Everyone loves Walnut. I think it’s an affliction. When you get an eyeful of the rich chocolate luster of solid walnut, you must complement it with more walnut. And so it is that I find myself completing a walnut bench for my Aunt to complement a walnut mantel in her living room.
The requirement for this piece is that it be 15″ deep, ~5′ long, and around 1.5″ thickness. Only a slab would do. The biggest issue with a slab like this is that my benchtop planer only receives 12 inch wide boards, so it would have to be hand planed. I got the slab pretty level with the hand plane and squared the sides.
After some more planning you can really see how knotty the slab is.
But, I have to come clean. After HOURS of working on getting the slab level and not getting it, I bought an electric hand planer an knocked it out. I will do a separate post on it. Roy Underhill, be kind to me when we meet.
Here is the dry fit on the legs. We bought these on Etsy and they make a project like this a breeze. Plus, it allowed for a board underneath for shoes and other entryway flotsam.
I tested some Tung oil for this piece and it wasn’t bringing the A-game. I fell back on the dewaxed shellac and multiple coats of polyurethane. The combination makes a great team and seals the wood while bringing out the dark contrasting grains of the walnut. I also ripped another board of walnut and planed it for the shoe shelf.
Ooo-eee.
Here’s the bench in the shop all put together.
I brought the bench upstairs and took some photos. Please enjoy our obligatory Squid shots.
Finally, I did a scoot over to my Aunt’s house and installed the thing.
This will be a hardy bench for a long time. And if the iron legs break, you can reuse the walnut for something else!
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