Cherry and Sapele Bench

[John TenEyck]

I made this simple bench for my wood monger in exchange for some logs. I used the last of the 8/4 cherry I had including some with defects but there was no other option. I had to add a piece of Sapele to reach the 19-1/4" required width for the finger joints to come symmetrical with the 1-3/4" thickness. The cherry will darken over time, but I think the Sapele adds a nice contrast. I built an oak table with a Sapele accent for the same guy a year or so ago, so there's some consistency in his furnishings.

The bench is 48 x 19 x 15 x 1-3/4". It's finished with a coat of Sealcoat shellac followed by Target Coating satin EM-8000CV + CL. That stuff sprays like a dream. I used the Sealcoat to tint the color towards red, away from the rather yellow tone that EM-8000 has on its own.








John

[Christian Hawkshaw]

Very nice....it should definitely hold a few pounds.

[Prashun Patel]

Beautiful. Nice tight box joints. Is there a stretcher? I wouldn’t have recognized it as cherry - so light. The sapelle imho makes it!

I see you are a convert on the conversion varnish.

[Ron Barnes]

Very nice.

[Phil Mueller]

Nicely done, John. The contrasting wood works well. Looks great now, but when that cherry darkens I think it will be stunning.

[Jamie Buxton]

Nice bench, John. How did you cut the joinery? Only table saw? Table saw with a dado head? Router with a long straight bit?

[John TenEyck]

Thanks all. I agree with the comment that it should only look better once the cherry darkens. There's no stretcher. The photo I was given for inspiration didn't have one and I didn't think it would need one for support. I would have made squaring the legs to the seat easier, however.


Jamie, I cut the joinery with finger joint templates I cut on my CNC using a top bearing mortising bit in a palm router.



After I had reached down as far as that would go I cut out the rest of the waste with a handsaw, flipped over the piece and trimmed the residual away with a bottom bearing flush trim router bit. I didn't know how tightly the joints would fit compared to the templates. Turns out they fit even tighter and that left me with a lot of hand paring to do with a chisel to get the parts to mesh easily. Now that I know how they will fit I will cut the templates looser next time. With good registration of the templates on the CNC, I could even adjust them on the fly if needed.

I would have cut the joints on my TS; I normally do it that way. However, the seat was too long (not enough ceiling clearance) and too heavy to do it that way, hence the template/router approach.

John

[John TenEyck]

Thanks Prashun. I've always liked how easily the EM-8000CV sprays; very forgiving and it never slags up the gun nozzle. I'm still not a fan of the yellow tint it imparts, however. I actually only used it on this project to help use up what I had left over from the English walnut table project. I have conflicting feelings about the stuff. It's the most durable WB finish I have used (after it cures for a month or more) but the yellow tint forces me to take extra steps to overcome its impact.

John

[Jim Becker]

It's interesting how subjective things can be relative to the color shift of a particular finish. With only a few exceptions, I prefer a warmer look and have to work to get that. With EM8000cv (and EM2000) there's less work. When I use EM6000/EM7000, it's just the opposite...a cold, more blue shifted feeling without the mitigation steps of things like oil, shellac, etc.. But I can see how one might prefer a clear, neutral finish for more control.

I really like the bench, John. Very nice result!!

I was thinking this would be an interesting piece to build with hidden interlocking joinery for a waterfall effect, too. It got my mind working for sure!

[John TenEyck]

That would be a nice project, Jim, a bench with waterfall joints. As you think about how to construct it you might want to consider simple mortises in both sides of the joints with L shaped tenons. There was a very interesting article in FWW a couple of years ago on this very subject. I can think of some hybrid approaches with the CNC, too.

John

[Jim Becker]

I was thinking more complicated...hidden box/dovetails. And seriously, the reason is huge side grain gluing area. L-shaped tenons are interesting, but out of solid wood might present grain direction. Out of plywood might work, however. As could steel.

[John TenEyck]

Hidden box joints or DT's are never a bad choice. I could easily envision cutting 45's on the mating parts and then milling finger joint recesses in the underside with the CNC or using templates made on it. The FWW article showed the L-tenons as plywood or aluminum + wood.

John

[David Utterback]

Very nice, John. Great proportions and contrast. It will get better with age - sorta like woodworkers.

[William Fretwell]

That’s one of those art gallery benches, you can sit to admire the art, just don’t get comfortable or doze off!
Very well done indeed.

[Charlie Jones]

Very nice work. I like the big box joints.