Argh - I feel your pain! What were you doing when the wood split - putting an electric nail in it? Is it pine or cedar?

I've made a couple of adirondack chairs with my husband, and I think the best way to go is doing bored holes sunk with galvanized deck screws. Super super strong, and easy. I'm a screwer, not a nailer, baby!

You can cover the holes by gluing on a premade pine or cedar plug for a finished look. Trust, it looks fantastic. It might end up looking *too* professional though - it might not jibe with your shabby chic aesthetic ;)

I'll google to try to find the kind of glue we used to set the plugs - it was some special waterproof thing.

I'd use wood screws. Use the electric drill to pre-drill your holes, about one size smaller than the diameter of the screw shank (the solid core beneath the thread). You can then use short, sharp taps on the electric drill's trigger to get the screw started, and finish tightening it down by hand before the screws start to turn hard (before you strip them with the powerful drill). Be sure to use screws rated for outdoor use (galvanized or coated).

iconomy raised a couple of good points, too, while I was typing. Counter-sink your holes when you pre-drill, and get some plugs. Some plugs don't require glue (they're shaped to wedge themselves into the hole when you tap them in), but you can go either way.

Put down the power tools slowly, and step away from the project. Then, get yourself appropriately sized Yankee screwdrivers. Pre-drill and countersink for flat head screws in one operation with Jackrabbit bits (you can use a power drill for this, but given your description of your mechanical cunning, I'd recommend a simple bit brace). Put a bit of beeswax on the screw threads before you drive them with the Yankee screwdriver.

Here's a pretty good site that backs up what we've said. They say to use polyurethane glue. I'd love to see a photo of your chairs!

Thanks for the advice and links. Um, sounds like patience and attention to detail would help a lot. Justification is trial run with like $7 of wood from the Habitat store. It's fugly but comfortable.

iconomy: Can I adopt you as my twin? We could take turns being evil.

Paul, do you use those tools yourself?

Yes, you can adopt me! And that's definitely not fug. I love the different sized slats. It's very inviting!

it's not fugly, it has character

Glad to see you got it done, and I wish I could have offered advice, but I do stupid woodworking. Basically I make expensive sawdust and shavings.

auntbunny, I do use Yankee screwdrivers, and bit braces, but mine are my grandfather's tools, kept in his old carpenter's box, which he made sometime around 1915, and repaired a few times thereafter (one side is 1/4" plywood, which wasn't available when the old box was first made). A good Yankee driver, kept clean and oiled, is terrific for projects like your chair.

One thing about working with hand tools is that you don't get in a state where frustration builds upon frustration, because you're expending energy the whole time you're working. So, you work in a rythym that respects economy of motion, and you have time mentally to plan your work, just as you do it. You tend to work with sharper tools, and lower forces, which is a way of respecting the wood, too. Your work quality goes up as you get the feel of the tools in your hand, and you develop a craftman's eye in a way you don't when you are slapping something together with a battery powered driver.

Tiptoeing through a snakepit of dropcords with tool carcasses and pulled nails, trying to keep a teetering ashtray at hand probably wouldn't be your ideal working conditions, paul. Welcome to pms girltool land. Between the jammed saws, leaf blower and cursing I'm singlehandedly paying back the neighbors for apparently buying each and every child on the street a four-wheeler for xmas. All I really want to do is paint chairs. It'll be black with the skinny slats painted like snakes!