Intro and 23/24 Winter Project (Bench Build)

[bray]

I have been on here for awhile now reading all the knowledge people have shared. This will be my first post.
Intro - I began my first tree collection about 15-20 years ago. About 6-8 years ago I had a small modest collection of trees that were the survivors of my early years. I lost some of those over several years to volunteer waterers while on vacation. Everyone knows this issue. What was left of my collection didn't survive the first winter after my relocation from Houston Texas area to northern New York state 5 years ago. Well hopefully I made a lot of my learning mistakes with those trees and they served their purpose. I finally have the time to begin building another collection of trees. Last spring I began collecting trees again, truthfully after a trip to the Bonsai on display in Washington DC. I dug some trees and bought some trees but most of what I have is collected material from near my home. I had a very good collecting season and didn't lose any trees this past growing season. I think I found a few that have good bones for future development. I am especially excited about a handful of tamaracks that I am planning a forest with.

Bench Build -
I own some acreage around my house.
I need some benches to put my trees on.
I need something to work on while the ground is covered in snow.
My property is, in places, overrun with cedar trees.
I have the tools to build my benches.
So here was my plan, last fall I cut down some cedar trees and planned on processing those trees into the lumber I need to build my benches(3). I will square up the logs and cut them into boards to be used for the benches. I actually began this work back in December, pictures to follow. I made no attempted to cut the boards into a specific size just a general size range (except for the slats that will be the bench tops), I just squared them up as best I could and took whatever size the log gave me.

I will post my progress if anyone is interested in seeing how these develop throughout the build.
Trees cut ready to be squared -



Older Trees

 

[milehigh_7]

Very interested in your progress. By the way welcome! You will find life long friends here.

 

[bray]

Thanks for the welcome.
To get the log edges into a somewhat 90 degree square cut I am using several different size skids I made. I screw the log to the skid and run the skid and log through the bandsaw to give me the 2 somewhat square edges. Then remove the log from the skid and cut the other two sides. I did not try to remove all the live edge from the boards just trying to get them somewhat square. So, the benches will be rustic.
Long skid

Some of the offcuts from some of the shorter boards

Posts for the benches


More to come.
I will not be building the benches till spring after the snow melts and my spring collections are done.
I hope you are enjoying the process.

 

[DanaWhicker]

I'm very envious of your workshop! Welcome. I look forward to this thread. Thanks for sharing.

 

[bray]

For an idea of what the benches will look like I borrowed this picture from the internet. This bench has 3 levels for trees mine will only have 2 and my boards (slats) for the tops will run the short length not the long length. Alot less waist squaring shorter logs than long ones.

 

[bray]

Just a picture of the long rails squared and oversized. Some will be cut in half to give me rails about 1 1/4" by 3" by 8' long. Some are not wide enough to give me 2 boards so they will be trimmed to close to the desired size and only provide 1 board.

 

[bray]

Finally got all the logs squared up for the benches. Now when the snow melts I can begin the actual build.
A couple of pictures while squaring one of the boards for the slats that will be the tops.
This is after running the board thru the saw on the skid to get 2 edges close to 90 degrees.


Then I removed the board from the skid and ran the other two sides



Then keep cutting down the board till I get a 1.5" x 1.5" square slat. Here is a stack of slats.



Has been a lot of work but what else am I going to do while it is snowing outside.
More to come

 

[bray]

Well finally 2024 house reno work is near complete and I have been able to begin building the benches I processed all the wood for over last winter. Bench 1 framework is all built. Bench top for top level is built and sitting on the frame. Bench 2 framework is built but it still needs the corner braces that hold down the top.
Some quick photos of the progress:
Bench 1


Bench 2


Bench top example


Still got one more bench and the rest of the bench tops to build. Coming soon.
Rough cut, nothing is perfectly square, uneven ground so they aren't perfect but they should stand and last a long time. Trying to decide, I have about 3/4 of a gal of exterior stain/Waterproofer in cedar color (with all the slats it may not be enough) that I could use to color the benches. Got any thoughts go for it or let it age gracefully.

 

[Deep Sea Diver]

Nice job. Glad to see the footings up from the surface a bit.

One might want to double check the tops to see that surface is level across the bench and square these up if not. Yet if all were cut the same width that likely solved the issue. Have built a dozen bigger and smaller benches and stands on that base design over the past five years, but have run the board the long way to help squaring tops up.



Staining and or painting can help aesthetically, but likely will need to be reworked every 4-5 years due to weathering and moving the pots around. Do prefer stain as it seems to keep the moss from forming on the benches over the years. Preventing slip issues is highly desirable!

Keep up the good work!

Cheers
DSD sends

 

[bray]

A 2 foot level tells me the framework is level but visually I have my doubts. The good thing is since the framework is screwed together after everything settles, I have some wiggle room to adjust if need be.

As far as the stain, I think maybe since everything is rustic cut with some live edge maybe the natural aging is the way to go.

 

[rustygarden]

Looking good. They have a weathered silver stain that looks like old cedar . Stained my greenhouse over 15 years ago.