live edge bench

[William Hamilton]

Hello all,
First post here for a novice woodworker... I'm interested in making a low bench, along the lines of a Nakashima "Q bench." It would be black walnut and around 5' x 24" and around 13" in height. My only design question is what type of legs to use. Initially I decided on 4 turned walnut legs, using stepped round tenons. The legs would be tapered but of pretty decent thickness. Then I became concerned about possible racking and the long-term sturdiness of the bench. Other possibilities are using 2 turnedq_bench_2.jpgR-BENCH.jpg legs on one side and a slab leg on the other, or simply two slab legs. Your thoughts?

[Jamie Buxton]

Visually, I prefer the slab-leg approach. The legs look skimpy. But your racking question applies to the slabs, perhaps even more so. After all, you can easily turn a round tenon on the end of the round leg. How are you going to fasten the slab leg to the slab top? One answer would be dowels -- essentially round loose tenons. They could be largish diameter, and you could use a whole row of them. Another answer, or perhaps an additional answer, is to use some diagonal bracing. It'd be visible if somebody looked under the bench, but that could be okay. It'd probably be made of the same slab.

[William Hamilton]

Thanks Jamie. I think I am leaning towards a slab on one side and turned legs on the other. For my coffee table slab leg I did what amounted to a stepped tenon and used two wider mortise and tenons (which totaled about 2/3 of the total length of the leg). Ifinal.jpg would probably do the same with this. I also hid a triangular brace on the inside of the slab leg with two 1/2" dowels in the leg and the underside of the table. The thing doesn't move. I can stand on it and I'm 275.prefinish.jpgmortises.jpg

[William Hamilton]

almost done with this bench... just have to do a few mortises, turn some legs w/ tenons, make some mounting discs, glue them up and then it'll be on to finishing.

[Dale Osowski]

I typically use large mortise joinery on my benches and tables, never have had a problem with racking. Current bench features carved butterflies on top of tenons that come trough bench top.