Looking over Matt Kinney's garden bench project from FWW, I decided to replace the decrepit Borg bench that came with the house.
(By that I mean, it wouldn't fit in the dumpster when the previous owners cleaned out the yard. You can make it out in the photo below...it's the only thing in my house that tends to the Right...)
I purchased a "lift" from Downes and Reader last Spring, which included some Ipe decking over runs (ripped too narrow, I guess), Lyptus shorts and Angelim Pedra. Nearly 3500 bf for $240!
I now believe that the fence around the Seventh layer of Hell is made from Angelim Pedra. It least the price makes sense, now.
The object of this build was to get something stable and reasonably good to look at, with a smooth finish. The legs are all made by resawing and laminating the board with opposing grain patterns.
This makes a very stiff spar. I wish I had thought of it, but Gary Knox Bennett beat me to it. 1:50 of the video for a brief explanation.
I try to cut everything by hand, and some of the resulting mortises in the Lyptus legs were ragged. The rear left leg was so rough that I had to fabricate a replacement in oak.
The seating surfaces were planed and scraped to the desired finish level and lightly sanded to find the rough spots. Two of the Angelim Pedra boards received quarter round edges for a shadow line
and to reduce eventual splintering. This stuff splinters so badly that I had to work with gloves on. My eyesight was sorely tested, removing some deep splinters.
The legs were shaped with a slight curve toward the back on a bandsaw, and match planed.
I expect the blood sacrifice will be worthwhile - the final product is stout.
Bench side.jpg
After struggling to get nine smooth and relatively flat boards from the Angelim Pedra, which is brutally hard and has interlocking grain throughout I put in three runs of Ipe decking for the seat.
Ipe is glorious to handle, by comparison. The grain pattern isn't so interesting as the AP, which is a good thing when it comes to finishing the project.
Some salvaged Teak was used on the arm rests, to cover the rough mortises for the back slats and provide a smooth surface for the user (that's me).
All joints are hand cut, and pinned with dowels. A few screws were used to hold odd sections together while the glue dries.
Titebond III was used throughout.
Some Tung oil wiped on revealed where glue had squeezed out, and a little scraping took that off before the next layer.
Marine Spar varnish was applied at the recommendation of local boat builders. I'll polish that with an abrasive pad to take down the sheen.
I've load tested it with a neighbor, 500+ pounds between us and it's rock steady.
My kids haven't been on it, yet.
Reply With Quote
