On my first two pieces - King's Adirondack chairs

[bradleyheathhays]

I'm just starting off on my first two commissioned pieces, two of Mr. King's very fine Adirondack chairs. I visited this particular local lumber yard this past weekend as I thought they had some Eastern Red Cedar that would've worked well, but since it was only 4/4 I ended up going with their 6/4 Red Oak as that's what the owner suggested. I haven't seen anyone make one of these chairs out of Oak yet so I hope I haven't shot myself in the foot here. These things are gonna be SO heavy, but I guess that's why they have wheels.

Since I've never worked with anything this dense before I thought I'd write to ask about the ins and outs of working with this heftier wood. I've got some good machines to help get it done... table saw, router table w/ lift, thickness planer, jointer, band saw, belt sander, part templates, etc. So no excuse I can't make this happen! I've read some instances where these chairs can rack so I'm concerned using a heavier wood will make them more prone. These are both to be painted solid white (filling all screw holes with dowels) and I'm wondering if the liberal use of glue in all the joints would help any with it's rigidity. I haven't seen the idea mentioned one way or the other. I'd be glad to go through the extra effort of using glue but I'm actually thinking that it might not do a joint any good where the two surfaces weren't previously machined to meet each other exactly flat.

Also, I'm wondering about the finish coats. The clients are requesting white, and because they're well traveled they're imagining the Adirondack chairs they've seen at high end country clubs and they're wanting something that resembles those... and all I know to do is ask the pimple face kid at the HD paint desk for something exterior grade. Should I just do a color coat or do some kind of clear as well? I just don't know how this is best done for exterior furniture. I'd actually like to get some kind of paint gun and give that a go since I've got a big enough compressor to push one now.

Here's what I'm looking to make... All advice appreciated.

 

 

[RT29]

Normally Adirondack chair design uses joinery which is plenty strong without using glue for additional strength. Marine grade or waterproof glue won't add much more than a seal for the end grain, if it is joined with something like stainless steel screws, but can make it worthwhile. If you're doing white chairs (a few coats) of a good exterior grade paint sprayed on should not need a clear coat.