Slatted bench

[Aaron Liebling]

I owe my sister-in-law a birthday present, and she'd like a slatted bench roughly as per the image. It will sit on a covered patio in LA. The only design refinement I think I'm going to add is to miter the ends at an angle to break up the squareness of the profile. Likely wood is iroko. I've never used it, but it's on sale 25% off right now and seems like it's good for this sort of thing.

What are good options for attaching the slats to the leg cleats?

Any other thoughts or gotchas I should look out for when working with a bunch of slats?

[Jamie Buxton]

I'd probably apply finish to the sides of slats before assembly. Working finish into those valleys post-assembly would be a pain.

The slat at the front in the pic looks to be 3" tall or so. There's little structural reason for the middle slats to be that tall. If they're not as tall, you could easily hide the leg cleat.

Or if you really want the middle slats to be as tall as the front slat, you could notch all the middle slats so the leg cleat is tucked up inside the table top.

Fasten the leg cleat to the slats with screws, or with glue.

[Joe Hendershott]

I've done quite a few of these type benches. What gave the best results, at least for me, was to use the dado on the table saw and a jig similar to a box joint. I countersink glue and screw, then plug the holes. You could use a similar method even though those slats are close together. On outdoor benches I use epoxy. Have several that have been outdoors for a few years and still good.

[Aaron Liebling]

Thanks to you both. That pretty much mirrored my plans. Sounds like I'm on the right track.

Any experience with iroko?

Just saw the attached images - Beautiful bench, Joe!

[Lee Schierer]

For more comfort when seated put a light round over on the top of each slat to remove the sharp edges.

[Brian Tymchak]

...I countersink glue and screw, then plug the holes.

Beautiful work Joe. Are you putting those screws in from the bottom?

[Joe Hendershott]

Thanks to you both. That pretty much mirrored my plans. Sounds like I'm on the right track.

Any experience with iroko?

Just saw the attached images - Beautiful bench, Joe!

Thanks for the kind words. I do put them in from the bottom. Initially I tried to jyst clamp and glue but it wasn't able to get everything right before it set up.

[Aaron Liebling]

Joe, can you provide some details on your leg design. I like it better than the four post legs for an outside bench.