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Songwriters sing about what they know. Authors expound on their personal experiences in how they write. An actor draws on felt emotions to allow that to lead their performance. Why shouldn't a furniture maker do the same?

In college I was tasked with making a bench for a semester project. Now obviously a bench is a fairly straightforward article with little to no moving parts, certain requirements for stability and the need to facilitate the resting place for two or more people (only one person and it would be called a stool). This project with its requirements of scale and function are not merely enough to dictate the form nor the materials. I needed more…I needed to look inside for a moment. What was I doing at the time? What was I interested in? What could I say about myself in the construction of this piece that would tell people about me?

Mountain biking!

Mountain biking? At the time I was crazy for it. Admittedly, central Indiana is not known for its off-road trails, but I loved the activity and did it as much as I could in my minimal free time. While working on my bike one weekend I was struck with the idea of using the inner tubes for the wheels as a surface for my bench. Interestingly that decision led to describing the rest of the piece. The dimensions of the bench had to coincide with the limitations of the inner tubes. The leather-ish look of the rubber influenced the shape of the end forms. Even the decision to paint the wood (in this case maple) brown and then color it with colored pencil would be an allegory to riding the muddy trails.

All in all it has become one of my favorite pieces and one I will just sit at for no other reason than to take a load off and reflect. Sometimes I just reflect on the trails I used to ride. Sometimes I think about the fun I had in building the bench. Mostly I dwell on the fact that inner tubes always smell like inner tubes. Man, that smell never goes away!

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Comments

· Registered
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2,217 Posts
Hah, that's a neat use of inner tubes. I've recently started mountain biking here in Colorado and it's quite fun (though challenging… we have some serious high-altitude rocky climbs).
 

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Thanks for explaining your thought processes before and during construction of your bench. Deciding to use inner tubes in the seat construction is a brilliant idea. To me, the piece has an Asian flavor to it. I would love to see a photo of the bench from the bottom.
 

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876 Posts
You really tapped you inner soul getting this so perfectly 'right'
 

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Man that thing is amazing looking! I've never seen inner tubes use on a bench before, so bravo for the creativity!

Aside from the uniqueness of this bench, it just looks cool!
 

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Nice design and nice work…
 

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Sweet bench, now just inflate them a little, and BOOM!, instant comfort! lol

... I know that smell, I don't think anything smells quite like inner tubes
 

· In Loving Memory
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3,537 Posts
Thats a real beauty.
Funnily enough I just remembered when looking at your design ideas ,but I saw an art programme on tv ,where some clever art student, made a jacket from inside tubing from cars trucks all glued together. An art nut/ expert bought it for a few thousand pounds .The student nearly dropped on the floor and was still shaking ten minutes later LOL.I really think your bench looks beautiful .I or actually my pal old Alistair or Big Al may yet steal your idea to make a bench for my grandchildren no money involved .if you don't mind LOL
 

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Thanks everyone for the kind words. Feel free to use or be inspired by any ideas I have. That's the best "thing" I could ever make.

Jeremy
 

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949 Posts
Fantastic looking bench! Great design Love the look!
 

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Great bench. Thanks for sharing.
 

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Man, two incredibly distinct projects posted the same day. Really cool stuff.
 

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How creative, that is one great project! A real beauty… Congrats.
 

· In Loving Memory
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Your project stinks, but in a good way. I love the design and very nice work you did on it. I also love to see original designs and this is certainly original and imaginative, but also very pleasing to the eye.
 

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That's just an intricate piece of wood work but you have executed it exquisitely.
 

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That is a unique looking, beautiful bench.
 

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122 Posts
Nice bench. I bet it's verry comfortable.
 
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