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Bosch projects you can build yourself
Oak bench
A classic, timeless beauty that will turn heads, our oak bench seats two to three people. And if your guests ever squabble over who gets to sit on it, you can always settle things quickly by making another bench!
The bench has a solid construction without awkward beam joints, due to the table bracket that simultaneously joins a leg, the seat and the beams with screws. By the way: A matching dining table is described in another set of assembly instructions.
The following assembly instructions apply to 27-mm-thick oak glued laminated timber boards and the table bracket described. You must adapt the list of materials accordingly if you opt for other materials or thicknesses.
If possible, ask your DIY store or carpenter to cut the required boards to size.
Instructions
Glue together the legs
Each leg comprises two wide boards and two narrow boards that are glued together with tongue and groove joints. Each of the grooves are routed on the inside of the wide leg boards at 15 mm in from the longitudinal edges and similarly routed in the front sides of the narrow leg boards at 15 mm in from the outer edges (see drawing).
Rout the grooves to match the tongues measuring 4 mm in width and 11 mm in depth. To rout the grooves, clamp the board you are working on to the work surface, making absolutely sure to use pieces of scrap wood as buffer blocks so you can protect the workpiece from unsightly pressure marks.
Adjust the router with the 4-mm straight bit to a routing depth of 11 mm and use the parallel guide to rout each of the grooves at a 15 mm distance from the outer edge. Repeat the process for all leg boards.
It may be difficult to have the narrower wood tongues cut to size by a retailer. In this case, you can cut them yourself at home with a jigsaw. The cuts must be absolutely straight and precise. The tongues (which will not be visible) are essentially used during the gluing process to fix the pieces together and provide a greater gluing surface.
First glue the tongues with the wide leg boards from one bench leg. To do this, apply wood glue to one side of the grooves and then insert the tongues.
Then apply wood glue to the fronts and to the grooves of the narrow leg boards. Join the narrow leg boards with the tongues in the broad boards. Press the joints together with clamp clips until the glue has hardened. Wipe away any excess glue immediately with a damp cloth. Follow the same procedure for the other bench legs.
Assemble legs, beams and seat base
In furniture design, beams refer to the connector boards underneath the seat base that span the legs. These boards reinforce the table construction. In the case of our bench, a special metal fitting or table bracket ensures that these beams are securely jointed with the legs and table top (seat base).
First use the cordless screwdriver and round head screws (4 x 20 mm) to screw the top of the table brackets so they are flush with the inner corner of the legs. While doing this, make sure that the legs are always pointed in the same direction, for example, with the wide leg boards facing the long side of the table.
Now connect the legs with the beams through the table brackets to form a frame, once again using the cordless screwdriver and round head screws (4 x 20 mm).
Place the seat base with the upper side face down on a clean smooth surface. Arrange the frame (with the legs pointing upwards) on the table top so that each of the legs are fully aligned with the corners. Use the cordless screwdriver and round head screws (4 x 20 mm) to fit the frame underneath the seat base.
Tip
Oak is a particularly hard wood. You are therefore advised, before fastening the table brackets with screws, to predrill holes in the wood that are 1 mm smaller than the screw diameter.
Sand wood surfaces
Take time to ensure that the surfaces of the seat base, beams and legs are in the best possible working condition before starting assembly.
First chamfer all edges with sanding paper with a grit of 120 or 180 at a 45° angle to create a small bevel. Use your sander to sand all visible surfaces in the direction of the wood grain, first with coarse sanding paper (grit of 120, 180) and then with fine sanding paper (grit of up to 240).
Damp sponge the surfaces afterwards to wipe off the dust. Some loose wood fibres may protrude while the wood is drying. You can remove these with sanding paper with a grit of 180. The wood is now ready for surface treatment. Little tip: Make sure that the sanding paper is sharp enough to remove the wood fibres properly, not just flatten them.
Wax the surfaces
First read the wax manufacturer's safety and handling instructions thoroughly. Make sure the room you are working in is well ventilated and not used for smoking, eating or drinking.
Generously apply the wood wax with a fine spray system and remove any excess wax with a cloth. Observe the drying times specified by the wax manufacturer.
If you want to apply a second coat of wax, you need to sand the surface between coats using sanding paper with a grit of 240. Once again, you must always sand in the direction of the wood grain. Repeat the application as described in the section above. Once the wax has dried, polish the surface with a soft brush until it gleams.
Safety note
Following the wax application, spread out the wax cloth and leave it to dry properly in a well-ventilated area. If left scrunched up in a ball, the cloth may become warm and self-ignite.
The availability of the Bosch tools shown here may vary from country to country.