Leg Width for a bench

[fRED mCnEILL]

I am building a bench from a walnut slab that is 40" long and approx. 18 inches wide with a live edge. My problem is how wide to make the legs(or base) I was thinking making the feet 14 inches wide but wonder if that is wide enough. I don't want it to fall over but also don't think its a good idea to have the feet protruding past the edge of the bench.
The base will be welded using heavy wall 1 1/2" sq. tubing and will be in the shape of an i-beam (sitting on its side) so it will be plenty strong.
Any suggestions.

Thanks

Fred.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Yeah, I have the same problem. I was given this nice cherry slab by a friend and my wife said something like "you could make a nice little table or bench from that". And I thought "how do I attach legs to that". My primary concern is to make it stable so that it does not tip over.

The 14" that you mention sounds about right for most benches I have seen, and I don't remember seeing many benches just falling over. If you will make it taller than a typical sitting bench (as I think that my wife desires, but I need to discuss more with her), it will probably be a problem. I intend to perform a few tests before committing (when I get around to building the bench) to see if it is unstable.