Hall Bench

Rennie Heuer

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Constantine, MI
OK, party's over. Time to get to work!

First item on Jan's agenda, a bench for our little entry hall so shoes can be put on or taken of without doing the 'one legged balancing with one shoe half on' dance. She had some ideas of a slat design. My first rendition was summarily rejected - she did not like the waterfall legs.

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"Give me something more 'country cottage', maybe with cross braces. OK, says I, no problem.

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'Much better' says she, but she has some pictures in her file that she wants to refer back to. Let's see how long this design stands. More to come. :D
 
Looks like you're on a good track, Rennie. Believe me, LOML has had some great input on many of my projects over the years. I have no problem giving her credit when it's due!!! (Happy wife, happy life!)
 
I'm with Tom on that. Nothing like "suggestions" after the saw has been to work. Luckily for me I'm not married. I have a live in girlfriend and 2 dogs. I just tell her what I think I am going to do and leave it at that. I give it generally about 2 weeks before I start to give her a change to say something. If she hasn't said anything about it by then, too bad. What she sees is what she gets. :D
 
Nice designs. I've got a similar project on my list, my SWMBO would like some shoe storage bins or wicker baskets under hers.

Exactly what's happening here except she already has the storage rack and I am to build the bench around it.

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Well, things change. I laid out all the parts, 28 without the bracing, and clamped it together for a test fit in the hallway. Fit perfect.... except... Jan does not like the look of the old shoe rack under the new bench. "Could you build two shelves between the legs, pretty please?"

Back to the drawing board. I'll drop the bracing (sitting on it when it was clamped up convinced me the bracing would be over kill) and make two shelves that mimic the seat and attach them to the legs.

However.... I'm convinced that building them now with just the clamped up bench to measure off of is an invitation to problems. So, I decided to build the entire bench and then build the shelves to be inserted afterwards.

Then there's the finish. That's another issue - Jan wanted it to match a pine door in the hall where the bench will sit. Finishing the assembled piece just looked like a nightmare so everything gets pre-finished. The color comes from a little trans tint red and honey amber in dewaxed shellac. Wipe on satin poly will go on next.

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With the shellac applied

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Man, you are killin' it right now. All sorts of stuff is getting done in your shop! 11 years after buying this house I still haven't made a bench. Well done sir....looking good!

-Hutch
 
I got this all glued together, prefinished of course, set it down on the floor and sat on it. I bounced up and down a couple times and was disheartened by the number of little cracks and pops I heard. (I guess I could have been a little more careful prefinishing to leave more unfinished glue surface.) :eek::huh::doh: I had thought I would just do glue only on this entire assembly but I think it needed some mechanical help. So, I screwed and glued some braces underneath then drilled the front and rear aprons for long screws that go through the leg and into the seat structure. Then I plugged the holes. Of course I will have to repair the finish on the aprons.

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Last night and this morning I have been working on the shelves that will go underneath this bench. Someplace to put the shoes!

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Looks great, Rennie. Ain't no shame in using mechanical fasteners, especially on furniture that's likely to get a lot of use. :thumb:
 
Looks good Rennie. I'm glad you made a generous apron, not having a stretcher would render it a bit weak on the upper corners as the legs have so much leverage force.
 
Finished!

Man, this project was a lot easier in my head! 50 parts. It went together so easily in sketchup. :eek: :rofl:

Nevertheless, here's the finished project in its natural environment. Jan wanted the wood to match the door and I think I came pretty close. Would not have been my color choice, but I wasn't the customer. Touching up and repairing the places where I decided late in the process to put screws and plugs in the legs was actually easier than I thought it would be. The tinted shellac and wipe on poly mended quite well.

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The bench looks great. However, I could not use it. My skinny butt would fall through the slots.
Oh well I could enjoy it by looking at it...and that would be a pleasure.

Enjoy,
JimB

Not an issue for me! :rofl::rofl:

Looks great, Rennie. Ain't no shame in using mechanical fasteners, especially on furniture that's likely to get a lot of use. :thumb:

I had visions of the bench disintegrating into its 50 component parts the first time I leaned over to tie my shoes. Had I been more careful in leaving more unfinished glue area it might have been OK, but the addition of those braces made a world of difference in both the number of cracks and pops I could hear when sitting on it and my confidence that no one would get hurt when it fell apart.

Looks good Rennie. I'm glad you made a generous apron, not having a stretcher would render it a bit weak on the upper corners as the legs have so much leverage force.

The original design did not have the large aprons because it had angle braces in the rear and between the legs on each end. The aprons grew when Jan added the shelves underneath for the shoes. The combination of the braces and shelves would have just looked too busy.
 
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