Making Rustic Furniture

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Diagram shows a basic twig furniture frame.
Diagram shows a basic twig furniture frame.
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After making rustic furniture—such as this white birch, wild cherry, and sapling piece—the author enjoys some early winter sun.
After making rustic furniture—such as this white birch, wild cherry, and sapling piece—the author enjoys some early winter sun.
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Diagram shows method of assembling a settee.
Diagram shows method of assembling a settee.
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Diagram shows assembly method for basic slat seat chair.
Diagram shows assembly method for basic slat seat chair.
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Lay out bench ends as mirror images on a grid.
Lay out bench ends as mirror images on a grid.
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Carefully measure and mark everything before cutting anything.
Carefully measure and mark everything before cutting anything.
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Use screws to secure a back rail.
Use screws to secure a back rail.
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Make sure all members are square, level, and plumb.
Make sure all members are square, level, and plumb.
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Cut notches with a bow saw for half-lap joints.
Cut notches with a bow saw for half-lap joints.
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Carefully nail on flat redwood slats for the seat.
Carefully nail on flat redwood slats for the seat.
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Also use screws to secure cross braces to the back.
Also use screws to secure cross braces to the back.
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Diagram shows method of making secure crossing joints. 
Diagram shows method of making secure crossing joints. 
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Diagram shows three methods of creating butted joints.
Diagram shows three methods of creating butted joints.
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Diagram shows method of making mortise and tenon joints.
Diagram shows method of making mortise and tenon joints.
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Diagram shows method of making doweled joints.
Diagram shows method of making doweled joints.
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To most of us, an Adirondack chair is an angular, laid-back lawn chair made of flatboards. That design is more properly a product of western Vermont than upstate NewYork.
To most of us, an Adirondack chair is an angular, laid-back lawn chair made of flatboards. That design is more properly a product of western Vermont than upstate NewYork.
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Diagram shows method of cross-bracing the sides of a frame.
Diagram shows method of cross-bracing the sides of a frame.

My almost life-long devotion to making rustic furniture had its roots in boyhood, when I was fortunate enough to spend grade school summer vacations at my grandparents’ turn-of-the-century cottage on the shore of a north country lake. On warm, sunny days, the old place really hummed; younger cousins splashed and shrieked in the shallows, older ones buzzed around in the boats, aunts chased toddlers, and uncles fidgeted ’til 4:00 P.M. and happy hour.

As I got older, I’d walk the shore path north to where it disappeared into the quiet and cool of the evergreen woods, narrowed to a pine-needled rut of an Indian trail, and wound up a steep hill, carrying a pilgrim a century and more back in time.

At the top of the hill–half-hidden in a hemlock grove–was a collection of little-used hunting cabins that dated from the lake’s earliest resort days. Out front, the hill dropped off sharply and a narrow stairway zigzagged down to a lakeside gazebo that held a clutter of chairs, settees and tables.

All of it–cabins, stairs, railings, gazebo and furniture–was fashioned from whole and split logs, rough-hewn planks and saplings–some bare, some with bark, some straight, others featuring crooks and twists, burls, snags and gnarls.

To a 10-year-old, it all seemed to have grown from the woods the way a mushroom pushes up from the forest floor, gleaming white under a cap of pine needles and loam–distinct, yet still a part of it. The gazebo’s roof was thick with lichen and moss, and the rough plank floor was littered with squirrel-hollowed nutshells and clam shells left by raccoons. In the center, a gnarled and knot-holed log reached to the roof peak. Around the perimeter were more whole-log supports, each with two opposing branches growing out from the trunk at just the right angles to support the eaves poles.

  • Published on Dec 1, 1994
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