window bench seat,project COMPLETED!

allen levine

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new york city burbs
Gonna leave the 2 drawers I made for the workbench as is till I build a new cabinet.
Finished that.
Just had enough masonite to retop the torsion assembly table today.
Got out all the walnut I have to start cutting window bench frame tomorrow, took a bit longer that I thought, had to move around a few hundred bf of wood.
While I had the thick maple out, I cut a handrail for my sons basement stairs.
He doesnt need anything fance, so I just made the rail 1 5/8 thick, comfy for me, and rounded over all 4 edges, sanded down to 120, smooth to the touch, then used some old golden oak minwax stain and put first coat of stain on today. He needed around 9 feet of rail, so I used one 10 foot piece of maple. Had a tough time holding it steady, 10 inches wide, 2 inches thick, for the sawstop, so I used the festool track saw, fast enough, jointed it 2 sides, planed it down, that was that.
I guess the 2 top drawers and handrail are projects one and two so far.
Bench will be third.

I had to work with the door open to handle a 10 foot piece, hec with the code morons.
Im not that impressed with the expandable hose, from 3 feet to 21 feet, which I purchased recently. The fast hookup attachments and handle are fine, I put an outlet on each of my portable machines that use one line.
The hose holder is backordered, so Im hoping it alleviates the storage part.
The hose is heavy and just hangs down when hooked up to machine, its tough to hang since it just keeps stretching. eh.
 

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Well Allen I really admire you. I really could do with taking a leaf from your book. You just get stuck in and later if it don't work out for you you don't hesitate to switch it up. I have said before you really inspire me.


Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
 
so heres what Im starting with.

I didnt realize the wainscoting was real tongue and groove, I thought it was just panels. there were over 400 brads shot in and I had to remove each one after I pulled the WC off. Not a job for a myasthenic, not looking for pity, just saying it killed my stinkin day, I had to rest my arms constantly, and spent almost 4 hours just ripping that apart and cleaning up. Not a productive day, and Im done now.

The bottom is 90 inches, long, I will build and install that first.
the top will be a bit tricky, as its angled, and I will build the back piece first, and measure out the lengths and angles from there.(if its 42.5 degree angle where the side and back panel meet, I can cheat and just make sure the front of each stile meet, to make it look uniform)
I will use a tiny molding under the sill where the new frame reaches, to cover any gap, and the only area Im not certain of yet is where the back side panels will meet the sheetrock on an angle. I might use a small piece of walnut and round it over and cover up the ends.
The bottom is off 1/8 of an inch from end to end. Could be the floor, maybe the house sunk down over the years.
Ill install the panel first(one long 90 inch panel sections, maybe 4 panels with stiles and rails), then make a small piece of molding for the top, maybe plane a bit off of bottom of high side. I dont think with the cushion on bench many will notice.

The design has changed. There will be no doors on the bottom panels.
Its too low, my wife wants the bench to lift out the way it does now. Easier for me, Im happy.
Ill start milling some maple and walnut Saturday, so I can get going on this thing.

If anyone has a hint as to mold out the top sides near where the panels will meet the sheetrock, please suggest something. In advance, I cant use everyones opinion, so please dont be insulted if I dont use your suggestion.
Ill take input though, I know nothing about moldings and built ins. And I know less about construction.

The entire thing will be done with pocket screws. Its easy and this project is perfect for pocket screw use.

construction glue(which brand should I purchase at Home Dep?) on back on panels, and some brads at very top,(which will be under molding) and very bottom, seat back wont see, bottom will have a piece of base molding covering it, so Im all clear.

ya could see in the pictures, the storage underneath was filled with vhs tapes from the 90s. I think we went into that storage once the last 15 years.
 

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got the bottom panels made, now I need to sand it all to finish. I will do final sanding when I have them all make and fitted. ONce I apply finish and attach them all, I will mold it out.

I sustained an injury today. My own fault.
I was working on the router table with the upcut bit, sliding pieces through, and began to think about the next few days and my plans,(plumber, contractor, where I have to go and what time)just sorting it out in my head, and the bit caught a piece, my left hand didnt come up as did my right, and the finger next to the pinky caught the top of the upcut bit.
At first, I knew the finger hit it, and I thought the end was gone.
The blood was ridiculous, I calmly shut down, could not realy see any piece missing, and went inside to clean it and rinse it.
Seems I took a chunk off the side but the chunk didnt fly off.
I butterflyed stitched the finger after I got it to stop bleeding 10 minutes later, and besides being very tender and a bit of a throb today, it seems ok.
I am a moron. These things should not happen.

Heres a pic, unfinished and unnattached, the bottom of the bench. I layed the old cushion on it to see how it would look.
btw, those panels are birch.The bench top is 3/4 plywood, so on top of the bottom panel, Im going to make a piece of 3/4 roundover to fill the gap from panel top rail to cushion.
 

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I need 3 pieces of molding to finish it off, Ill cut it myself. A 3/4 roundover for the toprail of the bottom piece, and 2 flat pieces to cover up sides where they meet the sheetrock wall.

I cut the end of the sides at 45 Degrees so it matches the angle where it meets wall and is flat.

Where the two side panels meet the back panel, there is a small gap, so Im going to glue/tack in a tiny strip to cover space, wont even be noticed.

Im going to finish with my favorite, 2 coats of waterlox original brushed on, one coat gloss, lightly sanding after 2nd and third coat.

Im also going to run a small roundover molding along the floor where it meets the bottom panel.

I need to sand the panels up to 120, and sand the walnut a bit more, especially to clean up unevenness in some spots and one crack, some glue spots.
didnt have enough birch so I threw in some maple. It will blend fine with finish on it.

btw, its all Larrys walnut used on this project. Thanx Dr. Merlau.

It matches the coffee table, but Im not sure if its one of my favorite projects. My wife thinks its beautiful, thats good enough for me.

Ill post up the final pic after I apply finish and attach the molding.
 

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Real nice work Allen!:thumb:

Sorry to hear about your finger, and glad it wasn't worse. Doesn't look like it slowed you down much.

Like they used to say on "Hill Street Blues"-be careful out there.:wave:
 
after 2 coats of waterlox, the moldings I cut for base and top of base, the walnut boards I had lengthwise that would make a solid piece, its not brown enough.
The panels are like dark chocolate, and the molding board is like milk chocolate.
I thought the waterlox would darken it enough to be acceptable. Not happening.
I dont think I have other walnut dark enough to make one solid piece, so Ill have to go back in tomorrow and make a few pieces, then just scarf cut them together when installing.
Not what I wanted.
 
basically installing this was another new experience for me.
I dont know why I worry about square corners when I install something, the entire house is off.
And this proved no different.
I used liquid glue and my pin nailer to secure the panels in first.
I then put in the roundover molding I made for the top of front panel and bottom, where it touched the floor.
The top piece didnt fit on left hand side because floor and probably the entire wall is off.
I could not think of any remedy other than handplaning that side of the molding till it fit in. So I did. Too hot, too humid, Im glad I sharpened the plane blade last week.
On the angled sides, where it came to wall, I had replane, recut the molding piece I used to cover ends of side panels.
I was thinking about doing some kind of coping on the bottom of the left side to get it to blend better, but from a few feet, it isnt noticable, and my wife said, as usual, Im crazy, leave it alone,(and back to work she went)
The back panels wont be seen, there will be alot more pillows on there, I just threw a few on to see how it all blended in.
I have to wipe it down with some furniture polish or glade, since I got it pretty dirty using my sneakers to hold panels in place. Ill let it all dry first.
some pics of the molding areas I did. I really dont know much about moldings, especially making my own.

on a down note-no more michigan walnut.
 

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looks like yu got one more thing done and can start another now allen,, did you notice that maple does show up differently than birch? but in this case it will be covered with pillows so is fine.. when its in the raw state it appears real close but it takes finish differently..
 
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