Sit your butt down

Even the best table isn’t worth much without anything to sit at it with, so after my table was done I got to work putting a bench together. Thankfully, I saw some inspired posts about putting together an outdoor bench and got to work sketching out one of my own. Matching the color scheme makes it easier to overlook the fact that the table and bench are from radically different designs.

Before I start, I should mention I bought two bar clamps from Harbor Freight in an effort to save a few bucks and it turned out to be an awful decision. One clamp didn’t even last overnight, and it’s no longer ratcheting to tension so it’s basically worthless. It's unfortunate b/c I bought a bike stand from there years ago that's held up great so I would give HF another chance. But it's not a good feeling to walk into your shop and see a new tool in pieces on the floor. Remember, a poor man can’t afford to be cheap. Get quality tools.

Anyway, this bench came together with a simple mix of 1x4s and 2x4s, mostly glued together with some screws on the outer 2x4s at the top. Going off the table, I wanted it at a height of 18 inches. The legs are made of alternating 14.5” 2x4s with 18” 1x4s as spacers between. The seat of the bench is 5 2x4s running across the two legs, they’re about 70” and juuuust fit between the table's legs. I glued the legs together in an alternating pattern and clamped everything overnight. Then when they were done I painted them the same blue as the table legs, and stained the long 2x4s individually before attaching them to the legs. The outer ones got screws, and the inner ones all were glued even though they probably weren’t going anywhere anyway.

Morning donuts count as a picnic.

Some wood filler and some sealant and we were ready to go. I was actually so antsy to have seats for the table I put it out there without sealing the filler and had to go back this weekend to put it on. But it was worth it, I like how it came together. Two evenings in the shop, give or take, and an extra trip to get some extra patio chairs and we’re ready to dine al fresco.