Entryway Bench

Before I start making parts blanks I need to assemble a new tool we purchased so I can verify that it will handle parts the size I need to make for this project.  This is a Panel Master - or it will be in a while.  Right now it's almost $200 worth of aluminum, steel, phenolic, knobs and bits of hardware.

An hour later it looks more like something useful.  This device will hold the rails and the panels where I need to cut those pretty cathedral arches.  By using the template set I will produce perfectly matched arches on the panels and recesses on the rails.  But we will get more into that later, for now I have verified that it will not handle some of the size of rails I need to make so I will need to get creative to get around this.

But first I get the lumber up off the floor and onto the bench where I can more easily work with it.  I take my cut list and go through the boards looking for suitable sections of lumber to make each part, lay the parts out on the lumber and label each piece.

Then each board goes to the chop saw to be cut to rough length, and the table saw to be ripped to rough length. As they are completed I set the parts blanks aside.

Our first test of creativity is the piece that will become the upper side rail on each end of the bench.  Because it will have an arch in the lower edge it must fit into the Panel Master, but it will be 6" wide and the P.M. will accept pieces up to 4" wide.  So, we will mill a 4" wide rail then after it's been arched attach another 2" piece to the top of it to form the lip that rises above the lid. But, doing this means some tricky assembling later because the arched portion of the rail must be milled to finished thickness before being arched and routed with a rail & stile bit.  I start by cutting two pieces of lumber from a board with straight grain along one edge.  By flipping one piece over on top of the other, the edge grains hide the joint well.

I trim the top piece down to size and joint both pieces for a glue joint.  To keep the pieces together and properly aligned while I machine them, yet allow me to remove the narrow top piece when It's time to route the arch is the trick.

I'll do it with dowels.  I lay out two dowel joints in locations that will not interfere with the arch or edge decorations.

This doweling jig indexes on my pencil marks and self-centers on the board, then I drill a 3/8" hole with a brad point bit at each dowel location and in each of the two boards.

I glue dowels into the holes in the narrower part that will not be used with the Panel Master.

I test the fit, I don't want these dowels so tight that I'd have to pry the pieces apart or I'll ruin my glue joints in the effort.  I would sand the dowels down a little if they were too tight, but these are fine.

When I'm done I have a couple of blanks that can be fed through the surface planer, sanded, and tenoned together so they will always be perfectly matched, but can be separated for routing, then glued and clamped to be permanently joined afterward.

Next we make up blanks for all the panels used in the bench.  We start by selecting pieces of lumber that look good together, if more than two pieces are needed, determine an arrangement for optimal looks then mark the set with a big V so I can get them back into this orientation later.

Then I joint the seams where the boards will come together, apply glue and clamp the set until the glue dries hard.

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