The Woodshop Shed

Cedar Garden Bench

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


This is a 48” Red Cedar Garden Bench completed today.I liked the gentle curvature and light construction in this design, originally from FWW, July 2009 (if I recall accurately). The construction was relatively simple mortise and tenon joinery. The plan called for lots of jigs and router work. I just went the simple way and blew off the jigs and used mortise chisel and hand saws for the most part. Working with the curved parts was a little tricky, nothing too complex though.The plans were a little rough, and I modified some portions. One mistake for sure was there was no location for the mortise on the underside of the arms. I did install the arms last, but I centered the mortise and it should have been offset. I do pay attention to details, but not sure how I missed this one. I pointed it out to my neighbor and his reply was classic, “only a son of a b**” would notice that. Got a good laugh from me.I used clear Western Red Cedar as it is impervious to insects and should weather well. Again, for me, lumber selection was an issue, the materials at my local lumber supplier were very limited, so I have two distinctly different colors, that mostly shows up in the seat (where I tried to blend them).I wasn't sure about the finish, so for today I've just sealed it and we will let it weather to see how it does.This is will be more of a decorative piece residing on our front porch. I don't expect it will get much use, but for now I can cross one more off the Honey-Do list.thanks for looking

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