Swing… This word caused such delight in childhood! Yes, and adults sometimes want to refresh their memory of that amazing feeling of flying into heaven. Have you ever thought about the fact that you can make your own swing in the garden or summer cottage? And it is not as difficult and troublesome as it seems at first glance. We will tell you how to make a swing safe and comfortable! And first of all, we will look at all their variety, from which you can choose something of your own.
Types of country swings
The most common construction materials are metal and wood. But we will tell you about the use and improvised utensils. However, at the beginning you need to select the category of design that you will need:
- Portable. Mobile swing that can be moved around the site.
- Family. This is something monolithic and massive with seats, armchairs and even sofas. The supports here are quite weighty, thick chains lead to them. Can be set up as a gazebo with a canopy.
- Baby. They are attached both to their own support and to a tree, any strong beam. The seat can be the most unexpected object - from the pelvis toold snowboard.
Also home-made designs are divided into single, hammock, hanging, sun loungers and so on.
Pallet seat
If you are thinking about how to make a swing with your own hands simply, then this option is for you. Wooden pallets (pallets) may well be on your site after the import of building materials or other cargo. The pallet will make an excellent "seat"!
In addition to the palette, you will need a strong rope and, in fact, a support to which we will hang the structure. The pallet can be cut out, calculating a place for a child or an adult "passenger". And it’s nice to combine several palettes into one in order to end up with a wide hanging sofa. Agree, great! Another option is to build a structure with a back from two pallets.
How to make a pallet swing? First of all, we clean the surface of the tree from dirt, be sure to sand it (to avoid splinters). To get a durable swing, paint pallets with paint or stain, cover with waterproof varnish.
Plant seating
How to make a baby swing? Another easy way is to use a board that is the right size. Like the pallet, it also needs to be sanded, coated with paint or protective varnish.
The second stage is to drill two holes for the ropes along the narrow edges. In order for the rocker to be stable, on its lower side, under these holes, we attach two narrow planks each. In each of them, it is also worth drilling 2 holes in the right place forropes. This will not only help the mount hold up better, but also reduce its friction against the wood.
Snowboard seat
How to make a swing yourself (yourself)? Use an old unwanted board for skiing from the mountains. Thin and elegant, it only seems unreliable at first glance. The snowboard has a strong metal base, which is only lined with plastic on the outside.
A little tricky here is to drill holes in the dense material for the ropes. In addition, since the surface of the snowboard is quite slippery, it is worth making handles on the rope bindings. Or glue a rubber mat on the seat.
Sitting out of logs
Let's figure out how to make a swing for a summer residence here. We will need two rounded bars. If they are not polished, then sand them yourself with sandpaper so that the "passenger" of the swing does not plant a splinter.
It is best to fasten logs together with a dense rope - a sea knot. And already from this fastening, stretch the ropes to the support from both sides.
Sitting with hoops and ropes
Surely you have seen such structures in parks and recreation areas - a circle with a seat made of intertwined ropes. And how to make a swing in the country with your own hands in a similar way?
We need an ordinary gymnastic hoop that wraps with foam rubber, artificial leather or other soft material. Then we take a tight rope for sitting (ordinary linen is also suitable) and begin to weave a web inside it. The point is what we doloops (tying both ends of the rope to the hoop). And the task is to link these loops in the middle with each other, thereby pulling them and making a comfortable seat. At the end, a circular braid is carried out along them (loops) with a fastening knot on each loop.
To sit on the web was soft, you can sew a round foam pad. By the way, to make a swing (photos of some models are presented in the article), it is not necessary to bother with the weaving of ropes - ready-made structures of this type are on sale.
Sitting from the pelvis
How to make a swing for dolls? Do you have an old unwanted (and possibly even full of holes) large metal basin? If there are strong supports, then such a seat is also suitable for children.
Four holes are drilled in the walls of the pelvis for attaching ropes, a soft pillow is placed inside. That's all a simple invention, which remains only to hang.
Canvas seat
If you are looking for an idea on how to make a metal swing, then you will love this option. We will need chains for attaching to the support and two iron frame triangles (an adapter between the chains and the seat). Is everyone in place?
And from what will we make the seat itself? This is a dense tarpaulin that is stretched between triangles. Having swept it through the side-beam of this metal structure, it is advisable to flash the material in several rows with strong nylon threads - for better reliability. However, even in this case, such a seat is more suitable for small children than for adult "passengers".
Seating chairs
One easy way to make a wooden swing is to make seats out of old chairs. First of all, we ruthlessly saw off the legs. Then you can paint the chair with a cheerful color paint. Or just varnish - after all, the chair-seat will have to be on the street.
But there are several options for attaching ropes:
- We need two strong metal rods that do not go beyond the size of the seat. Then we drill four holes in the corners of the seat of the chair. In each of them we skip a rope. Under the chair we tightly tie them to the rods. To each - two knots of rope.
- To the bottom of the chair from the underside we pin the boards so that their edges protrude. Made? Now, in each of the 4 ledges, we drill a hole into which we thread the ropes, fixing them on the underside with a fastening knot.
- We make a small shield out of planks, attach it to the bottom of the chair. As in the previous case, its edges should protrude beyond the seat. We drill two holes on the right and left sides of the shield. Also, the groove is made on these two sides of the seat. You will need two ropes - on the right and left side. The rope is threaded into the first groove of the shield, passes under it, emerges from the second groove, then goes along the bottom of the seat and goes up through the hole in it.
Swing with a longitudinal roll
In other words, this is a seat with a motion vector in the longitudinal direction. Rope anchors drilled on both sideswide part. Why do we need such a swing? Of course, for riding a large (naturally, children's) company.
How to make this type of swing? From polished beams, boards, connecting them on the underside with adapter boards.
Attachment to support bar
So, we have chosen the option of a suitable seat. Continuing the theme of how to make a swing, the next step is to attach the "seat" to the support bar. You can choose one of the following methods:
- Carabiner with beam girth. You can either order such models in the Internet market or find them in a household goods store. Mounting carabiners are found both round - on a rounded beam, and square - on a regular one. Their dimensions (to cover the timber) are adjustable.
- Thru mount with carabiner. Here you have to drill through the seat and pass through it an anchor device for the rope or chain of our swing. Fastening must be fixed with nuts!
- Suspension for 4 points. Most of all, this is typical for a swing-bench or a swing-bed. Two points here on the back, two - on the seat itself. Here you can bring all the ropes (chains) into one ring (connecting common carabiner), from which you can lead each to your carabiner. There is also a second option. This is an installation of a fastening system with four carabiners, each of which is responsible for its own rope coming from the back or from the seat.
- Hooks. The original solution is a fastening system fixed on 4 hooks driven into the side walls of the support posts.
- Iron eyelets(metal rings). Holes are drilled in a wooden cross beam into which similar rings are inserted. A rope passes through them. She goes around the seat itself in the front and back.
- Reiki. How to make a swing with your own hands in an original way? You can not use ropes and chains, but make strong rails mounted on a transverse beam as holders. How will the seat swing? The beam can be mounted on a pin that will rotate with it. Or the slats are attached to a metal frame that rotates, slides back and forth along the beam.
Where to hang the swing?
How to make a garden swing? We figured out the seat, mount. But what about support? It must be reliable, aesthetic and safe. For a country option, the following is good:
- Metal pergola. This is an arched structure made of bent pipe. Ready-made options are on sale - you do not need to cut, cook yourself. Just securely mount in the ground. What is a good option for giving - you can plant climbing plants nearby, which will beautifully "hug" such a design.
- Wooden pergola. This option is made by you yourself from the bars. You can equip a pergola in the form of a gazebo or a children's town with ladders. Here the swing can be removed, turning the pergola into a recreation area (just cover it with an awning) or a playground.
- Strong tree branch. The classic option for attaching a children's swing.
Building a support
Let's also imaginetips for those who want to build a swing support on the site, and not a universal structure. There will also be several options here:
- In the shape of the letter "X". We will need 4 logs of the same size. The beams are placed to each other on each side in the manner of the letter "X". It is important to make them cross as high as possible - this is where we will install the cross beam for the swing. The logs at the intersection are fastened with a strong long nut with a wide iron gasket - for greater reliability. The cross beam is fastened to each of the tops of the letter "X" in the same way. Already in its lower part, we screw in two fasteners with rings, into each of which we will thread a rope holding the seat. The bases of the letter "X" are dug into the ground - into a hole with pre-poured cement.
- In the shape of the letter "A". Another convenient and simple design. Support poles are dug into the ground towards each other at an angle. Here they resemble the letter "L". Closer to the bottom they are knocked down by a crossbar. Here it turns out already "A". A transverse horizontal beam is placed and securely fixed on the tops of two "asheks" of logs. For greater reliability, it is fixed on supports with inclined short boards on both sides.
- With metal tube. Another good option. Just for those who are interested in how to make a swing with their own hands from metal. In principle, it is better to use wooden supports - they are torn into the ground and tilted towards each other in the manner of the letter "L". The metal nozzle-nozzle is made under three diameters. Two -under the tops "L", one - under the horizontal beam. By the way, instead of a branch pipe, you can use a metal triangle. It connects the tops of the supports, taking on the main fastening load.
- L-shaped. The tops of the support beams here should have an oblique cut, since they will not adjoin each other - a longitudinal beam will immediately be fixed between them. The supports are also dug into the ground and cemented. At the top, a "sandwich" of three beams (supports and a transverse one) must be fixed with a strong bolt with metal spacers, since the load on the structure is high.
Step by step instructions
We have reviewed with you many options for seats, mounts and support structures. Let's take a closer look at one embodiment of the idea - the assembly of a metal swing.
Here's exactly what you need:
- file;
- sandpaper;
- welding machine;
- electrodes;
- components for mixing cement mortar: suitable containers, water, cement, crushed stone, sand;
- metal pipes;
- fasteners (bolts and nuts);
- grinder and a set of metal disks for it;
- wrenches;
- shovel.
Instruction:
Step 1. We need to cut the necessary elements from pipes:
- Side stands: 2 pieces of 2 meters.
- Bar: 1 piece 1.5-2 meters long.
- Oblique elements for fastening the beam to the support: 4 pieces (2 on each side), length -up to you.
Step 2. If "burrs" form on the pipes after cutting, remove them with sandpaper or a file.
Step 3. Now you need to weld the elements to each other. The crossbar is fixed on the supports perpendicularly, at a right angle, oblique elements of the base, giving additional rigidity, under an oblique - 45 °.
Step 4. Further, for the construction, trenches are dug with a depth of at least 0.8 m. Their length should be equal to the distance between the "legs" of the letter "L" of each support, and the distance between the trenches themselves - the width of the horizontal bar.
Step 5. At the bottom, a "cushion" is made of sand 10-20 cm thick, which must be well tamped. We prepare a concrete solution: sand, crushed stone and cement are mixed in a ratio of 2: 1: 1. Then add the liquid and "knead" a homogeneous mass. It shouldn't be too runny!
Step 6. Install supports on the sand cushion. Then slowly fill each of the trenches with concrete. It will freeze for about a week. All this time, it is better not to touch the structure at all. Then weld metal rings or hooks for chains or ropes to the cross beam. Choose from the types of seating that we have described. Secure it with special carabiners or other adapters (we also dismantled them). You can simply make holes in the seat and thread the rope through them, fixing it with fasteners.
Step 7. In order to protect the swing from corrosion, at the end of the work, coat it with a suitable coating for outdoor use.paint.
Country swing is a huge field for fantasy flight. A teenager will cope with some designs, for some options, the work of a whole team will be required. Choose what you like!
