My first real piece of furniture.

[David Rose]

Here is the long awaited for (what? only two years?) bench seat that I started for Cheryl at the same time that I started building a woodworking shop. She "who could care less" (HA!) lead me on a long road of what was "femine, OK, liked, well..., too heavy, just don't like that" etc. Much of what you see was due to her choices. I can't say that I think they turned out too badly though I would have done some things differently.

Many folks, some of you included, had a hand in tips for construction. Thanks so much! The maple is some local $1.50 low end stuff. The piece for the front and rear panels was buried on the bottom of a stack 4' deep. It was nearly 3" thick, which is rare for this supplier, and I just "wanted it". I didn't notice anything through the dirt until I had it outside in the sun. Then even the spalting didn't hide the figure which the pics do not do justice.

This was the same spalting that set me off on a trip of chronic urticaria that is still going strong. Wear your masks!

Everything is mortised into the end panels. The splats have a 1/2" tennon turned on each end with a Bill Hylton router table dowel maker.

Only the panels have anything other than shellac. I used a coat of Tried & True Oil/Varnish on them first to slightly darken them. Everything is padded shellac. I was going to rub out the seat panel but decided against making it much glossier than the balance of the bench. Besides, yea I was getting tired and eager. :)

Thanks for looking

David

[David Rose]

the pic. Here's another shot with the seat up that show the grain better.

David

[David Rose]

first again.

Btw, the basic pattern was a Lee Valley. It was too "masculine", so we modified it with several different pics found online. The only thing I held out for was the flat panels instead of raised. I just didn't feel like they (raised) fit the style, whatever that may be. ;-)

David

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

Well David, that looks like a lot of very hard work. Your wife must be proud of you. I know I am. How many hours did you spend on the appliance figurin' all of that out?

<center>You deserve some new tools. </center>

I'm not familiar with a Bill Hylton router table dowell maker. Do you have a link to any information on it?

[David Rose]

than accomplishing time, but it was substantial! Maybe it wasn't less...

I don't know if Bill has that online; it's in one of his books. It's really simple though. A thin board long enough to clamp on each end of table serves as a base. On that is attached a little thicker board. A hole the size of the entry piece is drilled in the front of the upper piece. The idea being to turn dowels from square pieces. Therefore the hole is large enough to barely allow the squared stock to enter. From the bottom, through the thin piece and precisely to the lower edge of the dowel is another hole the size of the end cutting bit you use. Another hole the dowel size continues through the rear in line with the "front hole".

I'm not too hot at verbal explanation, but maybe you can get the general idea. The hole sizes and locations are the key. Feeding the square stock in the front of the block all the stock that is not to be removed contacts the cutter as the stock is rotated. Bill suggests using a drill to spin the stock. If the router bit comes to just the bottom of the output hole in the back, you get a good dowel.

I can take a couple of pics if that would help.

I used a piece of dowel as a stop in the rear hole butting the end against the fence. That is how I stopped the "dowels" so that they would have a square shoulder for the tennons. It worked well once I found a bit that did not give me a lot of tearout on the edges.

David

[Dr. Zack Jennings]

I'm a Shellac Nut

Obviously that's clear shellac:

Whose Shellac? Where did you buy it? Flakes? Dewaxed? Details....
How did you get everything so smoooooth? Did you sand to a fine grit before finishing? Details......
Did you pad the finish? Brush?
What cut did you use to build the finish?
Do you plan or did you wax this piece or is this just the shellac finish?
How did you attach the cleats under the seat?

[David Rose]

dewaxed flakes. It's all I've tried so far. It is so clean that I never get anything in the filter after mixing, for whatever that's worth.

After planing I sand to 220 with ROS but mostly by hand. I usually mix about a 1+# cut. I plan to try a little more shellac (stronger?) on the next project. I really don't have a secret in the process but I've found a technique that works for me... with work. ;-)

I use a pad made of borg T-shirt material. I run it through the washer once, but still get some lint if not careful. I just use a wad of that for the body and stretch another piece over it making a pretty smooth bottom. I *don't* keep alcohol in the bottom of the storage jar. I find that the pad stays a little wetter than I like when I do.

The only coat I put on a little wet is the first build. I'm using enough shellac in the pad to see the wood wetting on that application. I pad that first coat on with light pressure. The seat was 16"x36". I recharged the pad once doing the first coat.

I start with the grain "swooping" back and forth like the writers say. After a couple of coats of this I find ridges starting to build going in that direction. When the pad gets a little dry I use a circular motion across the board with greater pressure. If it feels sticky at all I add a couple of drops of mineral oil and rub it into the pad against the palm of my other hand. THIS IS HOW I KNOCK DOWN THE RIDGES. Sorry to yell, I wanted heavy emphasis on this as I don't think the writers state that clearly. With good light reflected off the surface where I can see the pattern I'm leaving in the shellac, I "scrub" those ridges down. This leaves circular marks that take a couple of "with the grain" applications to clear up.

The way it seems is that you build irregularities either with the straight strokes or the circular ones. Each smooths the other out somewhat. The dry(ish) pad with firm pressure and usually requiring some oil is when smoothing occurs without leaving much of it's own "damage". I finish it up with strokes with the grain and a pretty dry pad and heavy pressure. I am still wet enough to see the trail but not any ridges.

This way of application is slow and kind of labor intensive. It probably took me over an hour to do the top and edges last night after sanding. But I think rubbing out would take longer. I still have to try that on this though. AND I don't have to wait a week to rub it out.

I was going to wax, but I'm not sure that I will immediately. I think wax might give some scratch protection by making it slicker but it is pretty slick as is.

I dovetailed all the cross grain pieces. The seat battens, the seat end supports and the end bottom supports were all attached with sliding dovetails. I allowed a slight space at one end (it's really dry air out there now) and glued the other end. I promised Bob I would pin the center, but got a nice snug fit and just glued an end.

I still haven't learned to brush or "flow" shellac without needing to rub it out. Maybe a better brush... If you get good light reflection you can see imperfections in the padded on finish on the bench. But most folks won't look that closely... I hope. ;-)

Oh, yeah, I've found that I can pad out the lint when it occurs with a pretty dry pad with a couple of drops of oil.

David

[Halsey MCCombs]

Fine workmanship.After doing a job like that all that is going to happen is she is going to want more. Halsey

[Joe Tonich]

Too bad I can't show SWMBO it cause she'll want my stuff to look so nice and shiny :D !!! You do good work!

Joe

[Glenn Clabo]

Nice work! Ya done really well on your first piece. Next?

[Lee Schierer]

That's excellent work. It is a very nice looking seat. I love the grain in the wood. Looks like cooperation worked out well in this instance. Can't wait to see what the two of you come up with next.

[Randy Miller]

Nice work David! That should earn you several points.

Love the figure in all the wood and a great job on the finish. Wouldn't worry too much about rubbing out the seat, I think it will get a natural rubbing over the years through use. :)

Great work, keep 'em coming!
Randy

[Mark Mazzo]

David,

That is really beautiful work. You should be very proud and I am sure that your wife is very happy with it.

Also, I appreciated your thorough explanation of your shellac application process. I have used shellac in the past and I like it, but I have always rubbed out with wax and steel-wool after applying it. Probably because I can ever seem to get all of the marks to dissappear from the shellac. I am going to try for the glossy look the next time based on your great explanation. I do have one remaining question though. Did you shellac before assembly or after? I find that padding shellac works great for anything that can be set horizontally, but for places where two pieces meet (in a corner, or at a joint or the like) I can't get it very smooth. Any comments on how you did that?

Thanks for showing your work.

-- Mark

[David Plaskett]

Great looking bench David. Beautiful finish.

[Bob Lasley]

Not too shabby for a guy that doesn't have a table saw! :D

David, that is a great piece. You did a very nice job and you and SWMBO should be proud. I love the wood and the finish. You are going to have to show me your setup for making the dowels/tenons on the router table.

Now, tell your lovely wife that this piece should go down in the gun shop where all your customers can see and admire it. This way, it can develop that time worn patina a whole lot quicker! ;)

Now, about those dovetailed cross pieces.........I think glued on one end will work just as well.

Bob

[Lars Thomas]

Your first piece of furniture? Doesn’t look like it. You have got to be proud of it. I know doing those tennons was no easy undertaking. Great execution and nice finish. Lars

[Jim Izat]

Beautiful work in construction and finishing. You set the bar pretty high the first time out!!!

Jim Izat

[Daniel Rabinovitz]

That is really an outstanding beautiful bench.

[John Miliunas]

Real, REAL nice! Like Jim I. said, you sure set the bar pretty high for yourself on the "first one". (Yeah, like we're really going to believe that's your "1st project". Riiiiiiight....!) Seriously, great job, but now you have the problem of trying to go "one-up" on that! Can't wait to see *that* one! Keep it up! :cool:

[Dave Anderson NH]

where the wood hasn't been colored. As a suggestion for your padding material for applying the shellac. I used T-shirt material for years and occasionally got lint even after washing. The solution was to go to a fabric store and buy some linen, which once it has been washed is completely lint free. Look for a weight about the same or slightly heavier OR lighter than your T-shirt. In other words, it doesn't have to be exact, just close. Use the linen as the outer wrapper of your pad and you can still use the old Tees for the padding in the center. Shellac is my favorite finish and I rarely use anything else.

[Ken Wright]

Perfection takes time ... proud of you!!!

[Jim Baker]

That's a lot better than some of my first things. You should be very proud of what you have accomplished.

[Ted Shrader]

David -

You out did yourself on that (and you don't have anything to "out do".) :D

Very well done. Can't wait to see the next project.

Ted

[David Rose]

posts. Makes me kind of nervous. Oh well, thanks for going easy on me. :rolleyes:

To set the record straight I have built a small walnut/plexiglas counter top display, a router table cabinet sans drawers, a pine blanket chest (super simple one), a practise "box" that holds cat food, a couple of other little things. This was the first thing I would call furniture.

The next projects are another "thrown together" pine book shelf for the "reading room" or as Doc Zack calls it, the "appliance room". Then hopefully a couple of drawers for the router table for bits. 'Cause wife is chomping at the bit to see what cherry looks like in furniture as in a fancier blanket chest. And honestly working with SPF again doesn't sound like fun. Just staring at it dents it among all the other little hassles with it.

Dave, thanks for the linen tip. I will do that before I pad again. I knew some folks said not to use the T material and I think I know why now.

I don't think I'll try to "go one up" on the next "real" project. I think I'll settle for different. ;-)

Lars, the tennons weren't too bad. But there were a lot of them. Sure could have used the Leigh M&T jig. ;-) I don't know that it would have helped on any but the rail and style tennons.

Bob L, Cheryl commented on several of the posts. She just laughed when she read yours. I think that is a hint that you and Terry and Dennis will have to come "inside" the house to see it. Then we'll go look at the dowel jig. Come on! What's a table saw? I haven't done a table yet so I shouldn't need one. I have a router or three instead. :D

Mark M I prefinished everything that I could and pushed that a little. I can't get into corners (cross grain) with a pad worth beans. Maybe someone can tell us how to do it. I did have to raise a handful of small mishandling dents and touchup. And the touchup was sooo easy! I love shellac. The one corner area I had to wait on was the bottom edges of the top rails. I wanted some glue on the rail for a little extra support and didn't know if I could get them positioned fast enough on glue up to "hit" taped areas. Since it was basically an unseen area, I used a cheap artist brush and brushed a couple of coats of 2# with the panel masked. One brush stroke width worked well.

Randy, actually Cheryl stopped me on the seat finish. She said she didn't want it slick enough to slide off. :)

So far, I've not been able to bring myself to stain/dye hardwood except for a little touchup blending. I know it is suppose to bring out the grain even more if done well, but wood the way God made it is just so beautiful. That's also part of the reason I like shellac.

Did I say I like shellac? I do. ;)

Thanks everyone who I didn't directly address. I appreciate the complements. Sure as I get too proud of it though, it will fall apart 'cause Bob L and some other folks went with Cheryl's idea for two *widely* spaced hinges! :D

David

[Terry Hatfield]

David,

Looks like one side is ...oh....lets say....er...about .002 off.:D

Seriously , What a wonderful job on the bench. I bet Cheryl is very proud of it and you should be very proud of your fine work also.

I will stop by next time I'm down that way and give the 2 hinges the test.:D



Terry

[David Rose]

I knew you would see that! In fact, it may be .003 in a spot or two. I guess I should have finished the engineering degree. I seem to have the "attributes" for it. :p Just don't look too hard when you see it up close.

That's right! You were one of the conspirators who fell for the "two hinges is enough scam". Come when Cheryl can go too so she can officiate the stress test. I just pick up pieces and reglue.

35 feet of cherry is stickered in the shop. Find me a design for a blanket chest Cheryl will like, will ya? I've showed her about 40 or 50 pics figuring we could combine some features. Last night she told me she really wants something "special" and hasn't seen anything she likes yet. Ugh! She calls herself the totally "unpicky woman". Guess I shouldn't push her for ideas if I don't want to get pushed back, huh? :D

David

[Terry Hatfield]

David,

Whew!!!!...glad she ain't picky!!!!:)

I'll search for some ideas on the blanket chest...no hurry I figure. You got a couple of years work ahead of you anyway...right???

Terry

[David Rose]

cutting. You might try it. Oh, no, you don't need it. But I do! :eek:

David

[Terry Hatfield]

I meant just for the jointing and planing.:D

t

[Von Bickley]

David,

The bench looks great. Hard to imagine that it is your first piece. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing the pictures with us.
Excellent Work

[Jim Stastny]

David, That is a beautiful piece. Two years to build - Mmmm- worth the wait. I don't know if I have that kind of patience. You should be very proud.