Lizzy's Chair: Here goes nothing...

Back at the end of April, just before school let out, I decided it was time I pick up a new hobby. It had been years since I had had something productive to occupy my spare time, and I was getting antsy. I resolved it was time to pick up woodwork, something that I had wanted to do since I started college but never actually got around to learning. A day-long lesson in The Shop with my dad, a builder by trade, and I was ready to go. I had a plan drawn up for my first project: an adirondack chair that I would give to my girlfriend Lizzy for her 21st birthday. Ain't she a doll??

The chair is made out of cedar, cut fresh from the Mill, and putting my crash-course lesson in woodwork to action, I spent roughly 5 hours shaping the wood and assembling it into a chair. I used stainless steel Fastenal wood screws to put it all together. While I do not have any pictures of the actual production of her chair, I do have pictures of the final product, and hope to have pictures of the process in future posts. I have been, and will definitely continue, making more chairs from this plan. Here's how it turned out:

I had initially wanted to prime and paint the chair, but, per (strong) suggestion of my dad, I decided to go with a decorative stain, and then applied three layers of poly seal.

I could not be more happy with how the stain turned out. It provides the personalization I was looking to achieve by priming and painting, but also lets the natural beauty of the cedar show. The duck design turned out perfect on the back of the chair. 

I decorated the legs of the chair on both sides with duck footprints to match the back. The piece of cedar that I cut the legs from was particularly vibrant, and sealing the chair really made those colors pop. It gave the legs a gradient look behind the decorative stain that I did not expect, but that made me very happy nonetheless. 

On the base support, I wanted to stain a Bible verse. I do not have the best cursive handwriting to begin with, and it worsens with a brush, so I had to call in back up. A special thanks to Mallory McCarty for the assist! The verses are Phillipians 4: 6 and 7, and read "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." I thought this was fit for a chair that will be used for resting and relaxing.. 

I finished by staining Lizzy's first and middle initials on the back support. Three coats of poly seal with sanding between each application, and I was finished with my first project!

Everything turned out way better than I expected. Lizzy loves her chair, and I found a new passion while designing and building it. More to come...