Homemade Portable Swing

In this Intructables you will learn how to make my portable swing. It's very easy,you can fold it in to a little bundle and put it in any kind of bagpack, and take it with you when you go to the park or go into the outdoor

Materials:

• about 10m of braided nylon rope (6-8 mm)
• jeans fabric(can be any colour) 100x55cm
• 4 metal ring (Ø 4mm)
• about 4m of strap (the purple one as you can see in the pictures)
• 2 bolts (M6)
• 4 metal washers (inside Ø6 mm)
• 2 metal eyes
• 2 nuts (M6)
• 1 carbiner

the knowledge of 2 knots

• the figure 8
• the bowline

once you've got all those things you can start building the swing

so, for this part you ar going to need :

• about 4m of strap (any colour)
• jeans fabric (any colour) 100x55cm
• 4 metal rings
• sewing equipment

for making the seat you will have to use the schematics, that is amidst the images,
first you will have to sew in a 50cm long strap in the middle of your fabric,this will be your center for the rest of the time. melt the ends of the strap so it will not unravel. then you wil have to sew in the first horizontal strap about 3 cm from the side. from the center of your farbric each side should be 50 cm long but you will use 10 cm for creating a loop on wich u put the metal ring (picture 5) make shure that the loop is not sewn in yet.

for the thrid step you will have to cut out a piece of the fabric on both side you will have to cut out v-shapes ( as you can see on the schematics) the v-shape is 25 cm(both lengt and width) from the uppercorner of your fabric.
after cutting out the v-shapes, you will have to connect both part so you it has a 3-dimensional bowl shape
(picture 6-7)

when you have the bowl shape, you can sew in the second horizontal strap, which is 15 cm above the first horizontal strap. make sure the ends(+- the last 20cm) are not yet sewed on. this you will need to make loops for the metal rings
the next step wil be to sew in the strap (115cm) that is on the outline of the seat (make sure u have 3 cm backlash to create a nice brim on the the outlining of your fabric)
when the outlining strap is sewn in, you can sew ends on all the horizontal end, make a loop with a metal ring inside the loop, then sew the loop, so that the ring can not fall out. (picture 3, has the first strap done that way)
make sure that on both sides of the second horizontal strap( that is longer from the center to the end of the loop) has some kind of security measure.I used a bolt and some washer and a nut, but if u have rivets it will also do the trick. when using bolt, make sure to saw off the part of the bolt that is still sticking out after tightening. if there are any sharp edges , use a file to smooth things out.

when al that is done, you can make a nice brim on the outlining of the seat.

before we begin on the ropes, you will have to know these 2 simple knots :

• Figure eight
• Bowline

materials :

• around 10m of nylon rope
• 2 metal eyes

we will start with the smallest ropes (160cm), you cut 2 piece of rope of 160 cm(picture 3)
first you make a figure eight in the middel of the of the small rope(picture 3-5)
then you will use a bowline knot to make a loop around the metal rings of the seat. make sure that the highest ring will need a shorter piece of rope,(picture 5-8) i made so that between the bowline knot and the figure 8 there was approximatetly 45 cm of rope, on the lowest located ring, and 40 cm, on the highest located ring. do this on both sides.

for this part you will need

• around 5m of nylon rope,
• you will also need the two knots again
• and 1 carabiner, i prefer one with a safety on it

first you will have to cut a piece of rope the needed size, and burn the end so the rope will not unravel
on one end of the rope you will have to make a figere eight knot, on the loop you then have created you will put a carabiner.(picture 4)
the other end of the rope u will have to connect with one of the smaller ropes, you earlier connected to the sitting compartment. to connect these two parts you will have to use a bowline knot. (picture 3)

At first, you will have to find the appropriate tree and branch.

the actual installing is very eazy.
If you have found you location, where you want to swing, you throw the end with the carabiner(maybe add an extra carabiner or 2 for weight.

then you pull on the side of the rope that you have thrown over, so that u can adjust the height of the seating.
if you rope is to long, the you can make a simple figure eight knot on the appropriate height.

the use the carabiner on the figure eight knot to connect with the metal eye in the rope that is connected to the seating.

thanks for being interessted in my homemade swing!

And i hope you enjoy it.