'Farmhouse' table and bench

[Hoang N Nguyen]

Beautiful work my friend, can't wait to see the final product!

[Brian Holcombe]

I'm making a bench for one side. Here's the rough sketch. She doesn't want the same leg details in the bench, but still wants them to go together.

80" x 14" deep x 18 tall.

I'll be using the cut off ends from the table for the legs.

The design is loosely from a Fine Woodworking bench a couple years ago.

Bench looks great....through tenons?

[Prashun Patel]

Had a chance to get the wood for the bench prepped yesterday.

Brian, yes, I will through tenon the legs into the seat.

[Pat Barry]

The span seems pretty long in the sketch. I would worry about sag and weight bearing unless you have some lengthwise stiffeners. Maybe it's just for kids?

[Prashun Patel]

There will be stretchers under the seat at well

[Prashun Patel]

Table done.

Client happy.

[Jim Becker]

Truly beautiful, Prashun!

[Prashun Patel]

I'm going to tenon the legs into the top. I used haunched tenons in the last version I made of this, and it has worked very well.

I routed shoulders of the tenon at the router table. The legs are short and wide enough that this was a comfortable approach. I use an Incra LS positioner and that makes tweaking the joint even easier than with a shoulder plane.

I then marked the recess for the haunch, clamped a couple edge guides, and used a pin router with a small bearing mortising bit to route the recess. I cleaned the corners with a chisel. The pin router gives a good deal of control, and makes it easy to free hand very close to an edge.

Next, I cut the mortise for the center tenon. This will be a through tenon. Since the bench is split, this means I could saw out the center mortise instead of having to chop/drill it. I used a ryoba for this. I sawed a series of kerfs and then knocked out the waste with chisels. It was too large to take to the table saw.

[Bill Adamsen]

Beautiful. Love the tapered leg and arched stretcher - which I think will prove exceptionally strong. Unique design and thinking. This is actually my first time in this forum and I loved following (in 20 minutes) your build from concept through delivery. I'm amazed at the top ... when I looked at the photos at the end I couldn't believe it was joined. Exceptional work!

[Brian Holcombe]

Nice work Prashun, finished table looks great! I like how the bench is shaping up!

[Mel Fulks]

Love the top wood and subtle edge treatment. It's just right

[Prashun Patel]

I cut the flanking tenons. I used the ryoba again for this. I love the way my ryoba rips. I have mixed results cross cutting (my cuts tend to lean on thicker stock). But the ripping tracks to the line very well - especially in this softer walnut. It also makes resetting the cut easy if I run astray. I ripped a few extra kerfs in the waste and then chiseled the waste away. I don't own a good coping saw, so this was my only option (that I could think of). It's becoming quicker and quicker as I gain confidence in placing the chisel in the right place more and more swiftly.

[Prashun Patel]

I ran into an issue called, 'you should have planned for the obvious a little better'.

Cutting the kerfs for the wedges in the tenon are problematic because of the flanking tenons. I tried cutting them at first by hand, but it was awkward and I couldn't get to the bottom of the kerf. So, I used the table saw. I clamped the tenon into position and raised the blade into the tenon. I went a tad below the base line to account for the radius of the blade. However, normally, I'd drill relief holes at the base of the kerf so the piece bends easier. That too is not possible here, so I figure a deeper kerf may assist in keeping the wings - which are a tad on the thick side (3/16") from breaking. I would have liked to make the wedges thinner than the 1/8" kerf, but it's too late now.

[Prashun Patel]

I got the legs fitted today.

[Frederick Skelly]

Beautiful work Prashun! Well done!
Fred