Building the plot bench

While working to make the garden plot efficiently productive, I also have an eye on.....well, hospitality, for lack of a better term.  The arbor provides a means for trellising beans, but also provides shade for the yet-to-be-made Adirondack chair that will sit underneath it.  Along those lines, I wanted to build a simple bench such that multiple people could sit while at the plot.  Also, by creating a simple bench, I can also use it as a bit of an elevated working surface if need be.

The bench is made of  the following items:

• Five bench top pieces that are 2"x4"x3' long
• Eight spacer pieces that are each 2"x4"x6" long
• Two 4"x4"s that are 41" long
• Two interface support pieces that are 2"x4"x13 3/4" long
• Two 13 3/4" long pieces of 1/2" diameter all-thread
• Four 1/2" inner diameter nuts
• Four 1/2" flat washers (1 3/8" outside diameter)
• Four 1/2" inside diameter lock washers
• 3" long deck screws

Tools used:

• Power drill
• Circular saw
• Hack saw
• Tape measure
• 24" carpenter's square
• 9/16" wood drill bit
• 1 1/2" counterbore wood drill bit
• Bench grinder
• Masking tape

First I cut the eight spacer pieces to size and drilled 9/16" holes holes in the middle.

I cut the five top pieces to size.  I then drilled 9/16" holes mid-way across three of the boards and 7" in from each end.

The other two top pieces, got a special treatment.  In order to recess the assembly hardware, I bored holes to be able create counterbore areas.  Similar to the other three top boards, I centered the 1 1/2" counterbore bit at halfway across the board, and 7" in from either end.  I bored 3/4" into the depth of the board.  In order to easily gauge 3/4" on the drill bit, I measured in 3/4" from where the flat piece of the bit begins and marked it off with a piece of masking tape.

Once the blind holes for recessing the hardware were bored, I drilled a 9/16" hole through the center of each of the counterbore holes.

Next I measured the stacked-up assembly of the bench top and marked a cut line on my two pieces of all-thread with masking tape.  I cut each piece to 13 3/4" (the width of the bench top) and used a hack saw to cut through the all-thread.  I used the bench grinder to smooth the ends of the all-thread and to ensure the nuts would thread smoothly onto the ends.

Now that all the pieces for the bench top were made, I assembled everything.  The counterbored top pieces went on the outsides with the bores facing outboard.  The assembly hardware had the flat washers inboard, followed by lock washers, then finally the nuts.  All hardware is tightened until slightly more than snug.

Lastly, the support structure is made.  I measured and cut the 4"x4" vertical pieces to a length such that 2' of them would be under the ground and 17" would be above ground.

Note: My desired total height from bench top to walking surface is 17".  When you add the thicknesses of the bench top plus the 2"x4" interface piece to 17", that would be too tall to comfortably sit on.  I have 4"-6" of newspaper/mulch above the ground, though, so my total height between bench top and bottom of shoe sole should be  approximately 17".  If you follow my directions, adjust the height of your 4"x4" verticals to your needs.

After cutting the two 4"x4" pieces, I cut the two 2"x4" interface pieces.  To protect against the backs of people's calves possibly being scratched, I made diagonal cuts along the face of each of the interface pieces.  The diagonal cuts were 1/2" from the ends at the bottom of the board.  I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of these cuts, but you can see them in the next subassembly picture.

Then I drilled pilot holes then mounted the splice pieces to the ends of the two 4"x4" pieces with the interface pieces centered.

Lastly, I centered the interface pieces along the path where the 6" long spacer pieces are (underneath the all-thread), drilled pilot holes, and installed eight deck screws per interface piece.

Thus, the support pieces and bench top are created and assembled. I also sanded down the top surface, ends, and the front and back surfaces.  If I was taking particular care throughout the process, I would have sanded everything down before I assembled it, but since I didn't care, I waited until the end.

Total cost: Approximately $20.  All lumber was salvaged and was purchased from Community Forklift.

Next up: Sink the bench at the garden plot.