Hey y'all!!!

Wanted to share my most recent project, a sitting bench made from solid red oak.

Here are some of the specifics of the project:

60" long x 18" tall x 18" deep

6/4 Solid Red Oak

All traditional joinery (dovetails and through mortise and tenon)

Hidden leveling feet

Finished with Deft satin brushing lacquer

I was commissioned by my Church to build 6 sitting benches for the foyer of the sanctuary. This project is the 1st of 6. We discussed some aspects of the design, then I modeled it up in SketchUp for approval. From there the project began.

The seat is joined to the legs with large dovetails. The tails were cut with a router template, then refined with hand tools. The pins were started by removing most of the waste on the tablesaw with a crosscut sled, then the remainder of the waste was removed with hand saws. The fit was finessed with hand tools.

The through mortise and tenon was cut with a combination of spade bits (to remove a bulk of the waste), pattern bit on the router, and chisels. The tenon was made on the table saw, but I will be trying the router with a jig for the next bench.

The tenons also are wedged, but because the grain direction matches and the same wood is used, they are very hard to notice.

Hope you like the bench!

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