Sitting Bench Pics
Moses Yoder in White Pigeon, MI
>Here is some evidence that I am actually sometimes using my tools to make stuff. These benches go with a house I built cabinetry for. The one with just a flat top will set in the entry for taking off boots and shoes. The one with the wierd looking ends will set in between two dormers on the second floor. I made the ends the same height as a chair I had, and with a cushion on the seat and back it will make a very nice nest to set on and read a book in front of the window, sitting with your back towards the end. Definitely influenced by the craftsman style. The seats are 17" from the floor and roughly 17" deep. The flat top bench is 50" long, and the one with the funny ends is 48" long; the panels in the base are the same size, but the top overhang makes the short bench longer. The lids are hinged with non-mortice hinges and supported with lid supports to keep them from slamming. Red oak, finished with the mix of turpentine, blo, and poly, three coats and waxed. A lot of hand tool work here but all stock and joints were cut with power tools and simply fitted by hand. All the surfaces are simply hand planed smooth and not scraped or sanded. The rough grain of oak lends itself to this approach, but when you look at the tops in just the right light you can see the hand plane tracks where my iron corners were not quite right.
