Entryway Bench

I mill out stock for the base moldings in the same way I have made stock for all the other parts, then route a decorative edge on the upper/outer corner.  I selected a profile that will compliment the shape of the decorative routing around the filler panels, but is also not easily damaged; base moldings take a lot of abuse.  This double round-over seems to fill the bill.

The most important part of making and applying moldings is to get the mitered corners tight; we don't want any gaps in the joint.  Strength is not the issue here as these moldings are purely decorative, but gappy miter joints just scream of sloppy workmanship.  We don't want that!  So I carefully set the angle on the miter saw to 45 degrees.  I don't trust the built-in angle gauge on the saw, instead I use a lay-out triangle to check the blade andgle and set the stop, then lock the saw in solidly.

I make a test cut using some scrap wood to check my work.  I make a single miter cut, take the cut off piece, flip it over and set it against the other to form a 90 degree angle, then check that with an engineers square.  If it is exactly 90 degrees, then I'm set to go.  If it were off I'd have repeated the set-up process until I got it right.

Making the first corner is pretty simple, I miter the ends of the left end molding and the front molding where they will meet.  But it is the seemingly easy cuts that are often the ones you will mess up, just because they are so simple.  For instance, if I lay the board on the saw with the wrong face down, the miter angle will be backward.  Argh!  To prevent this I make a mark on the board indicating the direction the miter needs to go.  A simple step, but it prevents aggrivating and time consuming errors.

After mitering both boards I put them in place and draw up the joint - very nice!  But, as I said; this is the simple one.  The cut on the other end of the front molding is the worrisome one.

Where I make the first cut on any molding piece is not especially important as long as I leave enough length to cut the joint on the other end.  The second cut is the tricky one; it has to be exactly the right angle and in exactly the right place or the corner will not come together properly.  Careful lay-out is the key.  First, mate up the first corner accurately and hold the moldings in place with clamps, or tape, or both.  Normally I'd have a square edge to work from and could transfer the line of the case side to the front molding easily by dragging a very sharp pencil or a marking knife along the edge of the case, but here we have that rounded-over corner to contend with.  So I sight along the side of the bench and extend that line to the top of the molding, then use my small engineers square to run that line along the back of the molding, then indicate the miter direction.  We are half-way there.

Now I lay the piece on the saw, check my miter direction indicator, and line up the inside edge of one tooth of the saw blade with the cut line I made - which is tricky to do when the blade is leaned over to the side I need to see like this.  To test the set-up I start the saw, hold my tongue over to one side just so, bite on it a little, say a little prayer, hold my breath, and just nick the board with the blade, lift the blade away and look at the result.  If the nick is right on the line I go ahead and drop the blade through the cut.  If not I have the chance to adjust it and try again.  Any gnarliness resulting from making two or more attempts will be hidden inside the joint once the molding is glued to the bench.  But this time the first attempt is right on the mark.

Then I cut the front end of the right side molding, mate up the left front corner again, clamp left end and front moldings in place and test the fit of the right front corner... YES!  It's perfect.  Time for a root beer!

But first I'll mark and cut the rear ends of the side moldings.  These are simple, square, straight cuts because there will be no molding strip along the back: we want the bench to snuggle up nicely to the wall.

The final step is to apply glue to moldings and case, align those oh-so critical miter joints, clamp everything in place and fasten the moldings to the case with finish nails.  In hardwoods, it is advisable to drill pilot holes for the nails to reduce the tendency of the nail to fold up as it is driven in, making really ugly dents in the wood.  I also want to make sure the nails go into the right parts of the bench, so I lay-out the nail locations on tabs of tape so the marks are easy to see and easily removed once the nails are in.

One last detail.  Because this bench is designed to be movable, I don't want the moldings to go all the way to the floor (or table, at the moment) but I don't want the bench to look like it's wearing high water pants either.  So I use a 1/8" thick strip of wood as a spacer to hold the molding up off the table while I install it.  This way the moldings will not drag on the floor, but will not be noticably gappy or allow most dropped items to roll underneath the bench.  A small thing, but sometimes it's the details that make all the difference.

The final step in building this bench is to make the lid.  That is next.

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