I made a bench for my step daughter to use in her guest bathroom. It was for her birthday, and a total surprise. She loves it. :smile:
It should come in handy for anyone dressing in the bathroom. The bench has a shelf where shoes can be placed and put on or taken off while sitting. I tried it out and it works as advertised! :grin:
She will apply the finish after she has had time to figure out how she wants it to look.
I have been asked if I would post the Sketchup file, so it is included with this post. Feel free to use it and build your own. Just remember to measure twice and cut once. If you look closely at my bench, you will see the top doesn't extend over each end. Yep, cut it too short! :surprise::frown::frown::frown:
I have also included some pictures that I took during the construction. Good luck. I hope you like the project and get some inspiration from it.
I used the following tools during the construction of the bench.
For this project, I used the project panels sold at Lowe's Home Improvement Center. The panels come in various sizes up to 24 inches wide and 8 feet in length.
I began by cutting the two end pieces to size. After laying out the guides for the "legs", I cut the waste out with a jig saw.
Then I ripped and cut the pieces that would form the face frames. To cut the "legs", I measured 3 inches and 2 inches (see diagram) and drew the angle. Simply cut it off with the jig saw and you're done! :grin:
I made two frames from the pieces and assembled them with glue and pocket screws. This particular wood is soft, so I used the fine thread screws and carefully drove them. I have split some of the wood in the past with the coarse screws so I changed to the fine thread.
Note that I also drilled pocket holes so the top can be secured to the top rail on each side of the bench. No glue, just screws. You can also drill pocket holes in the top of each end if you like but I didn't on this build.
The dimensions don't show it in the file but I measured down 1 inch from the top of the bottom rail and installed a 3/4 x 3/4 inch ledger on all sides of the bench frame. The shelf sits on the ledger and is held in place with a few brad nails. No joinery involved at all.
To assemble the bench, the two face frames were glued and nailed to the ends. I assembled the bench upside down so all four pieces would register on the flat work table. As it turned out, the bench doesn't rock. I like that.
An important note to remember. Before attaching the top, insert the shelf. Then you can maneuver it around so the pocket screws can be driven into the top. There is no way to get the shelf in place with the top attached. After the top was attached, I shot a few brad nails into the shelf to keep it on place.
I rounded the four corners on the top with a 3/4 radius. A little touch up sanding to knock off all of the sharp edges and this project was complete.
It should come in handy for anyone dressing in the bathroom. The bench has a shelf where shoes can be placed and put on or taken off while sitting. I tried it out and it works as advertised! :grin:
She will apply the finish after she has had time to figure out how she wants it to look.
I have been asked if I would post the Sketchup file, so it is included with this post. Feel free to use it and build your own. Just remember to measure twice and cut once. If you look closely at my bench, you will see the top doesn't extend over each end. Yep, cut it too short! :surprise::frown::frown::frown:
I have also included some pictures that I took during the construction. Good luck. I hope you like the project and get some inspiration from it.
I used the following tools during the construction of the bench.
- Pencil
- Tape Measure
- Table saw
- Miter saw
- Random orbital sander
- Kreg pocket hole jig (K3 model)
- Drill driver
- 18 gauge brad nailer
- Jig saw
For this project, I used the project panels sold at Lowe's Home Improvement Center. The panels come in various sizes up to 24 inches wide and 8 feet in length.
I began by cutting the two end pieces to size. After laying out the guides for the "legs", I cut the waste out with a jig saw.
Then I ripped and cut the pieces that would form the face frames. To cut the "legs", I measured 3 inches and 2 inches (see diagram) and drew the angle. Simply cut it off with the jig saw and you're done! :grin:
I made two frames from the pieces and assembled them with glue and pocket screws. This particular wood is soft, so I used the fine thread screws and carefully drove them. I have split some of the wood in the past with the coarse screws so I changed to the fine thread.
Note that I also drilled pocket holes so the top can be secured to the top rail on each side of the bench. No glue, just screws. You can also drill pocket holes in the top of each end if you like but I didn't on this build.
The dimensions don't show it in the file but I measured down 1 inch from the top of the bottom rail and installed a 3/4 x 3/4 inch ledger on all sides of the bench frame. The shelf sits on the ledger and is held in place with a few brad nails. No joinery involved at all.
To assemble the bench, the two face frames were glued and nailed to the ends. I assembled the bench upside down so all four pieces would register on the flat work table. As it turned out, the bench doesn't rock. I like that.
An important note to remember. Before attaching the top, insert the shelf. Then you can maneuver it around so the pocket screws can be driven into the top. There is no way to get the shelf in place with the top attached. After the top was attached, I shot a few brad nails into the shelf to keep it on place.
I rounded the four corners on the top with a 3/4 radius. A little touch up sanding to knock off all of the sharp edges and this project was complete.
