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Thread: Building a bench (the kind you sit on)

  1. #1
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    Building a bench (the kind you sit on)

    Thought I share a new build I started last night. There's a set of windows in our new house that we currently have a small circular dining table siting under that doesn't get used for anything other than a cat perch. Since this little table sits about 6 feet from our main dining table and never gets used, we've decided there is likely a better way to use that space. I suggested that a bench with some built in storage might be nice to have in the dining room under those windows, so after consulting my wife and looking through a bunch of pictures online to figure out what she would like I came up with this design.

    Bench seat.jpg
    It's pretty straight forward. The woodworker in me wanted to make something more curvy or with more complex joinery, but the homeowner and husband in me wanted something that would make my wife happy, fit in with our dining table, and not take forever to make. To feed the designer in me, I've added some subtle curves to the aprons and on to the sides of the armrests that I think will make it look less generic whilst still fitting with the overall piece and the room it is in.

    I have some nice wide walnut boards that will serve as the deep aprons/sides of the storage area. The top I'll probably actually just trim with walnut and use a secondary for the center section of it since the plan is to have my MIL make some type of cushion/upholstery that will cover it anyway.

    All the joinery will pretty much be M&T, and there really isn't that much of it. The one part I still need to think through is the best way to tenon the aprons into the legs. I'm thinking since they are so wide I'll do some type of breadboard style tenon glued and pegged at the top, but just pegged into elongate holes lower down so that they can expand downward but not upward which would potentially screw up the top/seat.

    I got started on the leg stock last night, which I'll need to make from laminations due to the thickness of the wood I have on hand. Technically, I should probably go buy some 8/4-10/4 walnut, but the stuff I have all comes from the same tree so using it for each part will ensure a color match throughout the piece (also I have it, it was free, and I'm both cheap and lazy, so I might as well use it....and also, I confess, I'm one of those idiots who sometime spends money on tools when I should be spending it on wood....so what I have is what gets used)

    This will not be 100% handtool build. My new best friend His Excellency Sir Bandsaw as already been participating, and there is a good chance that his relative Mr. Drill Press will be involved in those long leg mortises.

    Will be 90-95% handtool though...

    Here's what I got done last night...

    Jointing a wide board to rip the leg stock from

    IMG_20131203_200154_441.jpg

    Sir Bandsaw did a nice job ripping the pieces...much faster, cleaner, and likely quieter than I could do by hand.
    IMG_20131203_201041_874.jpg

    4 out of 8 sections for leg prepped for lamination
    IMG_20131203_204734_351.jpg

    Didn't have a lot of time last night so that's it so far. Trying get 2" by 2" legs out of these, but if they're a hair smaller, that's ok too. Hoping to have the legs glued up by the weekend so I can start on the joinery.

    No idea how long this will take. Hoping just a handful of weekends, but even though its pretty simple, I can never be sure if a project will take 6 weeks or 6 months to be completed. We'll see how it goes.
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

  2. #2
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    Good luck Chris! I like your design. And nice band saw gloat.

  3. #3
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    Thanks...but that's not bandsaw gloat.

    THIS is a bandsaw gloat...

    IMG_20131127_145001_042.jpg
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

  4. #4
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    Looks good Chris! What do you have in the works for a finish on this?

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    Thanks Brian. I'll probably just do an oil and wax finish on it. I typically like to shellac things but I don't really see any kind of film based finish on this and I imagine alcoholic beverages will be set on the arms, so I think I'll skip the shellac this time.

    At most I'll probably do an oil varnish blend (e.g watco), but generally I like to avoid stinky stuff so I'll likely stick with one of the Tried and True products or just regular BORG BLO followed by a wax. Easy to apply, nice to look at, and nice too the touch.
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 12-04-2013 at 4:13 PM.
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

  6. #6
    If it were me, I'd mix borg semigloss poly with BLO and do my oil/varnish that way. Applies the same way, and feels as nice to the touch.

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    Good thinking Prashun. I'll probably do that if I go the oil/varnish blend route. I did that once before but I can't recall the proportions. IIRC its 1 part BLO, 1 part varnish, and one part MS is typically recommended? What's your preferred proportion?
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 12-04-2013 at 4:47 PM.
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

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    Nice one Chris, even nicer to see a British style bench! That bandsaw is very well tuned, kudos. You raise a valid point on keeping it simple, sometimes it's the hardest thing to do.

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    I have used water based poly over Tried and True on walnut and it looks great. And not stinky.
    Paul

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    Quote Originally Posted by Graham Haydon View Post
    Nice one Chris, even nicer to see a British style bench! That bandsaw is very well tuned, kudos. You raise a valid point on keeping it simple, sometimes it's the hardest thing to do.

    Thanks Graham. Yeah I messed with the design a lot and kept going back to something with simple lines. I'm not going to pretend like it won't still be a challenge (everything is a challenge when your a weekend warrior) or that I'm capable of some crazy complex carved, turned, inlayed, sculpted piece, but I definitely was tempted to design something that would push my comfort zone...I had visions of some curvy frames panels or some sculpted splayed legs, but it just would have look wrong for this project.

    Glad you like my workbench. I'm a fan of it. The English bench is certainly one of many wonderful contributions the Brits have made to the craft....wish I could say the same about your guys food (I do enjoy beans & toast on occasion, but just because my grandfather was full English doesn't mean I have any interest in eating a Full English)

    The bandsaw is my first. I got it from someone locally who posted it here in the SMC classifieds. I didn't want to bother using it for any projects until I had it tuned to perfection (or to the very best of my ability anyway) so I read everything I could find online and a friend of mine sent me a bunch of Michael Fortune articles that helped a lot. It took me tinkering for 2-4 hours everyday/night for about a week and a half before I was able to do that resaw and call it good. The funny thing is, that after all that tuning I realized that the biggest factor that was making or breaking my resaws was how good of a job I was doing feeding the stock. Not just in terms of not going to fast (I wasn't), but in terms of making sure that I was feeding at a consistent rate and not tilting or twisting the board as I fed it. I probably could have saved myself a lot of time effort if I had realized that right away, but I guess it doesn't hurt to have it dial in by the book, to the letter, etc... I certainly saved a lot of money by buying something simple and used, and then learning to dial it in, as opposed to buying a saw that was unnecessarily large and overpowered for my purposes (which was my initial intent when I started saving for one). I sure learned a lot in the process too, and as a result can now feel and hear as soon as something isn't working right in my feeding. George has been known to say that "you have to make love to the bandsaw" and now I understand what he means.


    Quote Originally Posted by paul cottingham View Post
    I have used water based poly over Tried and True on walnut and it looks great. And not stinky.
    Really, water based? Was it the General Finishes stuff. The BORG stuff I've used looks like plexiglass.
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 12-04-2013 at 7:38 PM.
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

  11. #11
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    If you're meaning something like Minwax poly. . .cut it with Mineral Spirits. I use a 20% MS mixture and it works great, not heavy and plexiglass-like.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

    Fueled by leather, chrome, and thunder.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adam Cruea View Post
    If you're meaning something like Minwax poly. . .cut it with Mineral Spirits. I use a 20% MS mixture and it works great, not heavy and plexiglass-like.
    Yeah the minwax "water based" polycrylic is what I'm taking about that looks like plexiglass (though I have made it look ok by putting it over amber shellac and then rubbing it out). You can't cut that with MS can you? Or are you talking about the regular miniwax polyurethane? I agree that stuff is fine...especially when thinned. I'm confused what you are referring too.
    Last edited by Chris Griggs; 12-04-2013 at 8:05 PM.
    Woodworking is terrific for keeping in shape, but it's also a deadly serious killing system...

  13. #13
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    I don't know but for me oil (and not the shiny poly stuff) on walnut is just right. On maple maybe not so much.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Griggs View Post
    Yeah the minwax "water based" polycrylic is what I'm taking about that looks like plexiglass (though I have made it look ok by putting it over amber shellac and then rubbing it out). You can't cut that with MS can you? Or are you talking about the regular miniwax polyurethane? I agree that stuff is fine...especially when thinned. I'm confused what you are referring too.
    Sorry, I had a brain fart. I don't see why you can't cut the water-based with good ol' distilled water, though.
    The Barefoot Woodworker.

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    I just burnish Waterlox into walnut and maple. I was mostly wondering if you would do a period finish on the wood. Makes perfect sense to use a finish that can handle some alcohol spilling.

    For a simple project, I really like visible joinery in some areas. Arts and crafts style through tenons would be sexy in this case.

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