My son came to visit for a few days - he asked me to help make a bench for his dining room table.  We followed my previous bench/end table format, adding quarter-braces, as seen in the photos.  The top is 2" oak, recently slabbed with an Alaska mill and dried for 3 weeks in my solar wood kiln (starting moisture 35%, moisture after 3 weeks less than 7%).  Legs are 1 1/2" square tube, distressed under the power hammer, spreaders are 5/8" square and 3/4" square, twisted and tapered.  Quarter-braces are 5/8" round and 1/2" round, textured and twisted.  Wrappings are 1/4" round, tapered at both ends.  Finish will be Minwax Red Oak stain and 2 coats of clear satin polyurethane...finish on the steel will be clear satin enamel.  Note to those doing similar "wrapping" work: passing 30" 1/4" rod through legs that are 9" apart gets downright dangerous - best accomplished with a "torchman" (OK, torchperson) and a second person with pliers and a small hammer to tap the 1/4" into place, and they need to be very conscious of where their partner is at all times.

 

 

I like that!  Are the braces and stretchers secured by wrapping only, or is there a weld under there?  How did you manage any tweaking needed to keep it from rocking on a slightly longer leg?  What kind of power hammer is that?  Looks pretty hefty... -- Dave

There is a small weld under each wrapping.  The floor in my shop is kinda up and kinda down in places - when we get the bench inside on some level floors and determine which legs are short, I'll glue a piece of leather to the two short legs and all will be well.  I have found that even if the legs are all exactly the same length, the oak slab may be slightly warped, so I still need some leather patches under the two short legs.  The hammer is a Striker 40 kg (88 lb).  It's a Chinese copy of the Chambersburg self-contained hammer...it's a work-horse.

swedgemon The tables you make are absolutely stunning. I really like the square tubing legs they look really great with the 2'' inch maple. Make's me think about making a small table soon. Now just to find a piece of wood big enough.

Here in the Des Moines area Craigslist there are several custom woodcutters listed (guys with band sawmills or Alaska mills).  Call a few in your area, tell them what you need, and sooner or later you will connect.  

Thanks for sharing your work. Your son will have a very nice addition to his dining room.

Another beautiful piece!

Leather pads under the feet are good for preventing scratches on a hard floors too. Leather comes in different thicknesses so adjustments are easy while sticking to the theme.

You do such nice work, thanks for the looks.

Frosty The Lucky.

Beautiful!  Awesome work. 

Here's a photo of the finished bench, along with the previously-built oak table...

 

I can't say enough about how attractive these pieces are. Thank you for the look.

Frosty The Lucky.

Thanks, Frosty...I'm delighted you like it (them) !!

You've wowed us once again with your furniture making skills!!!! Very nice work! 

Thanks for sharing!!!!!