So finally got around to building my first piece of furniture - a garden bench. Been thinking about it for a while now, and there's a spot in my backyard where I had planned to put in a bench to sit on, drink some afternoon coffee and just reflect on life in the evening sun.
Took some time to think about what I wanted, and decided to challenge myself with the following features / constraints:
- No visible end grain
- No screws (at all)
- Angled seat (4°) and back (100°)
Probably not the smartest idea for my first project ... but was a lot of fun and learned lots along the way (aka #MistakesWereMade).
Made a few designs and landed on this:
This design seemed to be the best combination of strength and efficient use of materials while meeting the requirements.
Off I went to Bunnings and picked up the following:
- 9 pieces of 90 x 35 x 1200 pine
- 2 pieces of 190 x 35 x 1200 pine
- Exterior wood glue
- Cabots Exterior water-based coat
I then also bought an Ozito trim router and a 12mm straight cut router bit.
Cut everything to size, glued up the corners and routed out the stopped dados:
Then came the second assembly and glue-up:
Made some mistakes with some of the cuts, so got some external wood filler and filled in all the gaps. It dried grey so not super pleased about that but I guess live and learn (not to make those mistakes ...).
Sanded everything down, then applied the first coat of clear varnish. Also added levelling feet.
Once it was dry, gave it a light sand (the water-based varnish causes the grain to rise), then applied another coat since this is going to live outside in the elements. And there you have it ... a garden bench.
