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Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JennyBunch. It's wonderful to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about constructing a swing frame.
Could you please provide some images or link us to the products you wish to mount on the frame? This will give our members a better idea of what you'd like to achieve and assist them in offering helpful suggestions.
We might not have a swing set frame by itself, but have you considered purchasing a Swing Slide Climb 3 Function Swing Set or the Lifetime Heavy-Duty Swing Set and replacing the included swings with something suitable for your granddaughter? I'd hazard a guess that even if we did sell a frame separately, it would likely be a similar cost to the ones that include the swings. Purchasing a swingset and retrofitting it would be far cheaper than constructing your own frame from timber. However, I'd be happy to provide further assistance if you want to go that route.
I'll be looking forward to hearing more about your project.
Mitchell
So that would be something like two Swing Slide Climb Blue Plastic Swing Seat, a Swing Slide Climb Blue Toddler Open Seat and a Swing Slide Climb 1m Round Net Swing? I'd be a little concerned with the toddler swing with chain as that really only provides a lap harness and lower back support. It sounds like she might need something more similar to the Swing Slide Climb Blue / Red Plastic Baby Swing Seat with an additional chest strap to stop her from falling forward. Unfortunately, this swing is designed for babies and small children up to around two and a half years old. My daughter is four, and she no longer fits in it.
How handy are you with a sewing machine? If you did need some upper support for the Swing Slide Climb Blue Toddler Open Seat, you could sew up some Grunt 50mm x 10m Black Poly Webbing and attach a Grunt 50mm Adjust Release Webbing Single Buckle to it. This could be attached just under the armpit area between the two ropes. If the webbing went around the back and front, it would provide some support from falling back and forwards. I'd also add some padding just for comfort.
Back on topic, though, which is the frame. I'd still be a fan of utilising a pre-existing frame. Construction of a frame wide enough for four swings, all connected at once, would need a fair bit of thought about how it is engineered. The timber needed for the horizontal support would be quite large in order to span the gap, and the legs connected with some advanced woodworking techniques. I've constructed a rendering below to illustrate one method that could be used. I'm reasonably skilled at working with timber, and even I would be hesitant to take on such a project, especially when you're dealing with child safety.
Let me know if you're still interested in constructing your own frame, and we can start talking more about the materials you'll need.
Mitchell
I think you'll find she fits in the Swing Slide Climb Red / Yellow Plastic Baby Swing Seat @JennyBunch. My one-and-a-half-year-old son fits perfectly fine in it and has plenty of room before growing out of it. You can also recline it, which would be perfect as she'd be slightly lying back, and you wouldn't need to worry about her falling forward.
You really can't go past something like the Swing Slide Climb 7 Function Swing Set for the price. It already has the two swings for her older sister and friend, and you could remove the monkey bar swing in the middle and fit her Yellow Plastic Baby Swing Seat. You could not install the seesaw on the right and instead, replace it with a Swing Slide Climb 60cm Net Swing.
Mitchell
It's my pleasure, @JennyBunch.
Please reach out if you need further advice; we're here to help.
Mitchell
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @gsharp. It's brilliant to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about building a swing set.
As you can tell from my comments above, I highly suggest that if you need help constructing a timber frame, it's likely a good indication that sticking with a pre-made unit like the Swing Slide Climb 7 Function Swing Set would be the best solution. This is not a project I would recommend to someone who isn't entirely confident in being able to design, construct and assemble their own timber frame. If something wasn't done correctly, the frame could collapse and I'd hate to see someone injured due to this. Overall, the design is relatively straightforward but requires an angled and compound joint from the legs to the cross brace. This is not something that could be eye-balled, and you'd need to determine the angle and splay of the legs to be able to cut the angles required at the top; this type of joint I would consider an advanced technique that I personally would struggle with to get right. The pre-made unit I've linked to comes with all the components, swings and slide and will work out far cheaper than the timber required for the timber unit.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
