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How I Made It

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MAKING THE BENCH

First thing to do is draw out the pattern of the back rest of the bench on a 2 x 6, then cut it out. I did this by marking the fence on my table saw so I would know where the blade started and ended and then made markings on the board so I would know where to stop so as not to cut too far on the underneath side of the back rest. I slowly raised the saw blade up thru the board so I could make a straight cut using the table saw, then I finished the cut with my jig saw.

Next I use my osillating spindle sander to sand down to the line and clean-up the saw marks.

Now, I need to cut a 3/4" wide x 1/2" deep groove on the top and bottom back rest sections. I did this with a dado blade mounted in my table saw.

The only thing left to do is round over the top edges with my router and a 1/2" roundover bit. I also need to roundover the side edges of the slats for the back rest as well.

Building the Back Rest and the Bench Frame Now that the top of the back rest has been formed and the slats have been rounded over, its time to build the back rest and the bench frame. To build the back rest I dry fit all the parts, the upper back rest, the lower back rest and the slats. The slats are evenly spaced and then secured using my brad nailer and some 5/8" to 3/4" brads. At this point the back rest will feel pretty flimsy, but not to worry, once it is attached to the Arbor it will strengthen up and add additional strength to the Arbor itself. Next, I formed the lower framework for the bench itself using glue and screws. The frame will set perfectly into the side panels of the Arbor, as you can see here the side rails are longer than the middle rail, these rails will fit inside the side panels as you will see. Now here's a tip...when I made the retaining strips earlier I split 2 x 4's in 2 pieces 1-1/2" x 1-1/2", now that left me with several thin strips. I used these thin strips to gauge the space between each bench seat slat. They work great!!! Here is another way, I used my tri-square to draw lines where each screw was to go to make sure they were straight and neat, afterward I use the tri-square edge as a spacer for the bench seat slats, this works well too. I attached each bench seat slat with exterior screws, being sure to pre-drill and counter sink each hole to reduce the possibility of splitting the slat at the end.

ASSEMBLING THE ARBOR

Arbor Assembly Now that I have all the parts assembled individually, its time to assemble the Arbor. I'm fortunate in that when I expanded the shop I made sure all my machines were on wheels of some sort, either by purchasing wheels that attached to the machine frame (table saw & radial arm saw) or by purchasing mobile bases (drill press & band saw), my stablemate (w/miter saw) comes with its own wheels. Here all the machines are moved to the other side of the shop so I can layout the arbor.

The Materials List (type of wood is your choice)

ARBOR - Arch & Side Panels NO. Description of piece        Dimensions Lumber: 4     Arches                           1-1/2" x 7-1/4" x 36" 2     Stretchers                       3/4" x 3-1/2" x 26" 1     Ridge                             1-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 31" 14   Slats                               1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 29-1/2" 2     Plates                             1-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 29-1/2" 4     Legs                               1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 96" 4     Side Rails                        1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 23" 2     Rail Backers                    1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 23" 4     Retainer Strips                 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 59" 2     Lattice Panels                  5/8" x 20-7/8" x 59-7/8" 4     Bench Supports*             1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 9" Hardware: 32    #8 x 2" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 40    #8 x 3" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 16    #8 x 3-1/2" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 24    1/4" x 4" Lag Screws * = Needed ONLY if bench is to be added to Arbor

BENCH NO. Description of piece        Dimensions Lumber: 2    Ends                              1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 21-1/2"     1    Front Rail                       1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 47-1/2" 1    Back Rail                       1-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 50-1/2" 5    Seat Slats                       3/4" x 3-1/2" x 50-1/2" 1    Back Rest                      1-1/2" x 5-1/2" x 50-1/2" 1    Seat Brace                     1-1/2" x 3-1/2" x 16" 8    Back Slats                      3/4" x 3-1/2" x 11-1/4" Hardware: 29  #8 x 2" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 4    #8 x 3" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 20  #8 x 3-1/2" Flat Head Exterior Woodscrews 16  4d Galvanised Box Nails (with heads clipped)

Here's The Finished Product This one sits in our backyard, as I made this one as a surprise for my wife. I hope you have enjoyed this walk thru "How I Made It"