I made this Shaker style bench from Poplar, and it measures 12”x55”x18 1/2”. It is painted with 2 coats of General Finishes Milk Paint, then 3 coats of General Finishes Top Coat. This very sturdy bench will last a lifetime, since I constructed it using dados, screws, and dowels for added strength.
Inspiration and First Steps
The process was not hard at all really. A couple of shaker bench plans in “Shaker Band Saw Projects” by Mark Duginske and Chris Morris inspired me. I combined two different ideas from that book.
With that in my mind, I drew some templates for the bottom of the legs, the end of the center rail. Finally, I had an idea for how to attach the legs to the top. The top of the leg was originally going to have through mortises and then be wedged. However, I changed my mind after deciding to paint the bench. With these templates, I could replicate this bench very accurately.
Cutting, Sanding, Fitting, and Gluing
After cutting all five pieces to their final dimensions, I did a lot of sanding. I then marked and cut the arch in the bottom of each leg, and also one side of the half-lap joint, which would connect to the mating half on the center rail. Next, I marked and cut the ends and the other part of that half-lap joint on the center rail. The last thing to do was to mark and cut the dados in the underside of the top, as well as the inside of each leg. These dados are so the legs and center rail and the shelf will nest into them. (From Webster’s Dictionary: Dado – “a rectangular groove cut to make a joint in woodworking”). This makes for a much stronger joint.
Once all the cuts were made, I dry fit everything together to make sure that everything was square and level, and that the joints were tight. The final steps of the build were to disassemble that dry fit and then do my final sanding, gluing, screwing, and plugging the screw holes.
Once the glue was applied and everything was clamped, I predrilled with a countersink bit. I screwed the top to the center rail, as well as the shelf to the legs. After the glue setup, I cut my own plugs out of scrap poplar and glued the plug in to cover the screw heads. One final sanding later, and I was ready to finish it.
Shaker Style Bench – Finishing Process
For the finishing, I used one coat of General Finishes Pre-Stain Conditioner. Next, I used two coats of Blue Moon Milk Paint, and then two coats of Flat Out Flat Topcoat.
Shaker style bench – the finished product!