The Bench - Finally Done

[DerbyDad03]

I finished my daughter's bench. It's a good thing that I don't do this stuff for a living. My hourly rate would be in the negative numbers.

It's ready for delivery and ultimately to be painted. Painting it is her choice. She's going to match her already painted dining room table and chairs. Although painting it would not be my first choice, it's her bench so I didn't say a word.

This was my first project made from over-sized S2S wood. First use of my planer. A jointer would have helped. Instead, I made a edge jointer jig for my table saw fence. It works fine for short boards, but it's tough to joint a 8/4 x 10 x 6' board, especially in my small shop.

I used three 8/4 x 8' poplar boards, one of which was twisted as some of you may recall from my "Is My Planer Set Up Correctly" thread. Probably not the best choice for first-time planer use but I managed.

The design is essentially 100% my daughter's. I offered her options (straight legs or angled, flat seat or grooved, location of stretcher, etc.) The result was based on her choices.

60"L x 14"W x 18"H

Comments, questions and concerns most assuredly welcome.

[Michael]

Looks terrific! Nicely done.

[dpb]

On 2/17/2019 5:00 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote: ...

Quite a lot of grain for poplar...

...

How did you attach the leg brackets and legs?

That's a cross-grain connection there...

[Sonny]

It looks really nice. She will love it. Good job.

I suppose you sanded the bottom of the feet (end grain) nice and smooth AND that she will prime it before painting.

Might recommend to her to thin a bit of primer for the feet bottoms. Thinned primer will adhere (soak in a bit) better on that end grain, helping counter any unseen saw dust and/or dirt/dust that might interfere with primer adhesion.

With best adhered primer/paint, if she applies felt or vinyl casters to the feet, the caster's adhesive will less likely loosen/peel off the primer-paint.

Sonny

[DerbyDad03]

I'm not quite sure which leg connection you are referring to, so I'll explain both.

This is what I refer to as a "leg assembly". The legs are 2-1/2" x 2-1/2". They are attached to the top of the leg assembly with glue and four 2-1/2" pocket screws. 2 on the inside (shown) and 2 on the outside.

The leg assembly is then attached to the seat with glue and four 2-1/2" HD Kreg screws, although they are not in pockets. They are screwed in at roughly the same angle as the legs, 12.5°. A Kreg HD screw is basicall y a

1/4" lag screw with a square drive head. (image later)

Here you can see the filled pocket holes at the top of the outside of the leg and the not-yet-filled counter sunk holes for the HD screws.

A Kreg HD screw, just in case you are not familiar.

Every connection is glued and pocket screwed. The glue may be over-kill but I figured if it provided even the tiniest bit of wiggle-prevention, the screws would experience that much less side-to-side stress. Cheap and easy, so why not?

I asked my daughter numerous times if she stilled planned on painting it, even after she had seen the completed seat, which was the first part that was built. Without hesitation she said "Yes" so I knew that pocket screws with filled holes would be OK.

[DerbyDad03]

I did sand the bottom of the feet. I was considering adhering those plastic sliders before I deliver it. She has an area rug in the dining room. Maybe I should apply a few coats of wipe-on poly to seal the end grain before attaching the sliders. Thoughts?

[DerbyDad03]

Thanks!

[Ed Pawlowski]

Used indoors I don't think sealer will matter much but glides would help.

Nice looking bench. Yeah, a shame to paint it, but, , ,

[DerbyDad03]

The purpose of the sealer would be to help the adhesive glides adhese better on the end grain, assuming enough buildup. Nothing to do with inside vs. out.

Thanks...and yeah.

So far she hasn't painted the bed I built her yet. ;-)

[Dr. Deb]

Nice

BTW, that is why its called a "hobby," it allows you to take all the time you need and spend ridiculous amounts, with no attending guilt. ;-)

[Sonny]

Be careful what you buy, sliders or the stickum casters!! The sliders do n't have the adhesive stickum. Sliders are used just for sliding/moving furniture. You don't want the sliders. I've mistakenly bought the slider s, when I wanted the felt or vinyl stickum casters. The packaging for eac h look very much alike, so it's easy to mistakenly pick up the wrong item.

On almost all the furniture I upholstery, I replace these stickum casters, because of adhesion issues. Sand the old surface and apply a reasonable se aler, for better/best caster adhesion. The customers appreciate the extra little effort.

Maybe

It's preventative maintenance, of sorts, and easy to do, especially if you have some quick-dry poly handy.

Sonny

[Sonny]

don't have the adhesive stickum. Sliders are used just for sliding/movin g furniture. You don't want the sliders. I've mistakenly bought the slid ers, when I wanted the felt or vinyl stickum casters. The packaging for e ach look very much alike, so it's easy to mistakenly pick up the wrong item .

, because of adhesion issues. Sand the old surface and apply a reasonable sealer, for better/best caster adhesion. The customers appreciate the ext ra little effort.

u have some quick-dry poly handy.

Addendum: Just give her the casters... let her install them after she pain ts. Suggest not painting the bottom of the feet, since you have poly ther e, already.

Sonny

[Leon]

Looks great. The paint will help to stabilize movement of the seat if it were to expand or contract with seasonal changes, unless you improvised for that movement.

[russellseaton1]

Paint? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Concerning the design. How far are the legs inset under the seat? It look s to me like they are in a fair amount. One foot. So a person, child, sit ting on the end of the bench could tip the whole thing up like a teeter tot ter. I realize its too late to move the legs outward more. But maybe its not too late to trim the ends of the bench off a few inches so there is les s overhang.

[Sonny]

No, 8". That's not so far that someone tilts the bench, besides, her friends butts are, most likely, nicely sized (hubba hubba), not to be a problem.

Now, this bench's legs are a bit too far from the ends -

When I, 220 lbs, sit on the end, the other end rises. The seat is 8' long, the legs are 5' apart. I made the legs to fit inside the table's legs. Sometimes you learn from mistakes, as this.

Sonny

[DerbyDad03]

don't have the adhesive stickum.

I beg to differ:

-4701244EB/203672156

Bought, installed and briefly tested. So far, so good.

Yes, they also sell non-adhesive styles, typically with a foam pad on the "top" so that the piece of furniture doesn't slide around on the slider itself.

Aren't casters "wheels"?

caster noun [ C ] US ? /?kæs·t?r/ ? a small wheel, usually one of a set, that is fixed to the bottom, usually of the leg, of a piece of furniture so that it can be moved easily

Felt sliders are typically labeled for use on hard floors:

The hard plastic style are for use on almost all surfaces, especially carpet, where felt won't work very well. They also work on floors.

u have some quick-dry poly handy.

My daughter lives 2.5 hours from me. Based on our schedules, today was the only day for a few weeks that we could meet up. We adhesed the sliders to t he raw wood after having the discussion re: stick-to-it-iveness. If they don't stay on, we'll discuss other options, including screw on sliders.

She took me out for a nice lunch before I drove back home. :-)

[DerbyDad03]

On Monday, February 18, 2019 at 3:41:00 PM UTC-5, [e-mail] wrot e:

oks to me like they are in a fair amount. One foot. So a person, child, s itting on the end of the bench could tip the whole thing up like a teeter t otter. I realize its too late to move the legs outward more. But maybe it s not too late to trim the ends of the bench off a few inches so there is l ess overhang.

The leg assemblies are centered at 9" in from the ends of the bench.

My extensive testing, based on the location of my ass relative to the floor, (which is fairly close) has shown that very, very few individuals would find it comfortable to sit so close to the end to cause it to tip.

Even with my short legs, my weight ends up squarely over the leg assembly.

Could a child cause it to tip? Possibly, but probably only once. ;-)

[DerbyDad03]

I made the *whole bench* to fit inside the table legs. ;-)

The dining room is basically in the center of her apartment (first floor of a house). From the entry way/living room, you pass along the left side of the table to get into the kitchen and pass along the right to get to the bedrooms/bathroom.

Keeping the chairs (and now the bench) pushed in under the table makes for easier passage. Therefore 5' was the maximum length.

[Bill]

Nice job! Since you asked for comments, my only concern is how the brace is attached at each end. If it's just a couple of nails into end grain, I would add something more substantial--to make sure it lasts forever! People will surely place their feet on it... Lovely table!

Bill

[J. Clarke]

I agree it's nice work.

I've noted several people expressing concern over attachment of the legs. If you look closely you'll see that there are plugs consistent with pocket-hole screws. Looks like 4 per leg. Can't tell if there is also dowelling or tenons, or, for that matter, if what look like plugs are in fact dowel-ends.