This project was built and designed by Drew Fisher from Fisher’s Shop.
Drew set out to restore a tiny Adirondack chair that his grandfather built decades earlier, a piece that had been passed down through generations of kids in the family. What started as a simple request to tighten it up and repaint it quickly turned into a full rebuild once Drew discovered just how many joints had failed and how many pieces were cracked or missing.
Rather than just patch it up, he decided to carefully take the original apart, study its construction, and build a brand new version using the same design.
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Studying and Disassembling the Original
Before making anything new, Drew spent time examining how his grandfather had originally built the little chair. He found a straightforward design held together with a mix of nails and simple joinery, all made from pine.
Taking it apart meant digging old screws out from beneath layers of paint and carefully removing every nail so each piece could be measured and traced. One detail stood out to him: several joints were mortise and tenon, but instead of glue, his grandfather had pinned each tenon in place with a nail. It was a technique Drew had never seen before, and he appreciated the ingenuity of it.
Once every piece was labeled and set aside, Drew had a complete blueprint of the original chair to work from, giving him the confidence to move forward with a full rebuild rather than a repair.
Choosing the Material
For the new build, Drew turned to a stash of hard maple offcuts he had picked up years earlier from a local cabinet shop that regularly sets aside blemished pieces of wood. He sorted through the pile looking for pieces large enough to yield the parts he needed while working around any imperfections.
Several boards were resawn on the bandsaw to stretch the material further, then run through the planer to clean up the saw marks and bring them down to final thickness. From there, the table saw and miter saw handled ripping and crosscutting each piece to size.
Using leftover hardwood scraps instead of buying new material kept the project efficient while also honoring the resourceful spirit of the original build.
Joinery and Shaping
To recreate the original joinery, Drew used a crosscut sled to cut haunched tenons and half laps, mirroring the details he found on the old chair. The mortises were roughed out with a Forstner bit at the drill press, then finished by hand with chisels for a tight fit.
Several parts needed subtle angles or curves, including the arm notches and the shaped backrest slats. Rather than freehanding these shapes, Drew traced them directly from the original chair pieces, then cut them out on the bandsaw and cleaned them up on the belt sander.
A router was used to soften edges with roundovers and chamfers on select pieces, giving the finished chair a more refined feel while still staying true to the original silhouette.
Assembly
Glue-up started with the tenoned joints, which were seated with parallel clamps and checked for square before being set aside to dry. The stringer assemblies came together the same way, with diagonal clamping used to correct any small misalignments before the glue cured.
The center back slat required some angled cuts, which set the pattern for the rest of the backrest slats. Drew ground matching angles into each one on the belt sander, then spaced them evenly using a square before gluing them in place.
The legs were glued using a flat table saw surface as a reference to keep everything square, and once dry, any excess material was trimmed flush. Drew also chose to reuse some of his grandfather’s original flathead screws when joining the front legs together, a small but meaningful nod to the chair’s history.
Final Details and Finishing
Drew kept the chair’s distinctive pointed backrest, a detail he liked from the original design, and marked out the angles before cutting them with a jigsaw. The arms were glued and screwed into place, and the same countersunk screw approach was used throughout the rest of the assembly for extra strength.
Seat slats were added last, spaced evenly with small temporary spacers to keep the gaps consistent. Once everything was secured, the chair was structurally complete and ready for finishing.
For the finish, Drew set up his paint booth and applied several coats of a high quality outdoor paint, aiming for durability that could rival or even outlast the original chair. Combined with waterproof glue and screwed joints throughout, the rebuilt chair is built to hold up to years of outdoor use.
Reflecting on the Rebuild
Looking at the finished piece, Drew was struck by how well thought out his grandfather’s original design was, especially considering it was likely built without any formal plans. Recreating it gave him a deeper appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into the original chair decades ago.
More than just a woodworking project, the rebuild became a way to carry a family tradition forward for another generation. With a sturdy new build in hard maple and a durable finish, this little Adirondack chair is set to be enjoyed by kids in the family for many years to come.
See Drew’s plans here: https://www.FishersShopOnline.com/plans
Matt’s Take
These are my personal thoughts and tips based on my own experience in the shop. This section is not written, reviewed, or endorsed by the original creator of this project.
What jumps out to me here is that pinned tenon detail Drew found in the original chair. Nailing through a mortise and tenon joint instead of gluing it is actually a pretty smart old-school trick, especially for outdoor pieces. Glue can fail over time with moisture cycling, but a nail or dowel pin through the joint keeps mechanical hold even if the glue lets go. It’s the kind of thing you see in old furniture and timber framing, and it’s worth keeping in your back pocket for any project that’s going to live outside.
Using hard maple for an Adirondack chair is a solid upgrade from the original pine, but it’s worth knowing maple brings some tradeoffs. It’s heavier, harder on tools, and less forgiving to hand-shape than softwoods, so expect more resistance at the router table and when hand-fitting those mortises. On the flip side, it holds paint beautifully and resists wear a lot better outdoors, so it’s a great choice if you don’t mind the extra elbow grease.
For anyone attempting a similar rebuild, tracing the original parts before disassembly is a step I’d never skip. Once you cut into old joinery, you lose your reference points fast. A quick photo log or even cardboard templates traced off the original pieces can save you from guessing later.
Lastly, a friendly reminder on Forstner bit work at the drill press: clamp your material down. Maple is dense enough that a bit can grab and spin the workpiece if it’s not secured, and that’s an easy way to get hurt in a hurry.