Making the Swing

We decided the old tire swing was too tiresome to hold onto.  Literally, it was exhausting trying to swing on it.  That's why we took it down and in it's place built a nice traditional swing!

Take one last look at the ol' tire swing, we love it's beauty but not it's comfort.

Ben got to do the honors and bring it down.

He climbed up and sawed off the rope with his pocket knife.

It made a sad little heap on the ground.

Then we brought out our fresh new rope; we made sure to buy braided rope so that it wouldn't come untwisted.

Ben tied the ropes on the same limb.

At first he used a boline knot, which is in the pictures, but after a day or two we realized this was too loose and would either end up rubbing the rope or the branch in half!  So he switched it to a slip knot version of the boline knot which tightened up nicely.

Then came the board.  While at the hardware store for previous purchases we also had the employee cut us a 2"x8" board down to 24" long.  At home we stained it with some wood stain we already had.

After it had dried we were ready to drill the holes.

Ben used his 7/8" spade drill bit.

We set it in from the edge by 1 1/2."

Then marked where the next one would be making sure to measure and keep things even.

Ben used his C clamp and spare pieces of wood underneath to drill into.

We brought the board outside as Lucy supervised.

We used a chair to help us figure out high we wanted the swing (high enough to be comfortable for adults, yet low enough for kids to reach).

Then Ben tied more boline knots on both sides of the seat.  He wants me to mention that he chose this knot because the loop never gets smaller.

To make this knot first make a loop on the main rope.

Then pull the end of the rope up through the loop.

Next the end goes around the top of the loop and back down through it.

We used our level to make sure the swing was straight.

After we had decided we liked the height we cut off the ends of the rope and burned it to make sure it wouldn't unravel.

Then it was time for fun, testing out the swing!

I absolutely love swinging, and after watering the garden I swing on it every day!

Ben greatly enjoys the swing too!

It may not be as iconic as the tire swing, but it still looks pretty neat hanging out there on our tree!

Are you too old to swing or are you still young at heart and love to feel the wind in your hair?