Easy Bench

I've been busy and not blogging so thanks to my valued readers for staying with me.

Here is an easy to make bench.  

I had two leftover construction 2 x 12s and figured I could use them to make a bench. These benches can be made in different sizes, you just have to be careful that they aren't tippy. (I once made a small one that didn't have enough distance between the two legs and it IS tippy) 

There are also two different ways to make similar benches.  One way has facing boards or skirts that run along the top on both sides, parallel to the floor. The other type, which I made has one board running down the middle between the legs, which the top sits on.

For the middle support piece I used a 19" piece of 2 x 4. The legs are made by using the 2 x 12s, which I cut to 18" long and then took a V shape out of the bottom with my jigsaw.



The middle support piece is screwed and then the screws are covered with plugs.  

I decided on a top that was 27" long and had to glue two pieces of trimmed 2 x 8s together to get the same width as the 2 x 12s I had for the two legs.


I joined the bench top to the legs with dowels, using a dowel I found in my bin with it's diameter (1/2") as the size to drill out the holes. 

*Always put a scrap board beneath when you are drilling right through to avoid tear-out on the piece where the drill bit exits the wood*

 The legs sit in from the edge about 2 1/4", so the holes are drilled where the top of the leg will meet the top board and also in the proper place in the top of the leg.

The dowel then is glued into the leg from the top and the extra dowel is trimmed off after the glue dries.

This is a quick and easy project that anyone can do using any scrap wood.

I painted mine green, but you could stain it, or do anything at all to decorate it.

**Edited to add these great benches**

The following two benches were made by Kelly of Riverhouse Rustics, an online woodworking friend.  I sent her the link to this blog posting because she makes and sells all kinds of great rustic things and I thought she might like to try making a bench.  Well, she did a fabulous job, the painting is just perfect and her benches are nicer than mine! You can check Kelly out on Facebook at:   Riverhouse Rustics 

Everything I make is for sale, so if you see something you like, please contact me.