After all the talk, planning and buying, I finally built my first project -- a simple adirondack chair.

It was very straightfoward, and turned out pretty good -- but not perfect.

I didn't have a countersink drill bit, so the screws are flush and I can't cap them with plugs. I'll just cover them with wood putty and paint it. I had wanted to stain the chair, but actually, white will look better on my deck.

The plans were pretty good. The one problem was that although they told me to buy #8 2" screws and #8 1 1/4" screws, the instructions only referred to 2.5" screws. I used the 2" for the thicker pieces, and it seems to be tight.

My biggest problem was stripping screws. I tried different sized phillips bits on my driver, but it didn't seem to matter. I'm not sure if I didn't drill the pilot holes deep enough, or maybe they were too narrow. It would be nice if the drills bits were labeled the way the screws are -- a #8 drill bit to drill a pilot for a #8 screw. But I bought a "Grab It" bit, and it pulled out the stripped screws easily. I think I need to figure out how the "clutch" works on my driver/drill.

My one big problem was that the three back planks didn't fit between the spacers. I'm not sure why, because I rechecked the spaces and they were correct. I ended up using my circular saw an guide to rip 1.5 inches off one of the planks. It fits, but isn't symmetrical.

I also didn't get the tops of the planks even. I tried using the router and clamping a guide piece across the face of the back planks. Good idea, but bad execution. The clamps slipped. Oh well, it will look rustic.

Another problem I had was ripping the end grain on the miter and the router (used the router to roundover the edges on the arms and the top of the planks). Maybe I went to fast?

All in all, I'm pretty happy with it. I think I'll buy some more wood today and build another one -- hopefully getting it perfect. Or something close to perfect.

Thanks to everyone for their advice.