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Beach chair
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Made of lightweight cedar, these beach chairs fold for easy transport
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By Rick Campbell, photos by Roger Yip, illustration by Len Churchill
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Lightweight cedar and compact design make these chairs a pleasure to take along to the beach
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Portable beach chairs are perfect for this summer's trips to the shore. If camping is more your thing, they're also handy for sitting around the campfire while roasting marshmallows. The chairs are made of lightweight cedar, they fold up flat for convenient storage and their easy-to-build design means you can make a few this weekend and still have time to relax in them when they're done.
Lines in the Sand
I used a technique called “pattern routing” to make identical pairs of the curved backrest and seat supports. It's a useful procedure whenever a project calls for perfect copies of irregular-shaped parts. To begin, prepare full-sized templates by transferring the backrest and seat support shapes onto 1/4" Baltic birch plywood or medium-density fibreboard (MDF). You can easily complete the elongated curved sections by tracing along a thin strip of wood, flexed to form the required shape. The expanded profiles don't have to be identical to the plan versions, but they should be as close as possible. After marking the locations of the pivot bolts, cut out the patterns and sand the edges to smooth out any bumps or indentations. Every imperfection left on your patterns will be repeated faithfully on the workpieces you make.
Choose your weapons
Arrange the patterns on 3/4"-thick cedar boards to find a layout that makes the most efficient use of your material. Avoid knots and other flaws that can weaken the pieces. Trace around the edge of the patterns with a pencil, then cut out the parts, leaving approximately 1/16" of waste material around the edge. A bandsaw is the best tool for this task, but a scrollsaw or jigsaw also gets the job done. Next, reposition the templates on the blanks and tack them in place with three or four finishing nails. Go ahead and install one of the finishing nails at the pivot bolt location to mark the spot for the hole you'll drill later. Leave the nail heads slightly proud of the surface for easy removal; you'll take them out after routing is complete.
Install a bearing-guided flush trim bit in a table-mounted router and adjust the height so the bearing runs directly against the edge of the pattern. Using the templates as your guide, run the edges of the parts over the bit, trimming the waste material as you go. If tearout or splintering occurs, try correcting the problem by slowing down the feed rate and taking the cut in several shallow passes. When both pairs of supports are done, drill a 1/4"-dia. hole at the marked locations (the places where those finishing nails were located) to receive the pivot bolts. Avoid tearout when drilling by using a piece of scrap underneath as a backer board.
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