How to make a garden swing from metal with your own hands?

A garden is not only about beautiful trees and shrubs. Leisure infrastructure is a very important component of it. An important role in it is played by a garden swing.

It is hard to deny that outdoor activities are more enjoyable and healthier than in a room. This should be taken into account by those who are in the garden plots. But it is impossible to limit yourself to benches and benches - it is also important to use a garden swing. They allow you to make the environment more comfortable, relax the muscles and make the load on them more even. The simplicity of the design does not cause any particular problems when making a swing yourself.

With all the variety of existing designs, metal swings have an absolute priority. The fact is that other materials do not provide the necessary protection, they are characterized by low resistance to bad weather conditions. Differences may relate to the size of the soft part and the fabrics used. However, this is no longer important, since it is associated with ease of use.

Folding outdoor swings are quite widespread, the transformation of which occurs due to the reclining of the back. After that, a small hanging bed is obtained. A canopy can be placed on it, allowing you to sleep peacefully during the day and in the evening. The shelter completely stops both the sun's rays and light rainfall. To reliably protect from light coming at an acute angle, products with an adjustable slope of the visors are often chosen.

Speaking about the types of garden swings, one cannot ignore their children's category. An important difference of this design is the reduced size and other measures to adapt to the anatomy of small people. Naturally, increased safety requirements are also imposed, since what is acceptable for adults can pose a serious threat to children. Often, children's swings are made double so that they can be used simultaneously and without conflicts. Simple single versions inevitably give rise to envy and attempts to “stake out” a fascinating attraction for themselves.

But the main division is still related to the configuration of the swing. The traditional bench format invariably implies a backrest. You will need wood or steel pipe to get the job done. Depending on personal preference, structures can be suspended on springs with strong struts or on chains. 2-4 riders will be able to accommodate, which makes it possible to use such a swing in large families, and in sanatoriums, medical institutions.

Flexible selection of the size does not exhaust the advantages of the bench layout. It always implies the presence of a mosquito net in the kit, which is extremely important anywhere. Even far from water and lowlands, blood-sucking insects will inevitably flock after their prey. And to interrupt the calm rocking, serenely flowing thoughts with continuous claps, few people will like.

But experienced specialists and those who have already installed such a simulator warn against hasty conclusions. The bench will only swing laterally.In addition, some of the products of this kind are characterized by low stability. This is especially true for budget-class products, whose manufacturers are striving to reduce costs to a minimum. Inexpensive swings are equipped with unnecessarily thin pillows that poorly soften the rigidity of the main support, and more expensive options are heavier, not convenient enough for assembly and transportation.

Because of these problems, the preferences of some consumers are turning to spherical designs. In the catalogs of trade organizations, it is customary to call them pendant chairs. Despite its definition, this is not quite an ideal sphere - the differences from the geometric figure of the same name are associated with the cut of 1/3 of the surface, without which it would be impossible to use the product. All such swings are designed for 1 person, and it is assumed that users will sit or lie down with their legs bent. To hold the "sphere", a suspension is used on a single arcuate stand. To ensure that it withstands, it is made as powerful as possible.

The spherical swing can be equipped with the softest cushions of all, and swing can occur in any direction. You don't need to think about where you can deviate, and where you can't. Wicker plastic is used for decoration. The frame is strong and reliable, there is no reason to fear any falls. It is easy to retire on such a swing, and you can use them in an apartment or house. But protection from bad weather is weak, and it will be difficult to lie down.

The swing can have one twist axis, such products are very easy to create and work reliably. The problem is that the seat can only move back and forth, at right angles to the base beam. The lowest height of the lowest point of the seat above the ground will be 350 mm. If the swing has 2 or more torsion axes, it can move sideways, however, make such a structure heavier. It is recommended to be made for schoolchildren, for whom additional freedom of movement is very important.

There is a swing with a single suspension point. In this case, ropes or chains are used, which intersect just below the crossbar. The distance between the ground and the seat and between the seat and the supports must be 400 mm. It is also customary to distinguish swings into family, mobile and children's types. They differ significantly in their characteristics.

Mobile products are made simple and lightweight, with the expectation of reducing the labor intensity of transportation. If it is difficult to decide on the choice of a suitable position on the site or it is planned to periodically clean the swing into the house, this is the best solution. Designed for a family, the ride looks like a bulky bench with an oversized backrest. Fixation is carried out using U-shaped structures on especially strong cables or chains. Often such swings are covered with awnings or even equipped with a roof.

As for the children's format, there is a little more variety of configurations. Basically, they choose "classics" - improvised boats and hanging chairs. The disadvantage is that such designs can only be used under adult supervision. There is also a division according to the main structural element. In hammock swings, a metal crossbar is used for fastening.

The only possible exception is when a sturdy tree branch can be used. But this is only an extreme option, since breaking a branch and deviating it from a straight line will immediately deprive the swing of safety. The hammock swing will be able to lift about 200 kg. As for single products, they can have a very different design and do not require the installation of auxiliary crossbars. Installation in an arbitrary location is allowed.

Differences may also apply to the organization of the support frames. In some cases, these are legs, in others - an oval.The main connections are made with bolts, which makes it easy to disassemble the swing and transport them even in a private car. Indispensable elements will be:

• sidewall racks;
• a pair of upper crosses;
• tips placed on the legs;
• spacer crossbars;
• springs of two types;
• ready-made spring assemblies for seats;
• racks and frames;
• fillers;
• fabrics for the manufacture and covering of awnings;
• fasteners of various kinds (selected individually).

When drawing up drawings of a garden swing, it is necessary to show their dimensions in three planes. They start with the total width (which is determined by the front of the structure). The second figure shows how deep the frame is. The third number means height. It is undesirable to use a large swing in outdoor sheds or gazebos.

But in any case, it is required to focus on the features of a particular landscape or room in order for the diagram to be drawn up correctly. If you have to put the swing just under the trees, where there is free space, you can pay attention to one width. It should be borne in mind that the seat is 400-500 mm less than the distance between the side posts. When planning to make a hanging bench for a married couple with 1 child, you can limit yourself to a width of 1.6 m.But for three adults, you will need from 180 to 200 cm.

They are trying to give exactly the same dimensions to the rear seats of cars, since they allow everyone to sit freely without a hint of embarrassment. If you plan to use the swing alone, a 1 m wide seat is enough. Making the structure larger means wasting building materials. In the drawings, you need to reflect the thickness of the round pipes for the manufacture of racks and other parts. Their diameter can vary from 3.8 to 6 cm.

The permissible wall thickness ranges from 0.1 to 0.15 cm. By increasing these indicators, you can increase the strength. However, the total fee also rises significantly. In a private garden, it is appropriate to mount a swing from a pipe with a cross section of 3.8-4.5 cm. In this case, the thickness of the tube may be limited to 1.2 mm. More serious parameters are needed already for swings hung in public places.

In the drawing of the A-shaped frame indicate:

• flanges;
• eye nuts;
• simple nuts;
• bolts;
• elements tightening the frame;
• crossbeams;
• support frame racks.

Having decided on a suitable type of swing and with their size, you can already get to work. If there is no experience in handling welding equipment, collapsible products should be preferred. They can be made by tying the component parts with nuts and bolts. It is important to take into account that the threads at the joints can loosen systematically. This provokes backlash, and eventually the destruction of the structure.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide for the possibility of tightening fasteners. To create a frame in the shape of the letter A, two iron beams are used, connected at the top. A jumper is placed at half the height to help make the swing stiffer.

Making country homemade swing from sheet iron is almost impossible, in most cases they are made from a pipe.

For a swing canopy, they often use:

• tarpaulin;
• textile;
• wood roof with soft tiles.

The optimal solution, however, is not these materials, but polycarbonate. They are durable and let in sunlight almost completely, further scattering it. In most cases, they still try to make a swing for a summer residence, even if they are made on bearings, to weld - after all, this is much safer than screwing the main parts with bolts. When preparing to assemble a swing for children in this way, in addition to the welding machine, you need to take:

• construction level;
• angle grinder;
• electric drill;
• a set of drills for wood and metal;
• screwdriver;
• self-tapping screws capable of holding polycarbonate sheets;
• wrenches of various sizes.

Materials are used to prepare:

• tubular and corner profiles;
• boardwalk or cobbled profile;
• nuts and washers;
• partially countersunk head bolts;
• fasteners from stainless steel grades (or from rusting, but with a zinc layer);
• anchors;
• polycarbonate;
• devices for protecting the metal frame;
• substances that protect wood from decomposition.

A typical design assumes that at the very bottom, support rectangular frames are used. The side parts are made of paired welded pipes. A horizontally positioned crossbar will help hang the bench. It is advisable to assemble the frame from the side parts, and not from the center. The pipes are marked and cut using angle grinders.

These pairs are welded together to form L-shaped identical blocks. The sharp upper ends of the parts are cut off at the same level. This step will help to make a small support platform on which the horizontal crossbar will be fixed. To exclude errors, it is required to apply pre-made templates. The sides are welded onto a supporting rectangular frame, only after that they work with a horizontal crossbar.

The side posts are placed vertically, and the beam is mounted parallel to the base. Just for complete control of these moments, the building level is used. Only after the completion of such work can one begin to prepare the bench. The base for it is made of steel corners. The bench is most often placed at an angle of 120 degrees relative to the seat.

You can accurately bend the corner by cutting one of its shelves with a triangle at an angle of 60 degrees. The seat frame must be made by welding a rectangular profile. The sides are connected at the edges using horizontal jumpers. It is also required to connect those sections in which the structure is curved.

Both the back and the seat should be made as smooth as possible - it does not matter whether the swing is used by an adult or a child. Therefore, the ideal choice will be bars or boards that have been sanded with emery. Initially, processing is carried out with coarse grain, then its caliber is reduced. For fastening the cut boards, pre-prepared grooves are used. Bolts are screwed into them, trying to drown the heads.

Before the assembly is complete, the entire tree is impregnated with an antiseptic and varnish. Metal parts must be primed and painted. Eye bolts are placed at the corners of the frame. To attach chains to the ears of such bolts, either threaded couplings or mounting carabiners are used. The benches must also be hung on the eye bolts. DIYers have a choice of whether to clip them at the corners or over the edges.

It will be useful to supplement the swing with a visor. Effective protection from precipitation and sunlight is very important not only for children, but also for adults. The visor is a rectangular steel frame reinforced with bridges. A polycarbonate sheet is mounted on top of the frame.

The cross-section of the profiles for the visor is usually small. They are welded together and fixed to the top of the swing frame, also using welding machines. Install a polycarbonate sheet only after the paint has dried on the metal. It is fixed with self-tapping screws, supplemented with sealing washers. It is recommended to cover the end of the visor with a polymer profile, which will not allow insects or dust particles to get inside.

It may look like an L-shaped version of the swing.Covering them from above not only with boards, but also with fabric, the creators achieved a very pleasant look. The large three-seater seat, covered in fine fabric, also makes a good impression.

A completely wooden structure can also have an attractive appearance. Equipping a roof with a tiled layer further enhances the aesthetic qualities and increases the reliability of the swing.

For information on how to make a garden swing out of metal with your own hands, see the next video.