Bench Seats and Table

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Wooden Projects
for
Outdoor Living
JOHN MARCKWORTH
POPULAR WOODWORKING BOOKS
CINCINNATI, OHIO
www.popularwoodworking.com
Beautiful
Outdoor Living
22
bench seats
and table
2
A favorite landscape design feature
of my backyard
is a small, compact deck. It’s a great place to hang out with a
beverage, but the low square footage is easily overwhelmed by
a traditional garden table and four chairs. My solution to this
problem was to develop a design for a small table and four bench
seats that could be arranged in different seating configurations
or moved out of the way completely if necessary. They also func-
tion nicely as side tables for lawn chairs and are sturdy enough to
stand on to retrieve the cat from lower tree branches.
I chose to use teak for the tops and wenge for the frames and legs.
The wenge was an experiment. It’s a durable tropical hardwood
and, when oiled, provides a striking contrast to the lighter teak.
I made all four benches as a single production run. This not only
made the construction process faster and more efficient but also
ensured that component sizing and dimensions were exactly the
same for all of the benches. Although the measurements are dif-
ferent, I also made the table part of the production run, utilizing
the same machine setups for the different steps.
23
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24
inches
(millimeters)
(mm)
(mm)
(mm)
A 2 apron sides
wenge
3
⁄
4
(19)
2
1
⁄
2
(64)
20
(508)
B 2 apron ends
wenge
3
⁄
4
(19)
2
1
⁄
22
(64)
14
(356)
C 4 legs
wenge
1
3
⁄
4
(45)
1
3
⁄
4
(45)
16
5
⁄
8
(422)
D 2 leg cross braces
wenge
3
⁄
4
(19)
2
1
⁄
2
(64)
10
(254)
E 1 stretcher
wenge
3
⁄
4
(19)
2
(51)
15
(381)
F 8 top slats
teak
3
⁄
4
(19)
1
3
⁄
8
(35)
18
1
⁄
8
(460)
3
⁄
116
"
+
⁄
-
(5mm) between slats and
between the slats, apron sides and ends
G 2 top slat cleats
wenge
5
⁄
8
(16)
3
⁄
4
(19)
12
1
⁄
2
(318)
H 1 top slat center brace
teak
1
1
⁄
2
(38)
3
⁄
4
(19)
12
1
⁄
2
(318)
T
E
C
H
ti
p
could be used at the corners, I chose to use through dovetails. This provides a
solid joint with lots of gluing surface and the interlocking design keeps the joint from
separating or racking. I used a template jig system to machine-cut the dovetails. The
only trick here was to be sure that the width dimension of the apron stock matched the
jig’s layout pattern. Measure the jig carefully and adjust the stock’s width accordingly.
25
1
Begin the bench by building the apron. Although a number of different joints
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