| Project by Mottom | posted 168 days ago | 247 views | 5 times favorited | 11 comments |  |
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New England winters beat the tar out of good wood, so lacking adequate storage I decided to build something on the cheap that could be left outside (and that I wouldn’t feel too guilty about). I built the first for the neighbors who wanted a 2-seater w/ a table; then my wife wanted a 5-foot bench in a dark red stain; finally, the neighbors on the other side wanted a 7-footer that all four of them could sit on (2 adults + 2 kids). They’re nothing special, but each one was a fun exercise – to see if something “purdy” could be made with 2 by 4’s. They are constructed with screws dowels and glue. The only regret I had was that the red and brown benches did not take stain well (even with the use of a conditioner) – I guess that’s a hazard of fir. All told, I think we have about $125 total in the three benches.
-- New to the craft and loving every minute!
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11 comments so far
flink
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95 posts in 210 days
posted 168 days ago
Hi Mottom,
I really like your furniture, especially the two-seater with the table. What did you use for the finish on these pieces?
-- Made lots of sawdust and pounded some nails. Haven't finished anything, though.
Mottom
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25 posts in 392 days
posted 168 days ago
Used Minwax glos poly on all three. Clear poly on the first. The two stained benches, I used Minwax poly with gel stain, which I don’t recommend for 2×4’s; even with conditioner, the gel stain doesn’t absorb evenly.
-- New to the craft and loving every minute!
Loogie
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34 posts in 269 days
posted 168 days ago
Those look nice! I tell you what, the 2×4’s in your area have a LOT less knots than the ones in my area! I would have to step up to Select Pine 1×4’s to get that kind of quality @ about 3X the price. Nice job.
The best finish I’ve managed for pine was shellac sanded and then stained twice and finished with Spar Poly. The shellac kept the stain from absorbing at all so it was consistent but vulnerable to damage.
-- Mark
Ad Marketing Guy - Bill
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314 posts in 288 days
posted 167 days ago
GREAT looking benches and fantastic use of 2×4’s – Curious did you surface plane the 2x?? -because they really look stellar. NICE Post
-- Bill - - Ad-Marketing Guy, Ramsey NJ
Scott Bryan
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9156 posts in 311 days
posted 167 days ago
These are nice benches. You did a pretty good job with these. At one time I would have been surprised by something like this but after seeing the projects posted here for the 2×4 contest the quality and type of projects that reside inside a common 2×4 is simply amazing.
Nice project. Thanks for the post.
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Mottom
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25 posts in 392 days
posted 167 days ago
Bill,
No surface planing, though I did cheat by using some 1×4’s for the slats. I just sanded everything down to 220 before finishing. I think I did anger the lumber manager at Home Depot though because I picked through about 4 pallets of 2×4’s to get the ones I wanted. I’m stubborn (anal) that way.
-- New to the craft and loving every minute!
Napaman
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1812 posts in 567 days
posted 167 days ago
these all look great…you stuggled with the red bench (finishing) but it does not show in the photo…it llooks grreat…
-- Matt, Napa, CA...142 days to sanity...
jjohn
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393 posts in 203 days
posted 167 days ago
You would never know that the finish didn’t do what you wanted it to. Great looking 2×4 benches.
-- JJohn
DiGi
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1 post in 184 days
posted 167 days ago
Shipmate, AWESOME work, thanks again for a great retirement gift!! After Japan you need to come back to Whidbey Island and we can kick around some saw dust!! Talk to you soon.
DiGi
HMCM, USN, RET
Dusty56
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1185 posts in 177 days
posted 167 days ago
very nice benches indeed
-- Dusty56@comcast.net
Bradford
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647 posts in 312 days
posted 167 days ago
They look great to me.
-- so much wood, so little time. Bradford.