Project: Black Walnut Natural Edge Bench

[Brett Baldwin]

That is going to be a great piece in your house. If you wanted to get tripod stability without changing your design much, couldn't you give the legs a gentle curve on the bottom. Have the wide leg concave and the short convex and you would get three contact points but keep the curve so shallow that it would be hard to notice without a flat surface. Just a thought if the flat legs don't work out.

[Jim Becker]

Brett, that's an excellent suggestion. I'll have to look and see if I can make that work for this piece...'should be easy to mock up on the bench, as it were...

[Jim Becker]

On Labor Day Monday, in-between various yard work activities, I did the final sanding and got the bench oiled. It now feels very "slinky"... So, the next steps are pretty much final finishing. A good shellac-ing and a few coats of USL on the top given the purpose and location of this piece. I may or may not get that done sometime this week...'depends on various work and home things.

bench-11.jpg

bench-12.jpg

[lou sansone]

great crotch figure .... sure would look nice on a set of arched secretary doors ! Any plans to build one?
lou

[Jim Becker]

great crotch figure .... sure would look nice on a set of arched secretary doors ! Any plans to build one?

Probably not, Lou. Not my style. But I do have two more walnut slabs "in inventory", so you never know what might come of them. I also have one really huge cherry slab that will likely become an, ummm....coffee table...for want of a better word...for the seating area in our great room. The carved rosewood Chinese tea table (brought from Hong Kong many years ago by Dr. SWMBO's parents) is taking too much of a beating with the girls and we need to put it in storage.

I really like Nakashima-eskq natural edge pieces and the seem to compliment my affection for Shaker style in the furniture I build when I actually get the time to do so. It's also easier to work on these things now that I'm all Festooled-up than when I acquired all my slabs, both off the property and thanks to Alan Turner and an estate sale he pointed me at a couple years ago.

[Ian Barley]

Looking very nice Jim. I see by the three legged settle in the background that my "tripod" post was a bit of an egg sucking lesson.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Nice little bench.

BTW, this is an example of a "no plans, no drawings" project. Pieces are laid out and fitted in situ and the design just evolves along the way. It's sometimes fun to work this way!

That is how I like to work most the time.

[Chris Padilla]

Well, I'm not impressed unlike everyone else here. I think that natural edge will be a bit rough on the back of the legs of the sitter and, geez, the legs aren't even splayed in compound angle or even have an arch cut into them. You sure went the easy route here, Jim. Didn't even chamfer the legs with a hand plane, neither! Sorry...just a bit ho-hum...next, please.










Cute lil' bench...glad to see you got some shop time in...it is healthy for you!

[Jim Becker]

Gee, Chris, you'd think I was a competitor or something... LOL!!! (Chris works for what my company considers the "evil empire" and I'm sure we get called a few bad words on their end, too...but woodworking brings everyone together quite nicely. Our ex-CEO is a woodworker. And now he has time to do it. )

And hopefully, no one will be sitting on it all that much, but if you were to examine the edges, you'd find they have been "relieved' for back 'o the knees comfort.

[John Miliunas]

Dang, that oil sure woke up the grain on that piece, didn't it? As to what Chris P. said, yeah, I also think that it's a bit "simple" by your standards, however, "simplicity" makes for some very nice pieces and that's no exception! On this one, you're simply allowing the beauty of the wood to add the complex features! Well done, Jim!

[Mark Singer]

Jim,
Nice project! Simple construction details and excellent results! The wood seems to live through the piece....

[Corey Hallagan]

Nice work Jim as always. Beautful walnut and the oil always makes walnut come alive!

Corey

[Barry Stratton]

like it! Sweet and simple!

BTW, is that a FOR SALE sign on the CLEAN lathe????

[Greg Narozniak]

Great looking Project Jim. Reminds me of a table a friend did with a huge slab of Pear he found at Williard Brothers a few years back.

[Bob Childress]

Well Jim,

I love the natural edge and would now consider it for a project. As for ho-hum, sometimes simplicity lets the wood speak for itself and it does in this case.

But don't think we all didn't notice the tall stack of systainers in your first photo. I'm lime-green with envy.