DIY - Rustic Bench

Building a bench was on my to do list for a very long time. I am very happy to cross it off my list and ending up with such a good piece.

The inspiration came from one of my favorite bloggers, every time she did a post of the room where her bench was in, I kept on drooling about it, most of all I love the leg design and its color, you can see it right HERE. I made some changes to it and built it to my own dimensions.

If you have some basic tools you can totally make this bench! I used poplar, but you can use your favorite wood.

Here is what you'll need for a bench with the dimensions above.

The materials:

• 1 - 1 x 12 - 7 feet long
• 1 - 1 x 3 - 9 feet long
• 4 - Hex Bolts ¼" x 2"
• 4 -  Hex nuts ¼"
• 4 - Plain flat washers ¼"
• 4 - Wave washers ¼"
• 18 - #8 x 2" flat head screws
• Glue
• Wood filler
• Sand paper
• Finishing supplies

The tools:

• Measuring tape
• Pencil
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Clamps
• BladeRunner or jigsaw
• drill
• compound miter saw or circular saw
• sander
• countersink drill bit

Instructions:

1.  TOP. Making sure the board is square, cut the bench top - 36" off the 1 x 12.  Set aside.

2.  LEGS. The remaining 1 x 12 is going to be cut in four parts, two legs and two 2½" supports. Using a compound miter saw or a circular saw (like in my case), set an angle of 5 degrees, as seen in the picture below.

Mark the way the legs need to be positioned.

3. This is how the legs should look at the end, so, it's now time to cut both sides of each leg on  a 5 degree angle. The lower end stays at the same measurement of 11¼".

I used my BladeRunner to rip this angled cut.

The design on the lower part or each leg can be found HERE. Center, draw and cut it out, you can use a jig saw, but using my BladeRunner made this part go fast and smoothly. Cutting the design on the wood was my favorite part of using this tool.
Once done with both legs, set them aside.

4. CENTER SUPPORT. Grab the 2½" support pieces cut from the 1 x 12 and cut both ends at a 5 degree angle, making the short point distance at 8¼" (picture below).

Cut the 1 x 3 at a short point of 29", same 5 degree angle on both ends.

Using glue and doing countersink pre-drills, attach the center support to both side supports. Side supports should be parallel to each other. Once done it should look like this.

5. ASSEMBLING.  Now it's time to connect all the pieces. Clamp both legs to each side of the center support pieces. Drill two holes on each side for the Hex bolts to hold both pieces.

Don't forget to use glue before attaching the screws.

Cut the remaining 1 x 3 at 36" for both leg supports.  Attach them to each side of bench at 8¾" from the bottom of leg. Use glue and pre-drill holes before driving the screws.

The final part is to attach the top. Flip the base up side down on top of the underside of top, center it leaving 2" overhangs on each end. Trace all around the top base perimeter. Take away the base and mark the placement of the screws ( two on each end and two in the center),  drill holes on the marked points in order to know where the screws should be driven to attach both pieces. (left picture below).
Turn the top right side up, place it on top of the base and using a countersink bit do pre-drills before driving the screws onto the base.

You can now cover those screws with wood filler, sand the entire bench and finish it the way you want it.

I decided to go for a striking red, just like my inspiration ;)

Details about the finish and where the bench was placed, right HERE.

For more DIY projects, check these out!

Industrial Side Table

Kitchen Island Makeover

Build-ins with Fireplace

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