My Lesson in Humility and a Shaker Bench

[b33tl3]

My course in humility. A few weeks ago my daughter started kindergarten and she likes to ride the bus. She likes school and riding the bus this won’t last long. The bus stop is at the corner of our yard so I decided to build a bench for the bus stop with her help. I wanted a bench without a back because the kids would be wearing backpacks. I chose a Shaker Meeting Bench out of a book of measured drawings.

I have a nice pile of cypress from a sawmill down by Okefenokee Swamp. I grabbed a 4/4 thick 10” wide 12’ long piece to use for the bench. Then I realized that it was too wide for my miter saw and too wide for my shop (19’x11’) so I could not cut it on my table saw. I decided to try an old handsaw from my grandfather. It was dull and I had a hard time cutting straight. I posted some comments on woodnet.net and got some great advice. One local member offered to sharpen my saw and let me try some of his to find what style I liked (I still need to take him up on it). A guy from Alaska even shipped my a Keen Kutter saw and said just pay shipping if you like it. Amazing bunch of guys there.

While waiting for the for the Keen Kutter I went to Rockler to see what they had in pull saws. The guy at Rockler asked “Don’t you have power tools? Why would you want to use hand tools?” Haha I explained this was now a test to see if I can do it. He didn’t get it. I went away empty handed. When I got the Keen Kutter I finished cutting all the parts to size and trued them up and jointed them with a #6 hand plane. Rebecca helped me cut some parts and smooth the pieces.

Here are some pics of the final product. The joints are not tight but it is solid and I learned a lot. The wood has a few coats of spar varnish. I think it will hold up to a few years of bus stop duty.

Tools used: Stanley #4, #3, #6, Keen Kutter saw, Craftsman saw, Scrapers, various chisels.

I have am even more in awe of people who can make things using just hand tools and I have become even more of a hybrid woodworker now. Some things are just faster with hand tools.

[Vic]

You will get better and the kids will LOVE that bench!! Be proud that you are moving forward.

[wilburpan]

Some things are just faster with hand tools.

Ain't that the truth.

It's not that power tools are slower. There are many tasks that power tools make easier. But hand tools are surprisingly fast at many tasks, and they are faster in more cases than you might think.

Nice job on the bench!

[EdHills]

awesome.. I am a hybrid new englander / norwester. That's another story. Cypress is one of my favorite woods. Nice job on the bench and you get major kudos for letting the little one help. So many parents don't take the time to love their children by letting them participate in their hobbies. I have 3 grandchildren 5,4,4 and I try to include them every chance I can. When I need to make something real fine , I try to work on it when the grandchildren aren't around. As they get older and better , i'll include them on more and more difficult projects if they are still interested. Thanks for the post. I'm impressed.

[mlehikoinen]

Nice bench! I agree that sometimes hand tools are faster or more satisfying. Power tools are good, but when you have to make a jig for one operation, it just doesn't make sense IMHO.

[went_postal]

The bench looks great! Love how cypress looks. =)

I don't get why the guy at Rockler was giving you grief about looking for a hand tool... Heck... I recently bought my first Dozuki after wanting one for years... I friggin love that thing and keep trying to come up with excuses to use it. =) I think I see hand cut dovetails becoming a specialty in the future for me. =)