Built for weeding the garden, this bench is 260mm high x 320mm long x 165mm deep. The wood is slavaged French oak timber hand planed to 45mm thick. The dovetails are hand cut. The seat edge chamfer appears on both sides. This was first cut with a router and then finished in the corners with chisels.

My second piece built during my time at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, the assignment being to make a case piece with at least one drawer and one door.

The door is counterbalanced with the rocks, such that only the lightest touch on the center spine, back to open and forward to close, results in the door moving on its horizontal pivot hinge as if engaged by a spring or pressurized cylinder.

The drawer on the piece is within the upper portion of the carcass, revealed only when the door is open. The splines are tapered, dovetailed, and pegged. No glue is used in the construction of the door. The carcass itself is constructed with dovetail joinery at the corners. The finish is tung oil.

The first project for the 12-week intensive course at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship is a bench. The project is a test of planing stock flat and milling it to size; hand-cutting dovetails and mortise and tenon joints, and finishing.