17th Century Bench
This is a sturdy English bench of the Jacobean period. The original would have been in oak. In this period, these benches were sometimes used as tables. Thus we have been using our reproduction as a coffee table in front of the living room couch. My reference for this piece is Verna Cook Salomonsky's "Masterpieces of Furniture".
The bench has an ornamental floral band of Renaissance design carved into the apron. Also, there are inlaid woods (holly and ebony) in the stretchers and the end aprons.
I used Modesto Ash as the primary wood and finished with linseed oil and seedlac.
Introduction
This video introduces the construction of the 17th Century Bench.
Planing the legs
This video shows preparation of turned legs prior to marking out of the mortises.
Marking Leg Mortises
This video shows how to mark out the leg mortises.
Making the mortises
This video shows how I make the mortises in the legs. The side mortises are angled due to the leg splay, so squaring and cleaning the mortises is done at that angle.
cutting tenons
This shows the procedure for cutting tenons on the bench aprons and stretchers.
Tenon Fitting
This shows a tenon fitting process.
Angled Apron Sizing
This shows how to size the small angled Apron.
Shaping the Side Apron
This shows a procedure for molding the shape of the Side Apron Face.
Shaping the Side Stretcher
This shows a procedure for molding the shape of the Side Stretcher face.
Cutting Triangular Inlay Pieces
This shows a procedure for cutting the triangular inlay pieces that are a decoration in the Stretchers and Aprons.
Gluing Triangular Inlay to Front Stretcher
This shows a procedure using hot hide glue for gluing the triangular inlay pieces to the Stretchers.
Gluing Triangular Inlay to Side Aprons
This shows a procedure using hot hide glue for gluing the triangular inlay pieces to the Side Aprons.
Transferring the Carving Design
Here is the procedure I used to transfer the carving design to the Apron.
Outlining the Carving
This shows the procedure for outlining the carving design with a V tool.
Grounding the Carving
This shows the procedure for rough "grounding" the carving design using a trim router.