Sunray Bench

This all started with me looking at the turned legs of a table, which I'd not found much use for before, and starting to muse on what they might be made into. I saw the shape of the legs and imagined if I took a few of them, arranged into a fan shape, they might make an interesting back panel to a Park Bench type of seat.

I made a rough mock up mage of what it might look like. Later on you can judge for yourself how close my original image was to the eventual object.

I decided the legs would look better with a flat side facing the front, so I sawed them in half all the was down.

And laid them out to see what the effect was.

I sliced up a 40mm oak board to make legs and rails, and cut two curved and sloping back legs from a 30mm tabletop

I made the two end sections first. then joined them together with sturdy rails and found some old contrasting darker wood for the seat runners. These were cut from a very decrepit old redwood plank: meranti or utile I think.

Putting the back section together, with the table legs arranged into a sunray, fan shape.

Fixing and plugging the seat slats in place. Then the whole bench is sanded smooth and given a first coat of varnish

The finished bench, varnished and polished.

In pride of place at home.

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