It might not be sunbathing weather quite yet, but Nick Chan of HiKOKI Power Tools is planning ahead with this deck chair for those sunny days out on site!
What better use of some scrap timber around the building site than making a surprisingly comfortable deck chair in which to read your favourite trade mag and enjoy a brew?
For this HiKOKI Hack, I’ve used:
- A pallet
- Gaffer tape
- Some lengths of CLS
- A wooden broom
- And some tarpaulin
I had these lying around the workshop, but you can use whatever’s available. The only other bits you’ll need are your fasteners of choice and your favourite green power tools.
To get started, I broke down the pallet, cleared up the nails and marked up my timber for cutting. Measurements here can be fairly flexible, make it to what suits you. For the frame you want to be twice as long as it is wide (e.g. 600mm x 1200mm) and the holes for the folding areas, about 1/3 from either end. But we’ll get to that later…
Once I had all my cuts marked, I took them over to my mitre saw to cut them to length. You can use a handsaw, circular saw, jig saw etc. But I had a shiny new C3607DRA cordless 36V mitre saw to use! Then the building process begins.
I started with the back rest, attaching two lengths of pallet wood to the top, leaving a gap between them. The gap is big enough to pass the tarpaulin through, but small enough some the wooden broom handle can’t. Then add another length to the opposite end, on the back side. I placed this about 70mm from the bottom and this acts a brace.
I then moved onto the base. To position the slats for the adjustable height, I placed the cls lengths inside the backrest frame, then where the bottom of the two slats of the backrest meet the cls of the base, mark it as this is the top of the three adjustment slats. Now you have the top one placed, use the broom handle as a spacer for the two remaining slats.
The other two slats at the opposite end on the base are positioned in the same way as the back rest.
Test fit the base with the back rest and hopefully it should fit flat. Align the bottom edges and clamp this together. Mark about 1/3 up from the bottom and drill 2 holes through the back rest and base frame. Repeat this on the other side and drop a bolt through each hole with washers and tighten the nut.
Take another pallet slat and cut this to about a 1/3 of the length of the back rest. These need to be attached just to the back rest frame about 1/3 of the way down from the top. Once both arms have been attached, open the deck chair so that the arms are level with one of the three adjustment slats. Place the broom handle in between the slats, push one end flush with an arm and use the other arm to mark the length the broom handle needs to be then cut to length. You can then screw this into the three arms so you have an adjustable deck chair.
Now it’s time to prepare your tarpaulin. You can either fold the tarpaulin to size for extra strength and so that it can be reused, or you can cut it to size. Top Tip: as a lot of strain will be put on the tarp, try to stick to at least two layers so you don’t end up sat on the floor! Using the duct tape, tape your tarp to its final width, also use it to create a hem at the ends of the tarp as this will make it easier to feed through the designated gaps in the chair. You can also add some stripes for a more authentic flourish.
Now you need to put an anchor in, so that the tarp cannot slide through the slot in one end. You can use anything big enough to not fit through the gap, such as the rest of the broom handle or an off cut of pallet wood. You will need to secure this solidly though, I’ve used nuts and bolts, but cable ties or the remaining duct tape should do the job.
Now feed the unanchored half through the chair. Making sure to leave a bit of slack for a more comfortable seating position and so that you can adjust the chair to the optimum angle. All that’s left to do is anchor the bottom of the tarp in the same way as you did the top. Pour a refreshing beverage with an umbrella in and enjoy the sun!
