How to Make: an Entryway Bench

This instructable shows how to make an entryway bench with storage/shoe rack. Watch the video on YouTube for more detail.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLEQBASMzJk&ab_channel=FrancoLaverde

The overall dimensions are 48"L x 11"W x 18"H.

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You will need 5 pieces of 6" x 48" stock of any lumber of your preference. I used White Oak for this one.

I attached a supporting PDF file, which shows the exact cuts you need to make for every component in the bench.

The first step once you got your lumber is to mill to the right dimensions and thickness, for this one I made every piece of approximately 6 x 1-1/2 x 48" but the thickness may vary depending on your resawn capacity, I do not recommend less than 1" thick for this one since we will be using mortise and tenon.

Once you have prepared your lumber, choose 2 matching boards that would look good as the main bench seat and glue them together. I used Titebond 2, and no special joinery is required besides the glue. Clamp them together and once the glue has dried up, you can pass the composed panel through the planner for the final thickness.

The legs for this bench consist of an "H" shaped frame made out of 2 legs and 1 small stretcher that ties them together using mortise and tenon. Due to the modern design, I decided to round over the corners so that it looks more pleasing to the eye. To achieve this round over, you will need to make a template first by taking any scrap from the shop and cutting it with the bandsaw and rounding with a 1" diameter drum on the drum sander.

Once you have the template, stick it to the actual piece and use a pattern flush trim bit on the router table to replicate the shape.

Up until now, you have the rough outer shape of the legs and bottom stretcher, however, you will need a way to connect them. To make the mortise and tenon, you will need to mark the centre line for the mortises and then adjust the router table so that the bit aligns perfectly in the middle with your centre line on the legs. Proceed to route the mortises using a 1/2" router bit and make sure to make them deep enough so that the tenon has enough room for support and prevent cracking the wood, about 1-1/4" deep is fine.

Then take the bottom stretchers and cut the tenons, make sure to round them to match the shape of the mortise. Then, dry test for fit.

To ensure that the structure will remain square and perfectly solid throughout time, I decided to add dowels to the mortise and tenon as reinforcement. Drill 2 holes on each section where mortise and tenons will be placed, and then glue up accordingly. Also, make sure to cut a notch on top of each leg to attach the structural stretchers where the seat will be attached.

Now that most of the project is done, you must sand and round over the edges of the frames so that everything is perfectly flush and ready to assemble with the remaining components.

Now that you have the frames done, drill 2 holes the size of the dowels about 1/2" deep, then glue up the main structural stretchers that support the top and hammer the bottom stretchers that serve as a shoe rack or storage, those are not glued up since they are fastened with dowels. Once the glue has dried up, use a jack or jointer plane to make the top completely flat so that the upper panel sits evenly. Lastly, flatten any dowels or tenons that protrude.

The last step is to attach the top to the structure, to do so I will use a traditional method known as "blind pegging" which consists of hammering nails into the top stretchers, then cutting them until they become sharp and finally placing the top panel and hammering so that the nail marks leave holes onto the panel, giving me the exact location where I need to drill for dowels. Then its just a matter of hammering the dowels and connecting the top panel to the structure.

You can round over the edges of the seat top, but it's completely optional; once you attach them, the project is completed.