Novice to build sitting bench from beams

[Pondhockey]

I have some 9 1/4 by 7 1/4 beam lengths left from building our new home.  Mrs. wants an entry way bench and thinks the beams would fit just fine.  That leaves me with a few logistical problems:

1.  My table saw will do 3 inch cuts.  Even sawing opposite sides separately does not work (the beams, as it turns out, are not co-planar or even "square" - who knew ;-)

1. a Given the above information, should I try to join and plane the beams first?  Just find someone with a big enough chop or band saw?

My plan is to use shorter lengths of beam for legs, and to drill through both bench and legs (another issue) and use threaded rod and nuts to keep them together.  Any advice is welcome, especially from those that have done this (I'll even read the "don't do it' comments ;-)

edit:  here are two photos; first is the mocked up bench that I propose, with the stock for the legs sitting on top (I plan to cut to length.)  The second photo shows a practice cut where I tried to cut both sides with my table saw and complete the cut with a handsaw.  Note that the table saw kerf was wider than the handsaw.  If the second photo does not appear, check for it in a post below.

[Coop]

Do you have access to a bandsaw and a belt sander? That's the only solution I can think of.

[JosephThomas]

I don't quite understand, are you just going to cut the beam to length and rest it on the ground? Or are you going to cut down sections of the beam to make legs?

[Larry Moore]

Is this a reclaimed barn beam? If so you need to check it with a metal detector before trying anything.

You should joint two sides so it will sit squarely on either a table saw or bandsaw. A bandsaw is the safest way to resaw, but you can use your table saw from both sides (this would require joining three sides) then finish the middle with a hand saw.

[Mick S]

A photo or two of the beams and even a picture of a sketch would help.

[wtnhighlander]

Amazingly, a hand saw is capable of making cuts through large stock, even when the stock is not square. I would shoot for something like this:

If the beams are as un-square as you describe, a hand-cut box joint won't look out of place, even if it isn't perfect.

[Chestnut]

+1 on the hand saw idea.

I use a hand saw to break down stuff that is just to unwieldy for any saw, except a chain saw. Saves on a gym membership too.

[Andy Wright]

The most difficult part of using a handsaw is getting the cut started square. You can simplify that by using a handheld circular saw with a guide and cut as deep as the saw will go (~2"). Then you can use a handsaw to finish the cut using the kerf as a guide.

[Pondhockey]

On August 20, 2016 at 10:38 PM, K Cooper said:

Do you have access to a bandsaw and a belt sander? That's the only solution I can think of.

Not a big enough bandsaw.

14 hours ago, Chestnut said:

+1 on the hand saw idea.

I use a hand saw to break down stuff that is just to unwieldy for any saw, except a chain saw. Saves on a gym membership too.

This is my (clumsy) result when trying a combination of table saw and finish with the handsaw.  Among the defects that you cannot see in the photo, the plane of the three cuts are all different, which will lead to gaps between the legs and bench and between the floor and legs.

Note that the table saw kerf is wider than the handsaw; I could improve the result by using a narrow kerf table saw blade (but not fix the problem of cuts not being coplanar.)

15 hours ago, wtnhighlander said:

Amazingly, a hand saw is capable of making cuts through large stock, even when the stock is not square. I would shoot for something like this:

If the beams are as un-square as you describe, a hand-cut box joint won't look out of olace, even if it isn't perfect.

Very pretty piece!  

And thanks to all for the comments.

 

[Pondhockey]

19 hours ago, Larry Moore said:

Is this a reclaimed barn beam? If so you need to check it with a metal detector before trying anything.

You should joint two sides so it will sit squarely on either a table saw or bandsaw. A bandsaw is the safest way to resaw, but you can use your table saw from both sides (this would require joining three sides) then finish the middle with a hand saw.

This helps and is part of what I was afraid of - my jointer won't do the larger face.   Maybe I look for someone with a larger bandsaw!

[JohnDi]

Unless you plane both sides so that they are Coplaner before running the piece through the table saw, your cuts will not be Coplaner .

if you are ripping the pieces, it is not difficult to hand plane the small amount left by the hand saw. If you are cross cutting (again, both sides must be Coplaner ) you could use a really sharp chisel or a really sharp block plane to pare across the grain to get rid of the wood left because of the difference in the  kerfs.

[h3nry]

Nothing like making life difficult for yourself by mixing saws on a single cut - The hand-saw should be good for the whole cut - That way it will come out planar, and you should be able to finish it off well enough with a rigid sanding block if it's still a bit rough. How square it is will depend on how well you laid out the cut. A piece that size I would saw from all four sides rotating the block every few cuts until you have nice deep kerfs established all around the beam, that way you should be able to stay on your line.

[Tpt life]

If I attacked with a handsaw, I would cradle a corner high. Follow the line on two faces at once. 

[Pondhockey]

Thanks to all.

I went with the "finish with handsaw" approach.  Probably close enough for the intent, but the bench does rock slightly on the supports, which I'll try to improve before I bolt things together.

[Pondhockey]

So here's the bench.  Wife made it easy on me by requesting the "cute" bear brackets.  That meant that I didn't have to drill and bolt the pieces together.  

Thanks for the tips, everyone.  My respect for handsaws (hand tools in general) is up a notch.

For bonus points:  now the Mrs. wants a (live edge) slab on the wall for coat hooks.  After some reading and experimentation I'm inclined to go with a tung oil finish (with a brown "Walnut" dye stain mixed in.)  I'm working with dye stains, not pigments for this piece because I think the pigments (such as Van Dyke Brown glaze) obscure some of the fine grain, which is, to me, an admirable characteristic of the Juniper slab that I have.

The question:  If I use Tung oil (mixed with dye), and allow it sufficient time (how much?) can I be sure it will not be rubbing off on the coats that are hung on it?  I've read that Tung oil hardens when it cures.

[Pondhockey]

Thanks, Mike.

Curiously enough, another Mike is trying hard to talk me out of coloring the wood (and I would personally prefer not to).  For the application, Mrs. wants dark.  So dark (or darkish) she'll get.  My intent is to find a way to color the wood without obscuring the grain.

I'll try your suggestion.

[RichardA]

Dark walnut Danish oil!

[wtnhighlander]

If you have a scrap of the same wood to experiment with, consider one if the chemical coloring methods, such as iron acetate, or ammonia fuming. These techniques essentially cause the wood to darken itself, rather than having a colorant applied, and do not obscure the grain. Study first, as some involve chemicals that can be hazardous. Also, different species have different reactions, so testing is a must.

[wdwerker]

If you can spray get the alcohol based dye. You can dilute the strength and add layers to sneak up on the color desired . If it gets too dark you can wipe it back with denatured alcohol and start over. Plus it doesn't raise the grain. A couple of coats of wiping varnish will give you a similar look to tung oil and dry much faster.

[Pondhockey]

Thanks to Richard, Highlander and Werker.

I've never heard of Lander's suggestions; I'll look into them.  I'm already planning to use Werker's suggestions.  I may also get some Danish oil and probably stain it my self.  That sounds pretty similar to Werker's suggestion.  And yes, the one bit of anticipation that I did was to cut about 20 samples of the wood!  

I'll get back for sure with the finished project and if there's any interest I'll upload photo's of Lander and Werker's ideas.

Edited September 21, 2016 by Pondhockey
acknowledge Richard's suggestions

[Pondhockey]

OK, I did some internet searching and found a bit about Lander's Iron Acetate (I think.)  The recipe called for leaving steel wool and vinegar in a jar for a week (or so.)  It happens that our builder's trim carpenter did something very similar to "antique" a frame for a mirror in a water closet.

Bottom line:  I'll definitely try that (though it might not be the choice for this project!)

 

If you can spray get the alcohol based dye. You can dilute the strength and add layers to sneak up on the color desired . If it gets too dark you can wipe it back with denatured alcohol and start over. Plus it doesn't raise the grain. A couple of coats of wiping varnish will give you a similar look to tung oil and dry much faster.

Werker, this sounds like a winner.

- by "spray" do you mean just a spray bottle (vs $$$ equipment?)

- The dye I'm using is Transtint Walnut.  It works with water or alcohol; I tried it with denatured alcohol tonight.  I like "sneaking up".  How long do you allow to dry between "sneaks"?

[wtnhighlander]

I've heard of folks applying dye with a trigger spray bottle (like a hairdresser uses) to flood the surface, then wipe away the excess with a clean rag. Never tried it.

[wdwerker]

I use an HVLP turbine powered spray gun. You could use a very inexpensive spray gun with an air compressor, outside, carefully,low pressures and practice before you use it on a real project. You will get a lot more overspray & waste some of your dye mixture. Wear a respirator .

Alcohol dyes dry very rapidly. Every time you put a coat on a project spray a scrap that you have sanded to the same level. Then you can test for dryness on the scrap and not smudge your bench. On a warm day maybe 5 minutes. Spraying a very controlled pattern and overlapping each pass 50% helps achieve an even color. You are barely wetting the surface each coat, it will flash dry rapidly. Then next coat will darken and intensify the color.

Spray bottle,  I have no idea how that might work. 

[drzaius]

Tried that. Spray bottle is only good for flooding it on. The spray is much too coarse for subtle shading.

[Pondhockey]

On 9/19/2016 at 9:34 PM, Mike. said:

Tung oil does harden when it cures, but you have to apply a lot of coats and what a very long time.  If you are hell bent on coloring the wood, apply the dye (mixed with water or alcohol, whichever it is formulated for) then put a coat or two of poly on top. 

Mike, I've been experimenting with this.  I haven't cracked the color code yet (my source of dyes is 100 mi away.)  Question:  a fairly local hardware store has quite a selection of Minwax "Penetrating Stains".  I can't find technical data on them; does anyone know if they are dyes or pigments?