Remodling house.

[Gordon Eyre]

My son is remodeling his house before he moves in. He has just finished the tile in the entry way and the banister. As you can see it is knotty alder. He asked me to build a woven seat bench for him out of alder so here it is. I think it fits in well and gives a place for people to take off their shoes before entering the house.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/picture.php?albumid=406&pictureid=3889

[Ben Hatcher]

Very nice bench. Can you provide more details on how you wove the top?

[Gordon Eyre]

I bought the 2" wide cotton webbing from Jontay, they have all width's and colors. It is a fairly heavy strapping material and it looks great. I laid out the bottom of the stretcher so that I had a 1/2" gap between each 2" strap. I started the long way first. To install the webbing on the stretcher I tacked one end with five 1/2" cut tacks and then pulled it as tight as I possibly could and put in 5 more tacks on the other end. I completed the long way first and then interwove the strapping for the short run and tacked them firmly down. I glued the stretcher to the bench and then added a 1/2" cap over the tacks and cinched it up with screws every other 1/2" opening. If it is not obvious, you must finish the stretcher before you put on the strapping and glue it into the bench. Also, it helps a great deal to have a helper pull the webbing tight so that you can tack it. One other tip would be to put some wood glue on the end of each strap after you cut it off so that it does not unravel. Once the cap is on it should be good for many years of use.

This bench is featured in vol 31 #186 of Woodsmith magazine that came out in July or August 2010. My wife loves hers that I built for her out of maple and each of my children love it too and have asked me to build them one. I have a large family so not sure I will get around to building that many. :D

Thanks for your nice comment Ben and for taking the time to post.

[Van Huskey]

I still love the bench and the railing is VERY nice.

[Gordon Eyre]

I still love the bench and the railing is VERY nice.

Hey thanks Van!

[John Thompson]

Super nice bench.. great match for the stair railings...

[Gordon Eyre]

Thanks John, everyone I have shown the bench to likes it. This was a good project and it matched well with the woodwork in my son's house.