I wanted a unique design for a custom bench for a couple huge antique bamboo pillows but I wanted the bench to be proportionate hence the rather large arm rests. The bench is made of Red Oak. The arm rests consists of 12 strips cut to make a circle and for better support, I placed cross members in the middle and each end of the arm rest, and turned down on a lathe. The arm rests supports were two board of 3/4" laminated together and shaped using a template and a router table. the arm rests and supports were than glued together. I used wooden dowels through the support arm into the cross members inside the arm rest both for cosmetics and strength. I also glued the arm rests to the side boards of the bench and then used half inch dowels for better strength and cosmetics. I wasn't savvy enough to make the Queen Anne style legs but luckily Rockler’s had these. The bench was meant to be for outdoor and indoor use, so I used a gloss spar finish. Though I'm extremely pleased with how this turned out as an amateur, but I think I would have rather used a semi-gloss.
Time to Build: 21-50 Hours
Difficulty: Difficult
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