A Design Change

Hopefully, while you are working in your shop you are leaning or trying something new every day. Yesterday was both for me. This post will be about the trying something new, I'll do a separate post for a lesson learned.

Under the category of "Trying" I am attempting to come up with a new way to put my Adirondack Chairs together so that fewer screws are noticeable. On my latest set, I tried using a wood filler and I am not happy with the results. I have been kicking around in my head for a while now a different idea. Instead of putting the screws in front the front, I thought way couldn't I put them in from a different angle.

So I sketched out a few ideas and came up with the one I am going to try next. This new idea will mean a slight modification to the design, but not an overall re-work. The two locations I focused were on the arm rests and the back slats.

On the arm rest I am going to add a little material between the arm rest and the front legs.

I will then attach the new material to the leg and arm rest support with countersunk screws. Then the arm rest itself will be attached, drilling the screws from the bottom. This will make the screws not visible from the standpoint of the person sitting in the chair.

For the back slats I am going to use my newly acquired table saw to make dado cuts then drill the screws in from the back side.

This should make the screws invisible.  I have practiced several times with scrap wood, which I recommend anytime you make a modification or change to a design. The attempts have been very successful so I have a good feeling about this.