Quickly knocked up from some bits of wood lying about in the back yard and in Crumpitt, this bench took about 30 minutes to produce, including the splitting of the log. I can do a tutorial on it with the second half if required, but I think it is quite obvious how to do it. Lessons learnt from this one is to splay the legs outwards as well on the next one, and it needs finishing too, but apart from that it is a basic stool or bench so very simple to make.
I used a cold chisel to start the split on the log, once there was a gap I made a quick wedge and drove the log in to two pieces. It was partially seasoned, I grabbed it a few months ago off the top of Wharncliff Crags from an area that was clear cut. I then roughly hewed the top surface with my GB SFA until it was basically flattened and the worst of the splintering removed. I used a 19mm spade bit in a drill, as I couldn't find my hand driven auger, and created four holes for the legs. I cut the legs from a seasoned piece of hazel that was destined to prop up the corners of a tarp, worked the ends a bit thinner and drove them in with the poll of the axe. Roughly took the edge of the log off with the axe before fitting the legs too, but apart from that it is as basic and rustic as it looks!
Here you can see The Monkey (L) and The Badger (R) eating their dinner on it, the wife started knocking the food up just before I started and finished a few minutes before I did! They seem to like it, so I'd better get on with the Mk II version!
Anybody else wanting to have a go should be able to do most of it with the minimum of fuss and tools. Any problems, give me a shout, although there are many more expert woodworkers here that would be able to help you out. I may make one taller for use as a small bench/table!
I used a cold chisel to start the split on the log, once there was a gap I made a quick wedge and drove the log in to two pieces. It was partially seasoned, I grabbed it a few months ago off the top of Wharncliff Crags from an area that was clear cut. I then roughly hewed the top surface with my GB SFA until it was basically flattened and the worst of the splintering removed. I used a 19mm spade bit in a drill, as I couldn't find my hand driven auger, and created four holes for the legs. I cut the legs from a seasoned piece of hazel that was destined to prop up the corners of a tarp, worked the ends a bit thinner and drove them in with the poll of the axe. Roughly took the edge of the log off with the axe before fitting the legs too, but apart from that it is as basic and rustic as it looks!
Here you can see The Monkey (L) and The Badger (R) eating their dinner on it, the wife started knocking the food up just before I started and finished a few minutes before I did! They seem to like it, so I'd better get on with the Mk II version!
Anybody else wanting to have a go should be able to do most of it with the minimum of fuss and tools. Any problems, give me a shout, although there are many more expert woodworkers here that would be able to help you out. I may make one taller for use as a small bench/table!
