| Project by Todd A. Clippinger | posted 81 days ago | 405 views | 1 time favorited | 36 comments | ![]() |
This bench was commissioned by the lady that placed the winning bid on my Shaker Bench for Charity
The bench was made to go with an existing dining set. The wood is cherry and it has a distressed finish with worm holes, dings, a dents.
The pattern in the apron was templated from the table. The stain was a perfect match.
Confession time. I did not make the legs. They cost me $50 each from Michael Burak Designs. They are made from cherry and they were perfect. I think the total bill came to $220 with shipping. I could not have made even one leg for the cost of all four legs and so it made good financial sense. I also could not have sold it for what I would have to charge if I made them myself. As a contractor I feel no shame in subcontracting work out.
The finished bench looks like it was ordered with the original dining set.
Here you can see the bench material laid out with the ordered out legs.
The wood is cherry. The stain is Sherwin’s BAC Wiping Stain. It dries to topcoat in 30 minutes. The finish is Sherwin’s pre-cat lacquer T77-F37
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
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36 comments so far
GaryK
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8401 posts in 430 days
posted 81 days ago
Looks good to me. Not working for profit I have always made my own legs. It’s my time to spend.
I can see you point in buying them though.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
Gary,
I certainly never fault anyone for making their own legs. But this was a simple piece and there was no way I could get away with charging enough to pay for my labor of making the legs.
It certainly lacks a bit on the fulfillment side when I can’t tackle all of the details myself, but the reality is I have to make money.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
WoodJack49
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189 posts in 204 days
posted 81 days ago
Nice looking bench, Todd. How did yo do the distressing?
-- Jack - Mission Viejo, Calif
dennis mitchell
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2913 posts in 756 days
posted 81 days ago
Nice they look good, but I’m betting a Clippinger designed table leg would have been awesome.
-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com
teenagewoodworker
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1932 posts in 210 days
posted 81 days ago
nice bench! i like the finish a lot. i don’t see any shame in buying the legs either, you don’t have to so the work and you know that all four legs will match. thanks for the post.
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
WoodJack,
I used a scratch awl for the worm holes. I used a wood file for stamping and roughing the edges. A couple of blocks of wood worked for “flogging” the wood. I also used a flat tip screw driver for some gouging.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
trifern
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3234 posts in 209 days
posted 81 days ago
Nice project. Thank you for sharing.
-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
Teenagewoodworker,
Your perception and understanding of how difficult it is to duplicate a design is a mature observation. It has been fun watching you grow in your knowledge and skill. You will go far with the craft.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
ND2ELK
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2232 posts in 216 days
posted 81 days ago
Very nice looking bench. You did a beautiful job on this piece. Thanks for posting.
God Bless
tom
-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa
gizmodyne
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1476 posts in 532 days
posted 81 days ago
Nice work again. How did you go about matching the stain?
-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne
WoodJack49
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189 posts in 204 days
posted 81 days ago
It sounds like a time consuming process just to do the distressing and get to look random not contrived. From what I can see in the pictures, you did a good job gettin gthe distressing just right.
-- Jack - Mission Viejo, Calif
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
Gizmo,
The client allowed me to take a leaf from the table. I went into Sherwin Williams with a scrap piece of cherry and we matched it in about 5 minutes.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
WoodJack,
Yes, I had to be careful to make the worm hole pattern natural looking. The wear marks are fairly easy because logically they occur in certain areas through daily use.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Billp
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199 posts in 641 days
posted 81 days ago
Todd your work is always first class.
-- Billp
CharlieM1958
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3958 posts in 660 days
posted 81 days ago
Beautiful bench, Todd.
Like Gary, since I don’t woodwork for profit, I could make my own legs. Only trouble is, I’m just not there skill-wise to make these legs. <g>
-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"
Napaman
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1594 posts in 519 days
posted 81 days ago
very nice…still waiting for the Clippinger School of Woodworking to open (summer would be good!)...little Montana fishing in the early morning…followed by a first class woodworking the rest of the day? hah? ya? Of course with your wonderful work you must be very busy!
-- Matt, Napa, CA...177 days to sanity...
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 81 days ago
Napaman,
That sounds like a great curriculum. Fishing & woodworking.
I have thought about it.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Karson
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12617 posts in 842 days
posted 80 days ago
Todd if you had some young kids instead of dogs, you could have turned them loose in the shop with some kids toys and tools and they could have distressed it for you.
But then again tying the dogs to the piece with a chain might have worked also.
Great transformation from a new piece into an antique.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
griff
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413 posts in 204 days
posted 80 days ago
Beautiful bench, really like the finish.
-- Mike, Bruce Mississippi = Jack of many trades master of none
Grumpy
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4799 posts in 293 days
posted 80 days ago
Excellent product as usual Todd. I can understand why you bought the legs, after all time is money.
-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 80 days ago
Karson,
I could do that and call it my “Patented Distressing Technique.”
Thanks everyone for the great comments.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
Roger Strautman
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487 posts in 575 days
posted 80 days ago
I’ll bet you would like to have more of these money makers come along more often. Very nice work as usual Todd. Thanks for sharing!
-- " All Things At First Appear Difficult"
Keni
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35 posts in 326 days
posted 80 days ago
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with farming out parts. If you don’t sometimes, the job would end up priced too high and the customer won’t sign because they are feeling gouged even though you are truly being fair to yourself and them. Besides, they won’t ever know the difference anyway!
—“There is no shame in making a profit… Everyone needs to eat!”
-- Making Quality Homes Better!
Texasgaloot
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263 posts in 142 days
posted 80 days ago
Outsourcing is the thing to do in internet business—think of Michael Burak as your “Virtual Assistant…” In a piece like this, the economics wouldn’t give you a leg to stand on (somebody had to say that…)
You need to refill your Orange Crush, however.
Impressive as always, Todd.
-- There's no tool like an old tool...
Roz
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255 posts in 228 days
posted 80 days ago
Another beautiful result.
-- Terry Roswell, L.A. (Lower Alabama) "Life is what happens to you when you are making other plans."
jeanmarc
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1641 posts in 158 days
posted 80 days ago
splendid table very beautiful work and L workshop is very well
-- jeanmarc manosque france
SawdustMill
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32 posts in 174 days
posted 80 days ago
Newbie alert: What techniques do you use to flatten the tabletop ? Or do you have machinery that can handle those sizes ?
Todd A. Clippinger
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2528 posts in 541 days
posted 80 days ago
Sawdust Mill,
The secret in my shop is a 24” dual headed drum sander. I try to make money with my shop and so it forces me to buy the cool stuff.
-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com
SawdustMill
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32 posts in 174 days
posted 80 days ago
“forces me to buy the cool stuff” ..... niiiice :)
Douglas Bordner
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2443 posts in 505 days
posted 80 days ago
Great piece – happy customer. Score!
Looks to me like you spent a fair amount of time on the aprons and edges, not to mention the distressed finish and color matching.
-- "Bordnerizing" perfectly good lumber for over a decade.
jockmike2
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4011 posts in 688 days
posted 80 days ago
Awesome Todd as usual. mike
-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com
Davesfunwoodworking
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200 posts in 317 days
posted 80 days ago
Very nice Todd. Great job.
-- Davesfunwoodworking
Scott Bryan
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8483 posts in 264 days
posted 76 days ago
Todd,
This is a beautiful piece, as usual.
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.
Blake
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1873 posts in 316 days
posted 68 days ago
Beautiful Todd. I think that would be a great option for anybody… buying legs like that. Especially for someone like me without a lathe or carving skills/tools. Its a cool way to expand your abilities to create a range of furniture. And why not… we buy the hardware! (well, not you, you make your own actually).
Nice job. It’s not easy trying to recreate and match something. It takes a lot more effort than creating an original because you can’t just go with the flow.
-- Dust collectors suck.
Zuki
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806 posts in 519 days
posted 64 days ago
I took one look at the legs and said “holy cow . . . they took some time to make”. Makes perfect sence purchasing them, and like Blake said it opens a whole lot of other options for us.
Cheers
-- The significant problems we face cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them
Woodshopfreak
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329 posts in 184 days
posted 57 days ago
Don’t feel bad for buying the legs. Norm does it lol. I know I couldn’t make them I wouldn’t have a probblem with just buying them.
-- Tyler, Illinois