Do-It-Yourself Porch Swing

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The front brace fastens to the front of the seat supports with glue and screws, but before you get this far you should do more than cut the front brace to length. It also requires a 10-degree bevel along the top edge, to match the angle where it will meet the front seat slat later. This might sound complicated, but it’s not. If you have a table saw, simply tilt the blade 10 degrees from vertical as you cut the top edge of the front brace. You could achieve similar results using a hand plane. When it’s time to secure the front brace with glue and screws, take another look at the plans. They show how this part fits between the two outside seat supports, tight to the front ends of the inside seat supports. A pipe clamp and extra hands make this work much easier.

To finish the main framework of the seat, secure the back top rail into the notches cut in the top ends of the back supports. Use glue and screws, as you did for the other joints.

Prepare the Arms

Use glue and #10, 3-inch-long screws to fasten the arm pieces. Cut both arm supports and fasten them to the outer faces of the outside seat supports 2 1⁄2 inches back from their front ends. (The front of each arm extends 2 1⁄2 inches ahead of the arm support.)

The swing requires reinforcement at the points where it is suspended from the support frame. The two arm brackets provide extra support for the front chains. Cut the brackets to size, round the bottom ends to a 2-inch radius and fasten them to the outside face of the arm supports, snuggly fitted against the underside of each arm. The back of the swing requires similar reinforcement with the two arm braces. Cut, shape and fasten (using #10, 3-inch screws and glue) all the parts of the arm at this stage.

All of the cedar back slats and five of the seat slats are the same width (2 1⁄4 inches). Two seat slats are 3 inches wide. Attach one of the wide seat slats to the front of the seat support frame, using two #10, 2-inch-long screws driven into pre-drilled holes at each end of the slat. Secure the other wide seat slat 1 1⁄2 inches ahead of the back supports. Space the remaining seat slats between these two, leaving a quarter-inch gap between them. Arrange them all without attaching them (so the spacing is right), then anchor the seat slats using one #10, 2-inch screw at each end. This process works well for the back slats, too, but first lay the seat on its back.

To complete the seat, add the decorative front top and base trim. If you’ve got a table mounted router, use a quarter-inch radius round-over bit to mill the exposed edges of these parts. You could also do a pretty good job with a hand plane. For best appearance, bevel the top edge of the front trim piece to match the 10-degree bevel you applied earlier to the front brace.

At this point, you can hang the swing from a porch, a big tree with a solid limb or an existing support frame. Otherwise you’ve got a bit more building to do.

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