Jen and I make a habit of going to the West Bottoms on the first full weekend of every month to look at the shops that are only open then. Usually it is vintage, antique or re-purposed stuff. We found the two sides of an old park bench made out of cast iron. I thought it was a waste that they were selling them for garden art separately. I wanted to save them and Jen said go for it.
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| One of the sides before the magic happens. |
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| Rusted |
The first step I took was to take off the rust with a wire brush at the end of my drill. It took about two hours to get all the nooks and crannies. Then sand it down with two different grits of sand paper and wipe off all the rust particles left.
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| Safety first eyes and ears. |
A hard part was to remove the bolts that had rusted.
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| I used a little bit of this, but wasn't getting anywhere so... |
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| I moved on to using this. |
Next it was to give it a good coat of paint to prevent it from rusting again.
Primer:
Finish coat:
After I prepared the sides it was time to cut the slats. I decided to use cypress for the slats. It is naturally weather resistant and I like the chestnut color of the wood.
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| Cypress |
I needed 12 slats. Nine of those slats were going to be the same size and since I had nothing to go off, figuring out the width was a bit of trial and error. I decided on making them 2.5 inches wide and 48 inches long.
The other three slats had to be a different size because two were fitting around the front curve and the last one was on the back curve. They ended up being 1.75 inches wide and 48 inches long.
After cutting them it was time to drill the holes. I made 1/4 inch holes 3/4 inches in on either side.
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| I needed to round the edges of the boards to ensure comfort for the tooshie. I used a hand plane that has a 1/4 inch round over on each of the slats. |
(Next sentence is another boring part, but yet again important to avoid splinters in unwanted places.)
Then it was time to sand and if you know me and sanding there is no love for it. I used 80 grit, 120 grit and 220 grit to finish it off.
Finally it was time to put it together. After doing research I noticed that most benches have a middle bracket. It holds the slats from moving too much and then a metal bar going from one side to the other to keep it up right and not slanting one way or another.
I had no idea what I was going to do for this at first, but it came to me thinking back about when I was helping Dad make a bunk bed for my niece and nephew. Dad had used a piece of sturdy aluminum, but yet we could still drill through it. That was what I needed except not as thick because it needed to be molded to the form of the slats. I went down to True Value (I go there for most of my workshop needs mainly because they have great customer service and the price is right) with my dilemma and Michael set me on the right path. I was able to buy an aluminum metal bar, shape it to the form of the slats, and drilled holes through the aluminum using drill screws. I attached the slats to the sides, fastened the center metal bracket, and screwed the metal bar from one side to the other with help from Jen.
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| Center bracket |
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| Bracket reaching from one side to the other. |
At this point there is no plan to put a finish on the cypress. It is supposed to age to a gray that is supposed to be nice. If it does and we don't like it I can always sand it down (yippee) and apply a clear finish at that time.
Here is how it turned out.
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| Finished |
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| Preparing for maiden voyage. |
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| A great place to ponder greater things in life. |
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| Not such a great place to take a nap. |
