an easy to make portable swing for pleasure wherever you are/go!

It contains a seat and a rope that you can store in the seat. In this instructable i will explain how to make the seat and how to make a loop of the rope with adjusting pieces.

If you have any comments or ideas of improvements, please let me know.

Thank you for reading and have fun, remember, always have fun!

Step 1: THINGS WE NEED

MATERIALS

pvc pipe 80 mm diameter (length 50 cm)
wood: multiplex (I used 18 mm thickness) you need at least 50 cm x 50 cm
fabric, like an old bed sheet (60 cm x 80 cm)
thread for sewing
velcro of 20mm (20 cm long)
foam rubber (45 cm x 24 cm), not to thick, in the example 2 cm
shutter ribbon (1,5 m)
rope, be sure it's sturdy enough! (Mine is a 12 m long climbing rope, how longer the rope, the higher trees you can swing)
8 screws of 1,5 cm
12 screws of 5 cm (if you're using multiplex of 18 mm)

TOOLS

jigsaw
hacksaw
hole saw for wood 80 mm
two drills 3 mm and 12 mm (the last one is for the rope, if yours is only 10 mm thick use a drill of 10 mm)
drill driver
bits who fit your screws
staple gun (and of course some staples)
sewing machine
a wood file and some sandpaper for a nice finish

Step 2: MAKING THE PIECES FOR THE FRAMEWORK

From the wood you saw the grey forms as seen in the picture 1. I first toke out the inner circles out with a hole drill of 80 mm (Keep the parts you get of drilling the holes, we will need them later). Then get the pieces with the jigsaw.

Now take 4 of the rings and adjust them like picture 2 (loose the white fragment), and make holes with the 3mm drill on the indicated places. The other 4 rings also needed to be drilled on the same place (but keep them intact) like picture 3.

You will also need 2 pieces of PVC pipe, each 23,5 cm long. Use a hacksaw to shorten PVC pipes.

Check your wooden pieces that they glide over the pvc tube.

If you want (or if necessary), you can file the pieces for a nice and clean surface.

Step 3: ASSEMBLING THE FRAME

Make two pieces with the parts from previous step like you see in picture 1. Take a good look at the second step, it's important that the partial round is orientated well, the red lines should help you with that (they kind of represent the situation of the rope when you use the swing). Now fix the pieces together making use of the drilled holes and the screws of 5 cm. The result must be something like picture 2.

Take the pipes and put them in the 2 holes of one part (picture 3). Now glide the second part over the pipes (picture 4). Lay the frame flat, and drill 4 holes of 3 mm through the wood and the pvc as indicated in picture 5 and 6. Flip the frame and fasten the pipe to the wood with the screws of 1,5 cm (picture 7/8). Do the same thing on the other side.

Now cut 5 pieces shutter ribbon of 24 cm and fix them with the staple gun on the frame, make sure you take the right side, as shown on picture 9. Measure the middle and start there, from the middle set out 12 cm on the 4 sides and place 2 shutter ribbons there (picture 10). The last two ribbons you put right between the other.

Picture 11 shows the result of the frame!

Step 4: MAKING THE SEAT

Time for some needlework! Picture 1 explain how to make the seat. Fold the fabric in the middle and sew it together. Turn it inside out and stitch a velcro strip at the end (so the tissue is also closed on that side) . Now put the foam rubber in the bag you've just made and secure it by sewing a shutter ribbon of 24 cm in the fabric. At last place the other velcro piece on the other side on the end of the sac.

Mention this: if you stitch the velcro at the ends, don't forget to fold some fabric inside. (picture 2)

Picture 3 is the seat you should become (and don't give a lot attention to my sewing work, first time i ever worked with a sewing machine...)

Step 5: PLACING THE SEAT

First the edge were the velcro is near the foam rubber, place it in the middle of the wooden frame (on the side without shutter ribbon) and secure it with the staple gun (picture 1/2). Now wrap the seat around the frame and staple it through the shutter ribbon you sewed in, on the wood (picture 3).

Ready? Result are shown in the last pictures.

Step 6: NO ROPE, NO SWING

The fun part of a mobile swing is the fact it's mobile... You can swing any tree you like. Of course, some trees are bigger than others; therefore i made the length of the rope adjustable... My rope is about 12 m long, it allows me to swing on branches that are 3,5 m above the ground. Choose your rope carefully, it must resist your weight and handle some friction of the branches while you swing!

Now, to make it adjustable, I made a system with two slices of wood (these you had to put aside while making the frame, remember?). Just drill two holes in it with the same diameter of your rope (picture 1).

Other things you have to make before assembling the loop are 4 pieces like picture 2 (also with the slices of the hole drill). You will need them for bringing the ropes closer to each other after you set up the swing (explanation in next step).

Make a loop of the rope with the 6 pieces of wood on the right place, as seen on picture 3.

That's it folks, all is ready and now you can go swing go!

Step 7: GO SWING GO

Find a tree who is suitable (picture 1), get the rope out of the swing (picture 2) and throw it over a branch (picture 3). Adjust height, if necessary, by moving the wooden disks away from each other, to shorten; or slide them to each other, to extend (picture 4/5). Make sure that the two loops hanging over the branch are on equal height (picture 5). Now you can hang the seat in the rope (picture 6/7). Only one thing to do before you can start swinging, the 4 disks hanging on the rope, slide the opposite rope into the recess of the disk, bringing the ropes together (picture 8/9). Move two of the disks as high as possible and slide the other two down (picture 10).

Ready to swing! Have fun!

This is a link to a clip on you tube about the use of the swing: http://youtu.be/AGydAjmVgxo