5 Foot Cedar Porch Glider, Amish Crafted

I just got this assembled, and it's on the patio. It's a nice piece of furniture. The wood is cut square, and sanded smooth. No snags or splinters. The assembly went well. The instructions are written in american english. The photos are clear and with enough detail to see what needs to be done. The sequence of the instructions are in the correct order. The instructions, while not exactly step-by-step, are certainly concise enough that a person of average intelligence can follow them. The hardware included with the glider is of good quality: the glider arms themselves have bearings at each end making for a silent swing. Except for the glider bolts themselves (which have ny-lock nuts) there is no lock-washers included. I went around and put a drop of blue loctite (medium strength) on the remaining bolts prior to final tightening. This is assembled with plated carriage bolts and nuts, making for a clean appearance. All the holes in the pieces are in the correct places, there was minimal wrestling to get it together. I assembled this by myself, altho another set of hands to maneuver the larger sub-assemblies would have come in handy. One needs to obtain a square-drive bit or screwdriver to assemble this. There are 8 - 3" screws, with square-drive heads, to be driven. Altho the wood is soft, and there are pilot holes, a power-driver of some kind makes things easier. I used just a regular electric drill, easy-peasy. Also needed are 2 wrenches - 1/2" and 7/16". Open end wrenches will work, but ratcheting wrenches will make the job much quicker. A small hammer for knocking in the bolts helps too. All told, a very nice product (at a very good price), with simple assembly. I would very much recommend this glider.

I love my Father's Day present, this beautiful glider. It's just what I would expect from Amish craftsmanship - rugged, sturdy, attractive, simple and functional. Assembly required a bit of coaxing in places, but that's what is expected from a well-made glider shipped in pieces so it's in as small a package as possible to save on shipping costs. I didn't finish it, and don't plan to, so a nice bonus is the cedar smell on our back screen porch, especially after a rainfall. The people who complain about minor blemishes in their reviews need to shop elsewhere, maybe something made out of particle board in a factory in China?

We love our new glider. It looks great, it's sturdy and the glider action is smooth and quiet. The glider arrived partially assembled into the base, bottom, back, arms -- which then had to be put together with a square-fit screwdriver (we had one). The package arrived in a few days; the glider parts were 100% complete, nicely packed/no damage. The finishing and assembly presented no problems. The glider is comfortable enough as is, but I bought a 2'x 5' memory foam bathroom runner, which is a perfect fit length-wise and can be placed to cushion both bum and lower back (looks nice, stays put and it's washable; economical and easier to maintain versus more expensive outdoor cushions). What a way to enjoy a nice seasonal sunset! Update: We got this in June 2012, and as of September 2020 -- Still loving it! Still riding smooth and quiet. We cover it for the NJ winter months with a nice sturdy cover from Amazon (Classic Accessories Veranda Sofa/Loveseat Cover - Small), but it's always outside under our covered porch -- and still looks great.

You only have to assemble twelve things (counting the four swing bars), and it took me all of 57 minutes to do the job. (I started the clock after I had gathered the required tools and pulled everything from the box.) The instructions were OK, though I think a parts list up front would be useful to help distinguish among various bolt sizes. Some reviewers said you needed two people to attach the back, seat and arms; but I found it easy to do by myself. The back and seat come preassembled, each have 4 framing boards to which the slats were glued and screwed for you. They are positioned so that the framing boards of the seat slide adjacently over the framing boards of the back so that you can bolt these frame boards together. On my glider these boards had a rather sloppy 3/16" clearance. I probably should have used some of my own washers to fill the gap, but I decided to just cinch down the bolts and force the faces of these frame boards together. This resulted in a little glue cracking on the seat and back slats nearest to the bolts, but these slats were otherwise undamaged and still quite secure because they were also screwed down. I can understand why they might want to give a little clearance just to make sure that with shrinkage the framing clears, but I think they've provided too much slop. This defect resulted in the loss of a star. The wood was high quality with only a few tiny knots on the larger pieces. I will be doing a little hand sanding here and there, but most surfaces I thought were good enough for out-door furniture and ready to stain as is. I read one review of the pre-stained version of this same glider, saying that the swing hardware didn't clear the base and the thing grinded when you tried to swing on it. I think that person must have put the swing bars on backwards as there is a good half inch of clearance between the swing bolts, and the bench and base. There is very little give laterally if you try to force the glider to swing sidewise. There is really no way to get the thing to inappropriately rub when you're using it. I think I'd like it better if the seat were perhaps an inch higher off the ground to fit my long legs (36" inseam), but it's probably sized right for most people. For the money, I think this glider is fantastic. I'm quite pleased.

I don't leave that many 5 star reviews. However I was so impressed with this that i would give it a 6 star if I could. Other comments say it is cheaply made and that is absolutely totally false. It is a well made glider. I could not have built it myself for the price I paid. It comes in several pieces with hardware. All was well packaged and instructions were very clear and concise. The end grain is SLIGHTLY rough but nothing major and nothing I would not expect. Assembly took me about 30 minutes. I had no additional help and putting the glider together was no problem at all. The parts are almost all pre-drilled and those that were all aligned perfectly. The only parts which were not pre-drilled were 4 screws that hold the cross frames and the bottom braces. I highly suggest that you drill pilot holes before using the supplied deck screws. Speaking of the deck screws they are square head deck screws and anybody that does any home maintenance probably has a square head bit that fits their cordless drill. However if you don't have one...they supply it. I saw one review that was negative because of the square head bit. I see no reason to complain about this, particularly since they supply a bit to use and the square head is far superior to a Phillips or straight head. I bought the glider unfinished so I can't comment on the finished product. However the unfinished glider is simply an outstanding value.

This is a well designed, solid piece of outdoor furniture. It's sturdy without being too heavy. We chose to first sand the wood as there were a few rough patches, and then stain the product before assembling it. There were six major pieces, all well packaged, plus the hardware. The instructions were clear enough if you study them carefully, but they sent us one bolt that differed from the others and wouldn't fit. That necessitated a trip to the hardware store for a replacement. We didn't find an exact match, but got one close enough to work. I can't imagine trying to do this with fewer than two people. A few parts had to be muscled into place, and at times this was difficult. In total, it took two of us about three hours to assemble, plus the run to the hardware store. Overall, it's a quality, sturdy, good looking item. The only caution is that it's really hard to find a cushion to fit this length. Otherwise we love it.

I'm torn between a 3-star or 4-star b/c it was a pain to get together, and the wood splinters easily, but I like the end product. Some of the bolts were hard to get in - it doesn't seem the assemble ahead of time to make sure it assembles. But my biggest issue is I ran into a bolt that would not go in where arm rest meets the top b/c one of the screws from one of the slats in the top was poking into the hole, so I had to force the bolt in (once I finally figured out why it wasn't going in after several attempts), even after drilling a bigger hole myself to try to help it fit, which stripped some of the threads on the bolt and is now making it impossible to screw the nut on. So now I have to figure out how to get the bolt out and buy a new one...and then hope that one goes in without also being damaged on the screw inside. The entire situation probably added 45 min to assembly (I kept having to go back to garage and get new tools) and it not yet fixed, but chalk it up to random. I doubt they are all like that. Now I have to add a trip to the store and dealing with this one bolt. The other major assembly issue I ran into was that the screws provided are a square top. Not flathead or Philips screw drive, but a weird square. If you have all the tools in the world and you have a screw driver with a square top, this may not be a problem, but for those with normal basic tools, it's a huge problem. I tried a few different ways to see if I could get them in and couldn't, so I had to get other 3" deck screws with a normal Philips cross on the tops. In general, I think a more obvious tool listing, both on the website and ON THE DIRECTIONS would be helpful. I finally saw the wrenches listed but it's buried in text, and the screwdriver was not listed, certainly not a square tip. In the end, all assembled about 90 minutes (with one bolt still an issue). With right tools and no bolt issue it could go faster. It's lightweight, glides well, and is comfortable. I have a few concerns about longevity based on wood splintering and light weight of wood pieces, but I'm going to paint and seal, so hopefully that should help. The gliding aspect is quite nice though. It's lovely on my front porch.

The glider is even more charming in person than in the picture. The curved style of the seat makes it into an eye pleasing art piece. It is very comfortable and no cushions are needed. The workmanship is excellent. We ordered the untreated one and my husband finished it with two coats of water repellent before assembling. (We let it dry for a couple of days in our garage before putting out in the yard). He then put it together in about an hour or so. He did need a square head screw driver, which he already had. When you receive the box, it is a tall rectangle because the seat and back are already assembled (separately) and you will have to attach them together along with all the other parts and hardware. Everything arrived in terrific shape. Nothing missing. My husband's only complaint was the directions were vague. He said it would just take longer than an hour if you are not accustomed to assembling items. The grandkids love to sit on it as well as the adults. I LOVE it and am out in the yard enjoying it every chance I get. It is very relaxing and the motion is so soothing. Love it, love it, love it. Note: Arrived on time as projected.