Alder Patio Furniture

I built this set of patio furniture a few years ago. I saw a similar set in a catalog, so I tried to follow a similar style. It is made from 8/4 and 4/4 Alder, and assembled mainly with pocket hole joints. I left it unfinished as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep or sell it at the time. I ultimately did opt to finish it with a water-based wood dye and spar urethane finish (I only had one picture of the finished bench).

A few things I learned:
1. Alder can be difficult to stain evenly, and can be blotchy in some areas. Perhaps a wood conditioner would have helped.
2. Cutting pieces with unparalleled sides on a table saw was a bit tough. I ended up making a jig to hold the pieces at the desired angle in order to run them through the saw. I really should have used a band saw for some of these, but didn’t own one at the time.
3. Pocket joints are easy, but not the best for every joint. I didn’t like the way some of the joints had to show, and I could have gotten much more creative with other joint types.
4. Spar urethane has more of a greenish tint than I expected. I was going for a dark espresso color, but it ended up to have a greenish hue to it due to the urethane. I’ll need to prepare more test boards before finishing all of the furniture.

That’s about it.

-- J.M., Nashville, Tennessee