Project Information
Let me start out by saying THANK YOU for all the inspiration you all share on the site. My wife has wanted one of these for a while now, so I finally took the plunge and made this my winter project (among other things). I poured over lots of pictures of these things here on LJs and found a design I liked by Monte Pittman. Monte, I LOVE that Blue Pine Bench you made and the cedar one as well. I put my own twist on it but used Monte's bench as the basic outline. This is by far the BIGGEST and HEAVIEST thing I have ever made. It is made from Chestnut Oak, and some Ash reclaimed from a corn crib built in the early 1900s. The pictures do not do this wood the justice it deserves. This stuff is Beautiful and VERY hard! I decided to keep the live edge on the back rest as i thought it added to the rustic appeal of the bench. The back rests and arm rests are made from some kind of old Ash lumber from the same barn. Beautiful grain to the stuff too! I made the trim for the top and bottom on my router table. Its a piece of the oak, quartersawn and ripped in half with a 45 chamfer on one side and both ends. The finish is 2 coats of Howard's Feed n Wax. (Orange oil, carnuba wax and beeswax). I love the stuff!! The measurements are 48" L x 42" H x 23" W. I feel like I have a piece of local history in my house now; and to think the farmer that gave us the wood in exchange for tearing down the building was going to just burn it down! I hope you all enjoy the pictures! Thanks!