# A Bench for My Uncle



## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*Getting Started*

A few weeks ago my uncle visited me and my family to help me add lights and outlets on a new 20A circuit in the portion of my garage that I have claimed as my workshop. I bought all the materials and he provided the know-how and labor. I was all set to pay him for his services when he made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He asked me to build him an outdoor bench and that he would pay for the materials. So I get to work in my shop and I don't even have to pay for the wood. What a deal. So I thought I would track my progress via a blog. I don't consider myself an expert in anything related to woodworking, but I enjoy reading others blogs so I thought I would give back a little.

Earlier this week, I stopped at the local lumber yard to pick up some cedar boards. I went with the tight-knot option, not the clear. I figured I could pick and choose and work my way around some of the bigger knots without paying the extra costs (3 times) for not having to deal with any knots. I ended up pretty happy with the selection and I think only a few of the knots will show up, but they will be in inconspicuous locations. Here is the collection of boards after sitting in my shop for about a week.










The legs and arms are 2.5 inches thick which required laminating some 2x stock. So today I started by breaking down the 2×8's. Between working in the garage and being a dad (I did beat my son at baseball on the Wii), I almost got everything that needed to be laminated done.

Cross-cutting the boards on the table saw because they were too wide for my chopsaw:









Here are the boards broken down into manageable pieces ready for the jointer and planer:









One of the challenges that I faced was jointing boards that were wider than my jointer. The woodwhisperer just did a segment on tackling this task. I used the method of jointing what I could to get a flat register and then adhering that portion to a thin piece of MDF and passing it through the planer. I'm not good at taking pictures as I work so I went through the planer process without stopping for a shot. I had a few hiccups, but got everything flat!









Because the lumber is "green", the plans that I am following in Wood Magazine suggest using polyurethane glue to take advantage of the higher moisture in the wood. I've never used this stuff before, it seemed odd to have a water squirt bottle, but it seemed to work.









In the clamps and watch the foam ooze out the ends.









This is where I finished up for the night. One board laminated, a second in the clamps, and the rest planed and squared.


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*The Back Legs*

After getting the parts laminated, the first step is to cut and form the rear legs of the bench. These have an 11 degree bend to support the back of the bench so the rear legs start out as a pretty big chunk of wood. I used masking tape so I could see the markings and also to minimize indenting the soft cedar.









All the joinery is mortise and tenon. I have never cut a mortise or a tenon, so I was excited to try. Here is a photo getting ready to drill the first tenon. My counter top drill press wasn't big enough to host the forstner bit, the wood, and the table. So I had to come up with a jig that replaced the drill press table. You can see how things are arranged in the photo below. The mortise wasn't the prettiest thing, but after a total of 3 for each rear leg, I learned a few things. The first and foremost is that a soft wood like cedar isn't the best place to start. I'm pretty happy with how they all turned out. I am pretty sure that the faces are flat, smooth and close to square. I can't guarantee that they are all the exact same size, so I will custom cut the tenons to match.









I used my little bandsaw to do the rough cuts and then my belt sander to finalize it down to the line. I am pretty sure that this would have been the perfect application for a hand plane, but I don't have one yet. So I think I got pretty close with what I have.


















I planned things out to avoid most of the knots, but I wasn't completely successful. I couldn't work around a knot that ended up near the middle of one of the legs. (I think it will be hidden by some the seat slats, but we will see.) The knot was a little loose, so I mixed some 5-minute epoxy up with some fine cedar sawdust and filled the voids around the knot.









Here is the knot all sanded down to be smooth with the finish. I had only read about this technique before and am pleased with the results.









I have now two back legs complete with all the mortises cut, the edges rounded over, and finish sanding complete. (I do have a pair, you will have to trust me) I also completed the front legs which are a much simpler version of the back legs.


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*Completing the Sides*

Now that the legs are done, it is time to connect the front legs to the back legs. The first piece will support the seat and fits into the mortises that I previously cut into the legs. The tenons were a lot easier than the mortises and I just snuck up on them with a dado stack and then touched things up with a file until the fit was not too tight, but not too loose. I was happy when everything slid in nice and neat.









Here is the first look of the two legs connected with the cross brace!









Once all the tenons were cut and fitting nicely then it was time cut the curve in the top to make the seat a bit more comfortable. The plans that I am following from Wood Magazine provide templates to glue right onto the wood to help get everything cut just right.









One the lower cross braces were complete, it was time to move to the arms. These were a similar process: cut with a bandsaw, and sand to final shape. Unfortunately my sanding drum is only two inches tall and the arms are 3 1/8 inches tall. So I had to sand down to the final shape in two passes. It was a lot easier than I thought.


















The arm requires a notch in the back to fit into a notch cut into the back leg. This was done on the bandsaw and refined with a file. This took a lot longer than I thought and a shoulder plane probably would have come in handy for this application.


















Here is the side with the completed arm!









The last part of the side is two decorative corner bracket that fit under the cross brace. I cut out and shaped four of these today by completing one with the bandsaw and drum sander and then used a flush trim router bit in my router using the first bracket as a template. It went slick, but later realized that I need 6 brackets, not 4, so I will be repeating this process again in the future.



























The plans suggest that you connect the corner brackets to the brace and legs using biscuits, however I don't have a biscuit cutter, so I had to modify things just a bit to use a dowel jig. A little tricky on the sequence also, but I got it done.









So below is a picture of where I left things today. One side is almost ready to be glued up. All I need to do is to finish sand some of the parts and then glue and clamp. I am happy with how things turned out. The next few evenings will be spent making the arm for the other side. I am happy with the progress.


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## toeachhisown (Eddie) (Mar 30, 2011)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Completing the Sides*
> 
> Now that the legs are done, it is time to connect the front legs to the back legs. The first piece will support the seat and fits into the mortises that I previously cut into the legs. The tenons were a lot easier than the mortises and I just snuck up on them with a dado stack and then touched things up with a file until the fit was not too tight, but not too loose. I was happy when everything slid in nice and neat.
> 
> ...


i like your bench


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*Making the Cross Beams*

I've decided to finish blogging about building my Uncle's Bench. After finishing up the sides it was time to switch my focus to the cross beams. They probably have a different name that is more associated with furniture and woodworking (probably "stretcher"), but I'm going to stick with cross beams for now. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to jump right into cutting and shaping. As the lumber acclimatized in my garage, the 2×6s split right down the middle. I thought I could work around it, but in the end I was unable.










I am happy to report that the lumber yard was willing to take them back with a full refund and I was able to pick up replacement boards that were actually a better quality. However, I did have to wait again for acclimatization to occur.










I have discovered that I enjoy cutting tenons much more than I like cutting mortises. The tenons go pretty quick and before long I was able to dry fit the cross-beams and get my first glimpse of what the bench will actually look like. Even though things look a bit blocky.










The front bottom cross-beam received a gentle curve. This was pretty easy to lay out and cut out on the bandsaw. I did have to learn how to safely support the long beams towards the end of the cut, but that was a pretty quick solution.










The top back cross-beam was a little more decorative. The plans called for a circular cut-out in the center, however that was vetoed by my uncle. He thought it would just be a place that moss would grow, so the direction was to simplify. I tried to lay it out by hand, but felt that I wouldn't be able to get a symmetrical look to the top beam. So I played around a bit on CAD and was able to print out the entire curve for half of the beam and then make a template out of 1/4-inch hardboard. Below is a picture of the template on the top cross-beam.










After roughing the cut out on the bandsaw, I used the template and a flush cut router bit (with the bearing on the bottom) to clean up the cut. My router bit wasn't tall enough to go the full depth, but after the first pass I was able to remove the template and finish up the cut. This is the first time I have taken the time to make a template for something like this and I was quite pleased with the results. Nice and symmetrical!










I also cut a groove in the top and bottom back cross-beams to hold the vertical slats, but neglected to take any pictures. But here is a shot of the completed cross-beams fit into the side assemblies.










It wasn't long after completing the cross-beams, that my garage and time was taken over by my 14-yr old son and his Eagle Scout project. He decided to refurbish a used playground and donate it to a local campground. You can see in the picture below that the garage was filled with his project for about a month.










He is now done. The project is complete and installed. He had to disassemble the playground, replace the rotted boards, pressure wash and sand down every piece, and finally stain everything with an outdoor stain. He spent almost $700 (which he raised by doing a carwash) which did not include about $150 in donated supplies and equipment. All total he had about 300 man hours into the project including planning and fund raising. Here is the happy kid on top of the slide after the final installation on a rainy Saturday. (Now if he would just finish the paperwork!)










Thanks for looking!


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## toeachhisown (Eddie) (Mar 30, 2011)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Making the Cross Beams*
> 
> I've decided to finish blogging about building my Uncle's Bench. After finishing up the sides it was time to switch my focus to the cross beams. They probably have a different name that is more associated with furniture and woodworking (probably "stretcher"), but I'm going to stick with cross beams for now. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to jump right into cutting and shaping. As the lumber acclimatized in my garage, the 2×6s split right down the middle. I thought I could work around it, but in the end I was unable.
> 
> ...


thats a great son you have and a great build woi=uld br proud of both


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*The Seat Back*

Once the rails were done, it was time to move onto building the back of the seat so that all of the components could be glued together. The design calls for tenons to be cut on each end of the back slats to fit into a groove cut into the top of the back bottom rail and the bottom of the back top rail. I didn't get any pictures of that process. I used a table saw and it was more difficult that I expected. In the end I decided that I should have cut the groove before I shaped the top rail just so I had more material to work with and hold onto.

After the grooves were cut, I cut the back slat to the correct size and laid them out to try and keep the colors and grain patterns symmetrical. Here is a shot before I got to work on the tenons.









And here is a close up of the tenons (before I sanded them and cleaned them up a bit) and the bottom groove.









And a picture of the dry run after the bottom tenons were cut to see how everything looked.









My wife and I decided not to glue the slats in place (the instructions in the magazine were a little vague) in order to allow for some seasonal movement. We also decided to prefinish the slats to save the hassle of try to finish a vertical surface. So here is a shot of them in the drying process.









The plan calls for little rounded over spacers to trap the back slats within the grooves. Off course I didn't get any pictures of that process, but here is a close up of the finished back. You will notice the finished slats and the unfinished spacers located in the gap between slats. These were a little challenging to get a thin rabbit on the spacers and I needed to shorten them after the initial cut to make sure that they didn't sit on the bottom of the groove. In the end they look pretty good and we did glue the spacers in place.









So with the back slats finished it was time to glue everything together. My wife came out and helped with the glue up and I was so excited to see it sitting there put together and looking good. Now onto the seat and seat support.


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## jap (Oct 10, 2012)

AaronMcCain said:


> *The Seat Back*
> 
> Once the rails were done, it was time to move onto building the back of the seat so that all of the components could be glued together. The design calls for tenons to be cut on each end of the back slats to fit into a groove cut into the top of the back bottom rail and the bottom of the back top rail. I didn't get any pictures of that process. I used a table saw and it was more difficult that I expected. In the end I decided that I should have cut the groove before I shaped the top rail just so I had more material to work with and hold onto.
> 
> ...


very nice


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## Beginningwoodworker (May 5, 2008)

AaronMcCain said:


> *The Seat Back*
> 
> Once the rails were done, it was time to move onto building the back of the seat so that all of the components could be glued together. The design calls for tenons to be cut on each end of the back slats to fit into a groove cut into the top of the back bottom rail and the bottom of the back top rail. I didn't get any pictures of that process. I used a table saw and it was more difficult that I expected. In the end I decided that I should have cut the groove before I shaped the top rail just so I had more material to work with and hold onto.
> 
> ...


Nice bench!


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## DrSawdust (Mar 7, 2007)

AaronMcCain said:


> *The Seat Back*
> 
> Once the rails were done, it was time to move onto building the back of the seat so that all of the components could be glued together. The design calls for tenons to be cut on each end of the back slats to fit into a groove cut into the top of the back bottom rail and the bottom of the back top rail. I didn't get any pictures of that process. I used a table saw and it was more difficult that I expected. In the end I decided that I should have cut the groove before I shaped the top rail just so I had more material to work with and hold onto.
> 
> ...


Wow, I just discovered your blog. I am very impressed with what you have done. Could you please tell me what issue of Wood you found the plans in? I would like to make one.


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

AaronMcCain said:


> *The Seat Back*
> 
> Once the rails were done, it was time to move onto building the back of the seat so that all of the components could be glued together. The design calls for tenons to be cut on each end of the back slats to fit into a groove cut into the top of the back bottom rail and the bottom of the back top rail. I didn't get any pictures of that process. I used a table saw and it was more difficult that I expected. In the end I decided that I should have cut the groove before I shaped the top rail just so I had more material to work with and hold onto.
> 
> ...


@ DrSawdust -sorry for the delay. The bench is in Jun/Jul 2006. It is called the "Comfy Classic Garden Bench." Here is a link to the plans: http://www.woodstore.net/coclgabe.html


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## AaronMcCain (Aug 17, 2010)

*Finished and Finished*

Once the bench was glued together and the bottom slats were cut to size, it was time to finish the bench. We knew that the bench would spend spring, summer, and fall in the Palouse hills in Eastern Washington and get some significant sun exposure. We expect that the bench will be brought in during the cold winter months. So after some research we decided to finish the bench with a few coats of a spar urethane that provides U/V protection. The reason are that it will weather nicely however there will be some maintenance after a few years. We were told that you don't have to strip the previous application prior to the application of the new application. My uncle was on board with this approach.

The only problem was that when we started to apply the finish it was too cold in the shop for proper application. My wife (who is my finisher) suggested we apply the finish up in the master bedroom. Okay. I laughed when I came up and she was in the bathtub applying the finish to the bottom side of the bench. Ain't she great?



















After it was finished it sat in our study for almost 6 months before I had the opportunity to meet up with my uncle for the delivery. He was excited to take it home and pleased with the outcome. Thanks for following along, it was a fun project.


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Finished and Finished*
> 
> Once the bench was glued together and the bottom slats were cut to size, it was time to finish the bench. We knew that the bench would spend spring, summer, and fall in the Palouse hills in Eastern Washington and get some significant sun exposure. We expect that the bench will be brought in during the cold winter months. So after some research we decided to finish the bench with a few coats of a spar urethane that provides U/V protection. The reason are that it will weather nicely however there will be some maintenance after a few years. We were told that you don't have to strip the previous application prior to the application of the new application. My uncle was on board with this approach.
> 
> ...


It is a very nicely build bench and a good design too. You are very luck to have wife who can do finishing and is also willing to do it. Congratulations to both of you for a fine job!


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## JoeinGa (Nov 26, 2012)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Finished and Finished*
> 
> Once the bench was glued together and the bottom slats were cut to size, it was time to finish the bench. We knew that the bench would spend spring, summer, and fall in the Palouse hills in Eastern Washington and get some significant sun exposure. We expect that the bench will be brought in during the cold winter months. So after some research we decided to finish the bench with a few coats of a spar urethane that provides U/V protection. The reason are that it will weather nicely however there will be some maintenance after a few years. We were told that you don't have to strip the previous application prior to the application of the new application. My uncle was on board with this approach.
> 
> ...


She must be pretty brave to not even put some cardboard or paper down. I'd of had drips for sure doing the underside of that bench

NICE bench!


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## gfadvm (Jan 13, 2011)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Finished and Finished*
> 
> Once the bench was glued together and the bottom slats were cut to size, it was time to finish the bench. We knew that the bench would spend spring, summer, and fall in the Palouse hills in Eastern Washington and get some significant sun exposure. We expect that the bench will be brought in during the cold winter months. So after some research we decided to finish the bench with a few coats of a spar urethane that provides U/V protection. The reason are that it will weather nicely however there will be some maintenance after a few years. We were told that you don't have to strip the previous application prior to the application of the new application. My uncle was on board with this approach.
> 
> ...


That bench turned out beautiful.

And your wife is definitely a keeper!


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## iamcliff (Jul 4, 2012)

AaronMcCain said:


> *Finished and Finished*
> 
> Once the bench was glued together and the bottom slats were cut to size, it was time to finish the bench. We knew that the bench would spend spring, summer, and fall in the Palouse hills in Eastern Washington and get some significant sun exposure. We expect that the bench will be brought in during the cold winter months. So after some research we decided to finish the bench with a few coats of a spar urethane that provides U/V protection. The reason are that it will weather nicely however there will be some maintenance after a few years. We were told that you don't have to strip the previous application prior to the application of the new application. My uncle was on board with this approach.
> 
> ...


Nice blog series. Interesting read. Great looking bench!


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