Adirondack Chair with Paracord Seat
In this video I make an Adirondack Chair, and instead of the classic wooden seat. I make one with Paracord!
Check out my twist on the classic Adirondack Chair. I clean up the leg lines with some more modern styling and I add a woven paracord seat. Its big and its comfortable! Check it out here!
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This build is not for the faint of heart. Most adirondack chairs are simple, but this one took me 4x longer than i anticipated, but it was a great learning experience. I broke it down into a few parts to make it manageable. Check out the walk through below. You can download a free Sketchup model of this build here.
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- Square/ Mill Stock
- Layout Legs & Arms
- Cut Seat Pan
- Assemble Seat
- Assemble Base & Chair Seat
- Back Assembly
- Finish
Square Stock
Start off by breaking down the lumber. I use 2×4 cedar from my local home store. I have a free sketchup model if you would like to attempt this build and would like to use it for reference. You can download it here. Everything is milled to 1.5″ thick.
I then glue up the stock for the arm and legs, since they’re wider than 2×4. I use titebond 3 for its waterproof nature, and longer work time. 
Layout/ Assemble Legs & Arms
Once out of the clamps its back to the jointer and planer to square to final thickness and dimensions
I then layout the angles for the leg joint on a piece of scrap plywood that is dimensioned to the overall height and width i want for the legs. I cut these on the miter saw
I mark out the location for some dominos which is how i join the legs together. I will cut the top and bottom angles after the glue up
Because of the angles i join everything flat on my work table with wedges.Once the legs are dry i cut the angles for the top and bottom using my track saw. Then trace the angles on the rest of the legs
I then move on to the arm rest. I lay out and cut everything before glue up, to avoid using any awkward angles on the bandsaw. I cut the arm angles first, then the angle on the backrest. I use two screws and a thin piece of cut off to draw my arch for this.
Cut Seat Pan
For the seat pans i lay everything out first before cutting and drilling.
using A ¼” forestner bit i cut he grooves for the cord straps to fit. I then clean them up with a rasp.
I lastly cut the curve for the front and back. I cut lap joints on the table saw so the paracord can clear the radius on the inside where they’re mounted on the legs.
Assemble Seat
I start by assembling the seat parts using glue and stainless steel screws. I then weave the seat using Paracord.
To weave the seat i measure out 24 length of the seat with and just wrap them tightly in 12 consecutive loops. For these pags it took almost 600ft of paracord each and almost 2 hours to weave. I tie them off with double hitch knots.
Assemble Seat & Chair Base
I measure up where i think the seat is at a comfortable lounge height, and fasten them into the legs. Here you can see why we cut the laps in the pan sides for clearance
Back Assembly
I move onto the back slats which are cut from more 2×4 stock, jointed and re-sawed. I layout the back and draw a curve along the slats and cut them on the bandsaw
After cutting the curve on the bandsaw i attach the slats to the base curve for the bottom of the back slats. I start in the center and use a 3/4″ spacer and a single screw in the center.
Final Assembly
I attach the bottom of the back slats with counter sunk screws. I then counter sink the slat backs based on where they line up with the back of the arm. 
Then I attach the arms and the back slats. I work from the center out. Splaying them evenly by eye.
I cut a random curve for the arm wrests, then sand the whole chair.
I then apply a satin spar varnish for some help against the elements outside.
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