Building a Bench Swing in Your Backyard

Having a bench swing in your backyard can be a nice escape from day-to-day stresses. The steps that follow will show you how to build a bench swing stand using your existing garden bench.

Step 1 - Cut the Wood

Making a bench swing from an old bench and building an A-frame to hold it is a quick and inexpensive solution to buying something already built. Your swing will be one foot off the ground with 3 feet of chain. This means that the A-frame for the bench swing has to be at least 4 feet long.

Measure out 4 feet on the 4 by 4 inch pieces of cedar lumber and then cut along that line.

The space between the legs (which will form a hollow "A" when assembled) will be 4 feet. Measure out 4 feet on the 8 foot long pieces of lumber, mark it, then cut. These pieces will be the braces to complete the "A" on the frame.

Step 2 - Prepare the Bench

Your old bench is the focal point of the swing but we have to do some things to do it before making it an actual swing.

First, you have to remove the front and back legs of the bench. Use a sander to make any leftover material vanish. You may also want to sand the entire bench so it looks newer than it is or you can leave it as is or paint it. The choice is up to you.

On the arms of the bench measure 4 inches from the back and 4 inches from the front and mark it off. Do the same thing with the other arm. Screw in the eye hooks at these locations.

Measure the chain out to two 6 foot long sections and cut. Connect one end of a chain to the eye hook in the front and the other end to the eye hook in the back. Do the same with the second chain.

Step 3 - Assemble the Swing

You need to make a "V" shape by attaching two of the 4-inch by 4-inch pieces of cut cedar to the brackets. Repeat with the other two pieces of 4-inch by 4-inch pieces of cedar. These are the legs of the bench swing.

Now attach the braces to the legs by using the 4-foot long pieces you made from the 2-inch by 4-inch pieces of cedar. Place each one as close to the center as possible and nail it in place.

Install the bench swing hooks that came with the brackets to the uncut piece of 4-inch by 4-inch cedar. Use the length of the bench as a guide.

Attach a leg assembly to each end of the beam. Hook the chains to the swing hooks to finish the project.