Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Recessionary Spending

Every morning I get up and I put on the news. Every morning the news tells me we "may" be in a recession. They're not sure yet but it is possible, so...just in case I decided I'm going to save money and make my own furniture. (That's not really true. I was always planning to build my own furniture. The recession was just a coincidence.) For the cost of an expensive piece from Ikea I was able to design and build my own benches from solid red oak.

The idea for the design was simple. Straight lines to match the infrastructure of our loft. No styles or complicated details. Sounds easy, right? WRONG. I decided to NOT use any nails or screws just to see if I could do it. Only wood. I used a simple peg system , still all oak, and eco-friendly wood glue. Here is a detail of the pegs for the front part of the base.

For the actual assembly of the bench I had to build a jig layout with some scrap 2x4 and plywood I had to demo from the jobsite. (I am building these during my down time while on my jobsite, including evenings) The jig allowed for a faster assembly of the other two benches.

I have built all three benches, one at 5'x 3', one 5'6"x 3', and one 4'x 2'. They should fill the dining room nicely without overcrowding and the 3 foot depth will make for some cool loungy seating.

PS COMING SOON...3 cafe style tables...nice!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank GOD for the recession! :-)

It seems like this was fairly easy to do. Not that I am ever going to build a bench on my own. I have enough trouble screwing in light bulbs properly. But still, this seems like a more efficient and respectable way to build...a nice alternative for those with any handyman skills.

Excellent, informative post!!

Linda said...

Brandon - This bench is so beautiful. I can't wait to see the finished products in your condo. You are very talented and should be very proud of all that you have done in your remodeling so far. Linda