How to Build a 2×4 Porch Swing

I have always wanted to turn my sitting bench design into some type of swing. Recently I was asked to make a swing so I figured now would be a great time to do so. The swing that I came up with is made from eight 2x4x8’s and four 3/8″ eye bolts. My cost was around $40 with a build time of 5 hours. I wish I had a place to hang one of these because this has turned out to be one of my favorite projects in a long time. I hope you enjoy and can build one of your own. When you get to the end of this tutorial don’t forget to download the free plan!

Cut all of your parts to length and width according to the cutting diagram. The width (3″) needs to be cut first with the arm components. Typically I like to have all my parts cut before assembly but there are a few parts that need to be measured after some assembly is done (pink)

Half lap joints can be cut with various tools. In this project I used my table saw with a dado blade. It is the quickest and easiest method for me. However, if you do not have a table saw you can either cut these with a hand saw and chisel or a circular saw and chisel. For a good explanation of cutting precise half laps please refer to the video at the end of this article.

With all of the arm components cut and fitting together nicely you can glue all of the pieces into place.

The front of both arm assemblies needs to be trimmed slightly (red/bright green). A cut perpendicular to the bottom needs to be made where the half laps intersect. This point is where the seat slats will start.

The slat supports (pink) can now be measured and put in place. I used glue and 4 or 5 screws to secure them to the arm.

Starting from the front install the seat slats. Each slat is secured with two screws on both sides from below. Make sure you pre-drill for all of your screws so that you do not split the slat support. The space between slats is 1/8″. I used the solid end of a 1/8″ drill bit for this. After the seat slats, install the back slats working from the top down.

I used 3/8″x4″ eye bolts on my build as they were the shortest I could find. 3-1/2″ eye bolts would be ideal. I drilled holes so that they went through both the arm and the slat supports.

So that’s it. This was a very fun build. Like I said in the video I don’t have anywhere to hang this from. I sure wish I did because I really want one of these for myself! As always, if you decided to build one of these I would love to see your finished product! If you would like a PDF copy of the full plan as well as the SketchUp file download the .zip file here.