Matthew sourced the wood for this amazing finished piece from a neighbor that was doing some tree work. By adding our tube steel bench legs, he was able to marry the live edge of the wood with the sturdy clean lines of our bench legs. Here is the project described in Matthew’s own words:
My neighbor had cut down an oak in our back yard and had portions of the trunk rough cut into slabs at a sawmill. This slab was dried for about 2 years prior to working on it. Many hours with hand planes and sander resulted in a nice slab. Dimensions are approximately 78″ long by 12-16″ wide by 2″ thick. Tube steel bench legs are mounted into recesses on the underside which were routed and chiseled about 0.25″ deep so that the undersurface of the mounting plate is flush with the underside of the bench. It is finished with 3 coats of Minwax tung oil finish. It is a woodworking project that I could complete in 2 weekends. It retains the characteristics of the rough raw materials while looking clean and finished.
As Matthew mentions, the tube steel legs were recessed into the wood itself in a routed channel. This is not necessary to do in order to use our bench legs, but it does make a beautiful and more finished product. Nicely done Matthew – thanks for sharing! Your DIY bench looks great and is a great example of how a chore for one person in your community (in this case, his neighbor) can turn into a wonderful home accent for someone else.
