Entryway Bench

The most important part of making up a large solid wood panel like this lid is lumber selection.  We want to use lumber that is least likely to warp with changing humidity.  That means picking out wood that is quarter sawn or rift sawn.  In this photo you can the the annular rings of the tree run almost vertically between the flat faces of the board, that is Quarter Sawn lumber.  Over toward the other edge (right) of the board it is slanting over at 45 to 60 degrees, that is Rift Sawn lumber.  Both are good for this purpose because wood sawn in this manner will resist curling up or warping with varying humidity.  Normally cut lumber, called flat sawn, with the ring patterns arcing from narrow edge to narrow edge of the board will curl because there are more wood cells on the outer edge of the arc than the inner edge so when they all shrink, the edge with more cells will draw up more yeilding a warped board.

I prepare the rough cut lumber as before, then lay out the pieces and rearrange them looking for the best color match between boards.  When I'm happy with it I mark a big V across the width of the board so I can get them back into this arrangement after jointing.

I do my jointing on my table saw because I don't have a jointer yet.  Now that I do have room for one, it will be a while before the budget allows $1200 to $1500 for a good jointer.  But, a good table saw properly set-up and fitted with a quality blade does a respectable job of jointing flat boards.  When jointing long boards I use an extra long rip fence attachment to guide the boards past the blade, otherwise a crooked board simply rides along the shorter fence, making the board narrower with each pass, but not any straighter.  To straighten a board both ends of the board must be on the fence as you start the cut.

Once the boards are jointed I take them into the next room, lay out a series of clamps and apply glue to the edges of each board.  I use a type 3 polyurethane (non-foaming) glue for making panels.  Good glue joints require 3 things: properly mated surfaces with no gaps, the right glue, and the right amount of glue.  Most any yellow wood glue will work for making panels, I use the type 3 Poly because it is stronger than regular aliphatic glues and it tacks up faster.  Applying too much glue weakens a glue joint because the glue line is too thick and the wood surfaces don't bond well, too little glue starves the joint of bonding agent and, again, the wood does not bond well.  A proper glue joint will have a little squeeze-out that forms little beads as it dries.  If glue comes gooshing out all over when you clamp up the assembly you used too much glue, if none squeezes out you used too little.  Practice makes better, evenually you learn how much glue is enough.  I've been practicing for nearly 30 years.

I like to space clamps no more than 6 inches apart, and 4 inches is better.  I use clamps above as well as below the panel to avoid bowing the panel because the clamps flex a little as I tightened them.  To be sure I have it right I can lay a straight edge across the panel after it's clamped to be sure it is flat.  I use spring clamps at each joint along the ends of the boards just to keep them aligned as I tighten the clamps.

Once the clamps come off I scrape the glue pips off with a cabinet scraper or flush plane so this excess glue does not clog the sandpaper on my wide drum sander and cause it to burn the wood.  This evening I have plenty of help as we sand this lid.

Finally I trim the lid to finished size and round-over the top-front edge so the sharp edge does not cut into the underside of a person's leg as they sit on the bench.

Now we are ready to begin finishing the bench.

Project Home