surface. If you need to adjust piece out without cutting the tab,
if you have a different size board or any part of the file make sure you it will tear the grain on your pro-
different type of hold down disre- do not remove the hold down or ject. Sand remaining tab flat.
gard the file. you will loose position.
Routing a 1/4” roundover on These chairs will be handled by Fill the mortised pockets with a
all of the edges adds a lot to the many and sat on by many, a healthy amount of glue. This
look of the project and makes it thorough sanding job on all chairs will take a lot of abuse
nicer on ones hands when faces and edges is highly recom- over the years, and without any
transporting the chair. mended. outside fasteners the glue joints
are the only thing that holds
these chairs together.
A small brush or your finger Start by gluing the back support Move over to the seat portion
should apply the glue to all sur- onto the upper curved pieces. of the chair. Fill all of the mor-
faces inside the mortise. This Clamp and allow glue to dry. tise pockets and start pushing
will ensure a properly glued Flipping the project over from the chair pieces together. Note
joint. here can allow wet glue to spill the distance of the pockets
out of the dogbone corners on from the end of the slats. The
the mortise pockets. ones with the longest distance
are used on the seat portion.
Add the lower support and Excess glue is fine, just wipe it After the back slat has had time
clamp all of the pieces and let off with a damp towel. If you to setup, flip the assembly over
this assembly sit upside down miss wiping the glue off and it and prepare to glue up the re-
while the glue dries. dries, a sharp chisel will pop maining parts of the chair.
the glue heads off from your
project.
Work your way from one side Clamping pressure should be Ideally painting this chair would
to the other filling the tenons kept on the assembly for a cou- be easier done before assembly,
with glue, spreading the glue ple hours, this also means the it is easier to get to all of the
with a brush and applying a chair should lay like it is pic- pieces. However, it is not to
clamp to hold the pieces to- tured above during this time so much extra work to stain or
gether until the glue sets up. glue does not run out of the paint the project after it is as-
dogbone corners. sembled. One can also ven-
ture into the spray finishes.
Once all the glue has setup, Two chairs can easily be cut
push your chair in to place and from a 4’ x 8’ piece of ply-
pull apart making sure every- wood. Simply increase the
thing looks and feels right be- quantities in the file and re-
fore you sit on it. toolpath.
This chair design was found on
Minwax.com and that origi-
nally came from American
Woodworker Magazine. It is
recommended to look up how
this chair was traditionally cut,
with the long band saw curves,
and all of the countersinking
and plugging. It really helps
one appreciate the world of
CNC and what the ShopBot is
capable doing.
