Tag: muskoka chair

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Cottage Life

3 workshop uses for a cutting board

By MaraZe/Shutterstock

There are good reasons plastic cutting boards are the preferred choice for commercial food preparation. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is extremely durable, impervious to liquids, and has a forgiving surface that is kind to knives. These same qualities make HDPE a useful raw material for workshop projects. Cutting boards are readily available at thrift shops and dollar stores—but you’re more likely to find the thicker, better quality ones at a thrift store. The dollar-store ones are thinner and more brittle.

There are a bunch of uses for this material, and it can be easily worked with standard tools:

1. Cut pieces of HDPE to match the footprint of picnic-table or Muskoka-chair legs and attach the plastic feet with screws. These high-density pads protect the ends of the legs from moisture and make it easier to drag the tables and chairs around.

2. HDPE makes excellent bumpers. Folding swim ladder digging into your dock? Attach an HDPE pad to the problem area to stop abrasion.

3. HDPE is also great for repairs in wet areas. I recently removed a broken gauge from the dashboard of my boat. An HDPE patch, secured with stainless steel screws, made a neat, weatherproof, and near-indestructible fix.

This article was originally published in the Winter 2022 issue of Cottage Life.

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Cottage Life

A simple modification guaranteed to make your Muskoka chair more comfortable

Photo by Bradley Reinhardt

What could be more comfortable than lounging in a Muskoka chair? Answer: an upgraded Muskoka chair. The lumbar spine—your lower back—is often tested by the cottage lounger. By adding lumbar support to the flat backrest, you can bring your spine into its proper alignment. Better ergonomics can improve your breathing and circulation, as well as reduce spinal pressure and muscle stress. This all adds up to greater relaxation!

Curved strips fastened on top of the existing back slats will provide support for the spine. Any dry 2x lumber will work to create the supports—one support per slat. Make a pattern by drawing an arc on cardboard, using a compass set to a radius of 10″. Cut off a slice (a chord, technically) with an 8″ base. Trim 1/8″ from each end of the pattern; those sharply tapered ends will just chip off unevenly when you’re sawing and sanding.

To make supports that sit cleanly against the chair slats, you’ll need to saw or plane off the radiused corners on the lumber to leave sharp, square corners. Then cut the curve with a jigsaw (or a scrollsaw or bandsaw).

Using one of the offcuts as a curved sanding block, sand off any saw marks with 80-grit sandpaper, followed by 100-grit. And while you’re at it, lightly round over the long, curved edges. For the finish, I like Sansin ENS for outdoor furniture; it’s highly durable, quick-drying, and enviro-friendly. For longevity, finish the backs of the supports before attaching. If your upgrade is to a new Muskoka chair, you’ll want to finish the slat fronts too. 

Test-fit the supports before securing them permanently. Tape the supports in place, with the bottom edge 3″–5″ above the seat. Have different users sit to test the support position for comfort. Once the supports feel right, attach each from behind with two small stainless-steel screws. Then remove the tape and relax. Did someone say, “Cottage Kolsch time?”

Categories
Cottage Life

A simple modification guaranteed to make your Muskoka chair more comfortable

Photo by Bradley Reinhardt

What could be more comfortable than lounging in a Muskoka chair? Answer: an upgraded Muskoka chair. The lumbar spine—your lower back—is often tested by the cottage lounger. By adding lumbar support to the flat backrest, you can bring your spine into its proper alignment. Better ergonomics can improve your breathing and circulation, as well as reduce spinal pressure and muscle stress. This all adds up to greater relaxation!

Curved strips fastened on top of the existing back slats will provide support for the spine. Any dry 2x lumber will work to create the supports—one support per slat. Make a pattern by drawing an arc on cardboard, using a compass set to a radius of 10″. Cut off a slice (a chord, technically) with an 8″ base. Trim 1/8″ from each end of the pattern; those sharply tapered ends will just chip off unevenly when you’re sawing and sanding.

To make supports that sit cleanly against the chair slats, you’ll need to saw or plane off the radiused corners on the lumber to leave sharp, square corners. Then cut the curve with a jigsaw (or a scrollsaw or bandsaw).

Using one of the offcuts as a curved sanding block, sand off any saw marks with 80-grit sandpaper, followed by 100-grit. And while you’re at it, lightly round over the long, curved edges. For the finish, I like Sansin ENS for outdoor furniture; it’s highly durable, quick-drying, and enviro-friendly. For longevity, finish the backs of the supports before attaching. If your upgrade is to a new Muskoka chair, you’ll want to finish the slat fronts too. 

Test-fit the supports before securing them permanently. Tape the supports in place, with the bottom edge 3″–5″ above the seat. Have different users sit to test the support position for comfort. Once the supports feel right, attach each from behind with two small stainless-steel screws. Then remove the tape and relax. Did someone say, “Cottage Kolsch time?”

Categories
Cottage Life

This broken Muskoka chair turned coffee table is the perfect sunroom addition

Photo by Janet Fletcher and Ed Graca

The sunroom at Janet Fletcher and Ed Graca’s cottage is a great place to enjoy a morning coffee and take in views of the lake, save for one thing—it needed a coffee table, one that would fit the small space and suit their 70-year-old Lake Muskoka cottage. “We don’t have a big, fancy place that you’re going to get a $900 coffee table for,” says Janet. It worked out well, then, that they had a broken, folding Muskoka chair lying around. “We didn’t know what to do with it,” says Ed, “but I thought I could use the back of the chair for the top of a table.” To test his theory, Ed disassembled the old chair and started playing around with the pieces. He converted four arm supports into table legs, which he secured using the metal pins that allowed the chair to fold down, and stabilized the legs with support pieces from the back and the seat. The chair arms became a shelf, and the chair back became the coffee table top, secured with wood glue and screws. Finally, Ed sealed it with a couple coats of polyurethane. “I tried to keep it as natural as possible,” he says.

It’s the work of a true cottage putterer. “I didn’t use a plan at all,” says Ed. “But I was able to put it together and make it look nice.”

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