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School Bench

This is by far my biggest project yet, and it got me to respect, even more, exactly how much work there is involved to create a piece of furniture from start to finish. Big thanks to Daniel at Sliparebackens Finsnickeri for invaluable tips and help!

Since the desk was going to be junior sized I wanted to create a something that looked “kid like” and not just something that looked like a downsized version of a regular desk. The other requirement was for it to have built in storage. After a while I came up with a design that resembled the old school bench that we had in our classroom when I was in elementary school, ie. with a lid that can be opened to access storage. In order to make it have that “kid like” look, I tilted the legs slightly (5 degrees) outwards, in two directions. This turned out to be a fun challenge!

Rough sketch of the design. At this point I wasn’t sure how to attach the top to the frame

Part 1. Milling

A slab of Finish birch to start with
Legs and frame cut to rough dimensions
Shaping the legs with a taper jig
Round over on the router table

Part 2. Assembly

Slightly larger domino slots on the frame pieces
One off jig for cutting the angled domino slots
Dry fitting
Custom clamping blocks for the 45-degree joints

Part 3. The top

Getting closer!
Test fit with the concealed hinges
White linseed oil paint and shellac for the top (one knot!)
Not mine!
Figure 8 fasteners for the back part of the top