My first

[Charles Bodner]

My Pi bench. So named because I tried to basically use the full slab of cherry I had, and was left with a somewhat organic shape after the parts of the slab that looked they might break off were broken off. I thought it looked a little like the top of the greek letter pi. A little. That’s why the legs are shaped as they are. Teak legs, so if it went outside I wouldn’t fret about a little water contact. Wedged through-tenons legs-to-top. Mortise and tenon stretchers to legs. Dovetailed half lap on the long stretcher ends. All neanderthal, including surfacing and thicknessing rough slab. No electrons died in the cause. Anyway, thanks for your comments. Please be gentle, it’s my first time.

[Sean Hughto]

What's not to like? Unless it's taller than it looks, you may not have even needed the stretchers. Anyway, I'm sure its rock solid, and they certainly don't look bad - so don't take my comment that way (more just thinking about how to make it more pi-like. Nice work. Keep it up.

[Bill Houghton]

It's a cute little table, and very distinctive.

[Brian Kent]

I like it. I like the fact that it looks like a real piece of wood - not squared off and perfected.

What's the size? Footstool size or piano bench height?

Brian

[Charles Bodner]

Footstool size, about 15" tall and 18" long.

[george wilson]

An "organic" stool. Nothing wrong with this approach. Perhaps the next time,you should splay the legs out so the bench doesn't easily tip over,unless they are already far apart enough to not require it.

[Charles Bodner]

Thanks. Yes, it does need splay. Its not unsteady but is tippable. If I could do it again, I'd have left the slab at full width, and strengthened the pieces that looked like they'd fall off with butterflies, a la George Nakashima

[Paul Saffold]

To be honest it doesn't look much like a cherry pie to me :D.

Nice work, Charles.

Paul

[Charles Bodner]

Thank you for your comments: distinctive, non-rectilinear, cute, overbuilt (I'm paraphrasing). I am encouraged. Not much like cherry pie - but you should have seen it when I dropped vanilla ice cream on it! - not so much like a greek pi, either, in the photos, but you should see what I see in my mind's eye!

[Dewey Torres]

Far better than most firsts. Very nice work.

[Jim Becker]

Really nice work on that!! And a perfect project to meander totally to the Neander!

[John Keeton]

No electrons died in the cause.Charles, don't tell us that you built this by candlelight and heat from a woodstove????:p

Nice work. I really like all the joinery and the unique rustic look. Great piece!

[Sean Hughto]

Glad you're getting some good feedback. For what it's worth, here's a recent sort of similar effort of mine:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3317604057_7185a3911e.jpg

It's a bench about 3 feet long and 18" high. I'm moving toward making some rustic windsors, so this was an early chance to practice some legs.

[David Keller NC]

Charles - Very nice work, but don't put it outside. Because of the dimensions you noted and the choice of wood for the substructure, and the fact that there's a stretcher between the legs on each end, a rapid change in humidity outside may well split the top.

It's hard to know for certain, of course, but I'm guessing that side stretcher's within 5" of the top (and constrains its expansion/contraction in width).

[Charles Bodner]

David: Thanks for the advice about outside use.
Sean: Beautiful. I think that's what I had in mind all along.
John: Actually, one night the power was out so I used a candle. Didn't get much done, but didn't burn anything down, either.

[Ken Werner]

I like it.