Quick project: a little bench

When autumn approaches, I get the itch to build things. Yesterday this happened, and as I was moving the pile of accumulated wood to get to the big piece of plywood I really wanted -- all the way in the back of course -- I found a few scraps of wood that seemed to say something to me.

What they said was "use us!" What they also said (although they may not have known it) was "if you build something from us, you won't have to move us again". Sold!

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So I decided to do a little warm-up project before tackling my main one.

These four boards seem perfect for each other. I see a bench seat:

and these decorative pieces were salvaged from a piece of furniture that was heading for the landfill:

To me they say "bench legs". I actually used another piece of this salvaged wood when I built that other bench earlier this summer.

What's most attractive to me about this project is there's very little prep work needed. The seat and legs are already the right size, and the other board which will be used for the supports appears to be exactly twice the length I need:

Just cut it in half and my two support pieces are ready!

I did need to sand off a little of the finish...

...otherwise the wood glue wouldn't stick properly:

A few screws, and the base is finished:

You may be wondering why I added a support at the top, when the bench seat will be providing the support itself.

I don't like exposed screw heads in bench seats, so I want to fasten the seat from the bottom -- therefore the extra support is needed -- the screws go through it up into the seat board.

There are other ways I could have attached the seat from the bottom without needing this extra piece, but if I don't use it now it will just go back on the scrap pile. Plus this makes the bench a bit sturdier and heavier.

So that's the simple bench finished:

It's pretty tall for a bench, but is a perfect height for me. It may also need some "feet" for stability since the base of the legs is quite narrow, but I can always add that later if needed. I'll figure out if I'm going to stain it, or paint it, or both sometime in the future.

Although this looks quite nice with some plants around it:

I will just use it in the garage, as I don't have anything to sit on there. Plus I still haven't found good, permanent spots in the garden for the other bench I made and the first bench I bought, so I don't need a third bench to add to the list.


Now back to digging out the piece of wood I originally wanted...

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