I was asked by an elementary school to make a friendship bench for the school. I started by searching pinterest for inspiration but ended up figuring out that it was essentially going to be modeled on a standard garden bench. I used design elements from steve ramsey’s 2×4 bench, however, I did not want to use pocket screws as I figured this bench would have to be more robust and durable. I ended up using a combination of half lap joints, mortise and tenons as well as glue and stainless steel screws for all the joinery. This is the bench I came up with. I also tried to make the bench as economically as possible and hence, like Steve Ramsey, used construction grade lumber. This bench is made from 5 2×4’s, 8 1×4’s and a single 2×6. You can download a sketchup model off my website which provides more details on the dimensions and measurements if you would like to make one. The rest of the video shows how I put this bench together and hopefully can provide inspiration for you to make your own. Thanks for watching.
Download a sketchup model here which provides the dimensions and measurements of the bench.
