Journal Content
Series Name
#1 - Templates and Jigs
After replacing all of the skirting on my deck, I was left with a bunch of scrap pieces of 5/4" pressure-treated planks. I thought I'd see if I could build some deck chairs with the leftovers. After looking at various types of chair designs, I settled on modeling one after Hans Wegner's GE-375 lounge chair. The design has large, flat armrests that I think gives it the look of a modern Adirondack chair. It's also a knock-down chair, which I thought would make it ideal for winter storage. With the help of a lot of online images of the chair, I worked out some vectors for most of the parts and cut out some router templates on the CNC.
The bed of my CNC is pretty small, so I had to puzzle-piece the two larger templates.
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This is where I'm headed (hopefully):
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Here's one set of pieces cut out from the templates. The double-bearing compression bit is just the thing to get a smooth finish. I left the arm support piece long so I have some wiggle room working out the angle where it attached to the bottom of the arm.
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I used treated-lumber to create some 8mm domino stock for the side assemblies.
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My original intent was to use the MDF templates to trim the pieces to size at the router table, and then switch to a handheld router with pattern bit to create the bolt head counterbores and some of the mortises. However, while testing I found that I could very easily damage the template if the handheld router tipped just a little. So I switched gears and started creating a set of jigs for cutting mortises with a guide bushing instead.
This router jig is for the inside of the right side assembly to cut mortises for the seat stretcher and the middle-back stretcher. I later modified this to incorporate the hole at the top of the relief cut that's on the back riser.
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Both left and right jigs:
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Router jig for the mortises where the top-back stretcher attaches. This one can be used on both left and right sides.
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Router jig for the front leg mortise:
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The final side assembly router jig is for cutting the 1/8" relief slot on the back riser. The dowel locator holes go through the template, so I can shift them from one face to the other for routing each side piece.
![]()
The bed of my CNC is pretty small, so I had to puzzle-piece the two larger templates.
This is where I'm headed (hopefully):
Here's one set of pieces cut out from the templates. The double-bearing compression bit is just the thing to get a smooth finish. I left the arm support piece long so I have some wiggle room working out the angle where it attached to the bottom of the arm.
I used treated-lumber to create some 8mm domino stock for the side assemblies.
My original intent was to use the MDF templates to trim the pieces to size at the router table, and then switch to a handheld router with pattern bit to create the bolt head counterbores and some of the mortises. However, while testing I found that I could very easily damage the template if the handheld router tipped just a little. So I switched gears and started creating a set of jigs for cutting mortises with a guide bushing instead.
This router jig is for the inside of the right side assembly to cut mortises for the seat stretcher and the middle-back stretcher. I later modified this to incorporate the hole at the top of the relief cut that's on the back riser.
Both left and right jigs:
Router jig for the mortises where the top-back stretcher attaches. This one can be used on both left and right sides.
Router jig for the front leg mortise:
The final side assembly router jig is for cutting the 1/8" relief slot on the back riser. The dowel locator holes go through the template, so I can shift them from one face to the other for routing each side piece.
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