Countertop Bench

[Vinny Miseo]

I have neither posted, or built anything in a while, so I thought I'd share this project.

I moved from San Francisco to New Jersey a few months ago, back into my old house. I have a 150 year old barn on the property that I had always wanted to turn into a woodshop, but never got around to it. As I started to clean up and organize the junk in the barn, I got the itch to build something. I haven't built anything since August of last year. 9 months!

This past Christmas I promised my sister I would build her a small butcher block countertop for a little pass through, which was the year before's Christmas present.

Instead of butcherblock, I decided to use a 5/4 slab of poplar I found in the barn. I mitered two sides of the slab to give the top a little more depth. One of the other sides will butt up against the wall, and the other against the existing butcher block top.
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs590.snc3/31103_1326620118788_1029470466_30751470_5774367_n. jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs570.snc3/31103_1326619678777_1029470466_30751461_7911685_n. jpg

My sister had me over for dinner a couple of nights ago so I could test fit the piece. I had to notch the counter out in a few spots and figured it would be best to take the measurments in the field and directly mark them on the wood.
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs570.snc3/31103_1326619798780_1029470466_30751463_1659446_n. jpg

The emptly planter is just to hold it up close to where it would sit. There would be a single leg on the left side and a small ledger attached to the right wall to hold up the counter. It was also going to sit a little higher, level with the opening.

During dinner we decided it was too nice of a piece of wood to leave with the apartment as a countertop if she sold the place. The options were to make it a shelf, a mantel, or a bench. We decided on a bench, and here is the quick sketch I came up with
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs530.ash1/31103_1326620078787_1029470466_30751469_4069625_n. jpg

I had a hard time coming up with how to do the legs, and to make it fit in with the style of the bench. Here is the prototype of the sketch above
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs590.snc3/31103_1326620038786_1029470466_30751468_4949342_n. jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs570.snc3/31103_1326619958784_1029470466_30751467_3414764_n. jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs530.ash1/31103_1326619878782_1029470466_30751465_2951880_n. jpg
http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs590.snc3/31103_1326619758779_1029470466_30751462_830337_n.j pg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs570.snc3/31103_1326619918783_1029470466_30751466_5613904_n. jpg

The reason the joint it isn't a full half lap on the prototype is because the area cut out is all I would be able to cut out under the existing miter joint. I'm pretty happy with how it looks, and it seems to be pretty strong. The legs won't be too long because it is a bench, so I'm not super worried about the joint breaking.

Another design issue I have come across is the end grain on one side and not the other. There was a notch I was going to cut out for the leg and now that isn't going to happen. (pencil scribble in the corner)
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs590.snc3/31103_1326619838781_1029470466_30751464_4373047_n. jpg

I think I am going to cut off the mitered short side and leave end grain on both ends. I'm thinking of doing a small inlay on the end grain sides as seen in my sketch above.

There is a bit more work to do. I need to build the real legs, and a low back rest.

Any questions, comments, critiques or ideas are welcome!

(I know the shop is a mess and needs to be cleaned!)

Thanks for looking,

Vinny

[Eiji Fuller]

That dovetail in the leg connection is a little dainty and I fear will do little to keep the joint together once someone sits on it.

[glenn bradley]

Coming along nicely. Good look for the location.

[Vinny Miseo]

That dovetail in the leg connection is a little dainty and I fear will do little to keep the joint together once someone sits on it.

I was thinking the dovetail was more aesthetic and less structural because the lap joint would be taking most of the lateral loads.

Do you recommend that it should be taller or wider, or both?

[Eiji Fuller]

both.

those are big pieces you are putting together. Even if it is just for asthetics a nice big tail is goin to look great. A small tail there is going to make you wonder why its there at all.

Dont feel you have to keep them all the same size too. you could probably make the tail about 1/3 the width of the joint at its base.

[Vinny Miseo]

I think you're right. The legs are pretty chunky and a big dovetail in there would look more substantial.

I'm going to makes a mess and play with some different sizes.

Thanks!

[Vinny Miseo]

I guess bigger is better... :D
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs530.ash1/31103_1327223493872_1029470466_30752577_747254_n.j pg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs530.ash1/31103_1327223413870_1029470466_30752576_3277271_n. jpg