Project Information
Laminated quarter-sawn white oak with Lyptus inlays and sealed with General Finishes - Exterior 450. The wood was an anniversary gift (my kind of gift!) and my wife wanted an outdoor bench - something heavy so it could sit in the front yard and not be easy for someone to pick up and run away with. I decided on the curves to minimize the amount of standing water on the bench. I created two MDF routing templates - one for the leg, and the other for the top and began first bandsawing close to the template, then routting with a double spiral bit and guide bearing to the template for a good finish. Routing quarter-sawn oak end grain is not my favorite thing to do! Drilling two small holes in the same location on each piece of the top, I was able to use a 1/4" dowel to line up the pieces for the glue up. The same concept was used for the leg sub-assemblies. Loose tenons are used in the leg joints. Inlays were added for fun. The sanding process took about 8 hours. Finishing was quick and easy. All in all, it was about 80 hours worth of work. It's one of my favorite anniversary presents ever!
-Brady
-Brady
