Sit Down a Spell

My mission yesterday was to finish an idea I've had for a few years: to build a bench beside our firepit. I wanted to use rustic wood and not finished lumber, so my project started at Tom's Cypress, a cypress lumberyard in Waldo. I selected a couple choice planks,  couple stump/knee pieces, and two limbs (that I ended up not using at all) for $172, and hauled them home in my pickup.

The lumber sat for two days before I could arrange some time to devote to the task, plus I was rolling over my approach in my mind and making sketches to be sure I didn't screw up. I did not want to have to buy more stock. Then on Wednesday, I gathered my material and tools to see what else I needed.

I thought I needed a couple large flat-headed lag screws, but a trip to the Melrose Ace Hardware showed me that there was no such thing. All the big lag screws had hex heads. So, I came up with an alternate plan using nails, glue, and screws that I had on hand and moved on to laying out the bench.

After positioning the pieces and deciding on a plan, I fired up the chainsaw for some cuts to the supporting posts. This went a lot better than I had imagined, so I was feeling pretty cocky as I began the assembly phase. I placed some Gorilla glue on the top of the bench supports and drove two large nails into each support. Then I mounted the back to the supporting posts with four screws. This step took a while because three of the screws broke in the process. Predrilling holes for the screws probably would have been a good idea, but I lacked a bit long enough to do that, so I blundered on.

After assembly, the angle of the back and the levelness of the bench were acceptable, so I was relieved and proud that it had happened without a major failure.

Spyke and I tried it out for a few minutes and then I recruited her to help me finish it. First we stained the bench and back, and then we let it dry for 4 hours. The stain really brought out the red color in the grain and made a big difference in the appearance.

As soon as the stain dried, we applied one coat of clear satin  polyurethane sealer to help the bench withstand the abuses of sun and weather. It is now ready for prime time. The only thing it needs now is some friends to sit on it and a flickering campfire in front of it while we watch the the lake at sunset.

So come on over and sit a spell.