Work in progress sneak peak

[atgcpaul]

Poorly lit sneak peak of my latest project. I'm actually classifying this as a shop cleaning project and not furniture because I'm using up scraps and making more room in the shop. It's only coincidental that I happened to make a bench in the process.



Paul

[chopnhack]

Looking good Paul, was that some of the walnut you wanted to use up? Did you finish the drawers yet?

[atgcpaul]

Looking good Paul, was that some of the walnut you wanted to use up? Did you finish the drawers yet?

The top is a cherry slab I bought from a local sawyer. It was always meant to be a bench top but the design never popped in my head. The slab was under all those walnut boards and when I saw it again, my interest was piqued. I still have a lot of cleaning up to do on it. There's dry rot on the edge and the board doesn't sit flat on the legs. I also need to inlay (first time) a butterfly key.

The walnut legs are offcuts from my daughter's dresser build from my walnut tree.

The stretcher is from the walnut stash I'm trying to sell. I need to repost that CL ad.

Not sure which drawers you're talking about. Flipcart?

[JR]

Sweet!

My latest design sensibility would drive me to make some gentle curves in the stretcher and legs, but I don't think you could screw it by leaving it as is.

[atgcpaul]

Sweet!

My latest design sensibility would drive me to make some gentle curves in the stretcher and legs, but I don't think you could screw it by leaving it as is.

It's based off this bench so you are dead on that the original has curves in it. I decided not to curve the stretcher because I wanted more meat for the span I had. I did intend to cut the curve on the feet, but in the excitement of getting home from work early and jumping into the glue-up, I totally forgot. I may still do it with my jigsaw but it won't be as simple.

http://www.woodsmithtips.com/2012/07/12/outdoor-woodworking-11/

[Ed62]

Definitely nice looking. Be sure to post images of the finished product.

Ed

[Brian G]

. . . in the excitement of getting home from work early and jumping into the glue-up, I totally forgot.

I've never, ever done anything like that.

I wonder if, instead of a curve, honoring the trapezoid shape of the legs might be a more visually attractive design element. The natural edges of the seat are attractive. In my mental visual an "artificial" curve in the leg doesn't belong there.

I'm eager to see the finished bench; it looks great.

[mpc]

I too like the trapezoidal shape. Maybe instead of a curve just a shallow trapezoidal shaped notch cut out of the ends? Just enough to define separate feet?

mpc

[Richard in Smithville]

Certainly has my interest piqued. Looking forward to the finished product.

[atgcpaul]

I was getting kitchen fatigue and wanted to move this slab out of my way and get it into use. I was stressing that the butterflies would need to be inlaid perfectly but close really is good enough. I roughly marked with chalk where I wanted the keys to go. I already had some walnut roughly planed down to 3/8" and just laid them out with pencil and cut them out with the BS. I'm not that great with the band saw so several swipes of the edges on sandpaper laid flat on my TS top got them straight.

Then I scribed around each key with a knife. I chucked up a 1/4" spiral bit in my trim router and set the depth to slightly less than the key and slowly cut away the waste. I also chucked up an 1/8" bit in my other trim router and routed even closer to the line. The 1/4" bit was super dull so it was slower than expected.


Using a sharp chisel set in the scribe line, I cut the key hole to the exact size checking the fit against the key. I put some glue on the bottom and edges of the key, laid a block on top and whacked it several times with a mallet to seat the key.





There were some noticeable gaps which I planned to shove cherry wedges into. However, when I sanded the keys flush with a belt sander, the fine dust filled the gaps and they look invisible to me. I've got a few more keys to inlay then I'll sand the whole slab and ponder how I will attach the base to the top.

[big tim]

Very nice bench, Paul.
Your fit on the butterfly is amazing.
I see you have a cute little shop helper.
Regards,

Tim