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Simple Joinery Long Bench [Assembly]
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1 Saw these lengths of wood: 4 pieces 71in (180cm) long, 8 pieces 17.5in (44cm) long, 2 pieces 22in (56cm) long.
2 Saw each of the two 22in (56cm) long pieces in half at a 45 degree angle. Make sure all resulting pieces are exactly the same length.
3 A couple of inches from the end of a 71in (180cm) long piece, make a mark 3/8in (1cm) from the long edge.
4 Drill a small pilot hole in that mark. Then with a 1/4in drill bit, mark about 1/2in (1.5cm) up the bit with a piece of tape.
5 In the spot of the pilot hole, drill a hole up to the mark made in step 4.
6 Add glue to the hole, and insert a dowel pin as far in as possible. Wipe away excess glue.
7 Repeat steps 3-6 at the other end of the piece of wood, and at points about 12in (30cm) apart along the piece of wood.
8 Along the spine of another 71in (180cm) long piece of wood, mark where the dowels lie.
9 As in step 5, drill holes along the center of the spine of the new piece of wood where the dowels line up.
10 Glue along the spine and inside of the holes.
11 Join the two pieces of wood, pushing the dowels inside of the holes. Wipe away excess glue. Repeat steps 3-11 with the remaining two 71in (180cm) long pieces of wood.
12 As in step 5-6, drill 4 holes and glue in dowels at both ends of each piece from step 11.
13 Positioning each piece from step 11 slightly inset from the edge of a 17.5in (44cm) long piece of wood, mark where the dowels touch the wood.
14 Drill holes for the dowels in the 17.5in (44cm) long piece of wood, then glue and join the pieces from step 13.
15 Repeat step 13-14 on the other end.
16 Glue and insert 2 dowel pins into both ends of a 17.5in (44cm) long piece.
17 Align the end of the piece from step 16 on the center, and 1 width of wood from the end of a new 17.5in (44cm) long piece of wood. Mark where the dowel pins lie.
18 On each end of the piece from step 16, join a 17.5in (44cm) long piece at the points marked in step 17. Place on flat surface to dry.
19 On two pieces from step 2, glue in dowel pins as pictured.
20 Mark 8in (20cm) from where the two pieces of wood from step 18 meet each other, and draw a 45 degree line away from that point.
21 Align your dowel pins from step 19 along that line.
22 Drill, glue and join the pieces together. The piece from step 19 should not hang off of the edge of the piece below it (the piece below it in the photo). Repeat with the other piece from step 19 (see next photo for result).
23 Repeat steps 16-22. Now you have your completed bench legs.
24 On the underside of the piece completed in step 15, mark 10.5in (27cm) from each end.
25 Line that mark up with the center of a piece completed in step 23, and drill 4 holes for your screws.
26 Screw in 4 screws, as photographed.
27 With 2 screws, drill and screw in the point where the 45 degree piece of the leg meets the seat frame. Secure the 3 other legs with the seat frame as in steps 25-27.
28 Sand down the hard edges of the wood, especially along the seat frame, where the webbing will lie.
29 Disassemble and apply two coats of varnish or paint.
30 At one end of the seat frame, fold a piece of webbing under and staple it down with 6 staples.
31 Stretch the webbing over the frame as tight as possible by pulling with one hand and cinching over the edge of the frame with the other. Hold the webbing tight with one hand, and apply 3 staples with the other hand.
32 Cut the webbing about 1in (3cm) from your 3 staples, tuck the excess webbing under, and apply 3 more staples on top.
33 Repeat steps 30-32 with 5 or 6 more straps, equally spaced.
34 As in steps 30-32 apply and weave in webbing along the width of the seat, spaced about 3/4in (2cm) apart. Stop about where the legs screw into the seat frame.
35 Attach the seat frame to the legs, and continue applying horizontal webbing until the seat is done. Make sure to measure out your spacing in advance.