Meanwhile…

Actually, that’s not true. Laminating the seat supports was actually the first step in constructing the bench. Because there are six supports (nine, actually: four under the seat, two lower supports, two test pieces, and a spare), and each one takes a day to clamp, cure, and glue. It made sense to begin with them.

Seat supports (with spares), glued up and ready to be trimmed and mortised.

The two side sections are glued up. I left the legs long so that I could trim them flush (and continue the sweep of the stretcher-curve) once everything was in place.

Once the tops of the legs are trimmed flush, I can mark the long stretchers with the approximate angle needed to bring them flush with the legs. I ended up ripping them as close as I could on the tablesaw, then planing them flush while everything was dry-clamped together.

Scribing the cut-line to fit the middle seat supports. I clamped the support to a “dummy” piece (the poplar right behind the stretcher), which was in turn clamped in between the two long stretchers.

Using a long piece of floating-tenon stock to mark out exactly where the tenon needs to go on the outside of the seat support.

Closeup of the board I used to make the seat planks with. Straight, tight grain, no cracks (a minor miracle), plenty wide, and just thick enough to resaw into two planks. Yes!

Resawn, bookmatched planks. Luckily, this board didn’t crack on me. (Unlike one of the other boards I picked up on the same trip. It was small enough that I could fit it inside the car, as opposed to the roof rack. Anyway, on the way home from Louisiana, I kept hearing a faint clicking noise. I thought it was the engine, or maybe I had picked up a branch or something. I pulled over and cut the engine. I could still hear the clicking. I put my ear to the board. There it was. The board was cracking up on me. This was no longer a nice little drive through lovely East Texas. This was a race against time. Please Jetta don’t die on me.)

Seat planks, ripped down their length at a slight angle. When the two halves are clamped back together, they will form a very slight “V.” (Thus bringing them closer to the final curve of the seat.)

Planing one edge of one of the “staves.” Although the angle was cut on the tablesaw, planing off the sawmarks will ensure (hopefully) an invisible glueline.

Two halves of a plank, ready to be joined.

Gluing up one of the planks. Because the two pieces come together at an angle, the boards naturally want to spring open as they are clamped together. Therefore, extra clamps are needed to apply downward force on the joint.

The two seat planks, glued and ready for shaping.

Shaping the bottom of the seat into a smooth curve.

Checking the fit of the seat planks against the curve of the seat supports. (Or at least against the mockups of the seat supports.)

Allison and I were discussing benches over dinner one night. “What about a curved bench,” I asked. “Meh.” “What, then?” “I don’t know. It should be nice. And straight.”

I had picture in my brain of two swoops, like eyebrows, or a really great mustache. Other than that, I really had no idea what the bench should look like. I knew I wanted to make it out of cypress (cypress being both local and rot-resistant), but other than that, I wasn’t so sure…

After doing some extensive product testing (involving my favorite form of research - sitting down for a while), I found what I thought would work for seat height and width. I made a full-scale drawing (I usually just work from mockups) to see how the swoops of the two seat planks would relate to the curved supports, and how they in turn related to the rest of the bench.

Full scale mockup. I used thin plywood clamped to the supports to simulate what would eventually be the coopered seat panels.

This bench was built from two planks of reclaimed, “sinker” cypress I found in the way, way back of a lumber mill in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. As far as I can tell, the tree they came from was well over three hundred years old, and must have sat at the bottom of a river for at least another hundred years. The wood itself was a joy to work, and actually shimmers when the light hits it just right.

Dimensions: 44″L x 17″H x 20″W
Materials: Sinker Cypress
Finish: Unfinished

This piece is currently for sale, an is on view at Peel Gallery. Please contact the gallery for details.

Hey check it out - Kellogg Furniture got a very nice write-up from my new friend Mitch over at his excellent woodworking blog, Furnitude:

furnitude.blogspot.com

Thanks!