The Garden Bench
Right down to the wire, as usual. A couple of weeks ago I saw the summer contest and thought “I can do that, no problem”. I have built benches before, quite a few actually (if you consider 15 plus a few) and enjoy making them. It gives me a chance to use the lathe and use up misc. pieces that I have been saving in the shop.

I saw some old videos (shot in the 20’s and 30’s) recently of craftsmen making things by hand for the most part, and although I was not going to hand saw a plank up for the seat, the idea of simple and practical stuck in my mind.

Having built benches for the outdoors before I also knew it is a losing battle fighting with the elements. It is just a matter of time until the piece disintegrates. The piece is essentially disposable. That does not mean you can take precautions by using materials that are inexpensive and decay resistant, joints that naturally stay snug and easily renewable finishes. From a practical standpoint you don’t want to spend a lot of money for the materials or spend a lot of time making the piece or maintaining it. That is unless you want to.

The bench I chose to enter is one of three that I made in my spare time and named it The Fire Tenders Bench; it is the perfect bench for sitting around the fire and fiddling. The seat is made from a cut-off of a LVL (engineered structural wood) 1 ¾ in thick X 12in. deep and about 32in. wide. The legs are made of treated yellow pine, turned to a simple pleasing shape with a tapered end to fit into a tapered socket in the seat. On hard surface the seat sits about 21 1/2in. above the surface allowing for the legs to sink into soft ground and the future decay and wear of the legs. The finish is several/many coats of thinned polyurethane.

I have spent about 6 hours total making this bench with zero material costs and anticipate minimal time spent on maintenance (if that LVL holds up). I enjoyed every hour spent building it! The Garden Bench I built is simple, practical, economical, durable, comfortable, and good looking.

Vote for me.
Dave

Just a couple of pics of a bookcase I recently completed.
will get a few more after the finish is applied.

I made this wood working bench from salvaged materials.The best part of the project,other than freeing up the space in the shop the salvaged lumber was taking up,was being able use the lathe to turn those massive legs.
Space always being a premium, I put a secret drawer under the shelf to hold veneer or blueprints.
Chips and Shavings
Dave

This Project is on going and has taken on a life of it’s own.
What started out as a Christmas present several years ago, made out of shop scrapes and whatever was available.Simple joinery,square legs and a varnish finish. Evolved into this,The 2007edition,the 2008edition had ball and claw feet.It’s just the right size to work on.Not too big!
You can do mortise and tenon joinery, use exotic woods, faux finish, carve, turn and not get overwhelmed.Just have fun. I had the most fun this year “Turning” and Carving the legs. Nextyear I’m going to do some more carving on the legs

Dave