He crafted the top out of cedar 2x4s. To add to the appearence, he gave the ends of the bench a slight taper. He consealed the hardware with some nice wood plugs and sealed the wood. The bench is really a simple 3 piece design. The wood top slips over the concrete ends and securely rests on them.
I used a high strength charcoal colored concrete mix for the ends. The dark grey color really compliment the tone of the cedar wood. To give the bases more of a gloss finish, I high polished them and finished them off with bee's wax. The high strength concrete will last for years to come.
The design allowed for the concrete to show through the wood top. For this section, I decided to feature an oak leaf. The leaf was imbedded in the mold minutes before I did the pour. The amount of detail in the leaf came out amazing. It was a simple design detail that had a lot of impact. I've done a number of benches now and this one is one of my favorites.
Randy
Hi there,
ReplyDeleteAny chance that you could give more details on how you built the bench? I like the cedar top but I'm not sure how to put one together. Could you post more pictures in future projects? thanks
I love this! Beautiful finish. I've been wanting to experiment with concrete, but I'm terrified of the difficulty of working with a product that "sets" in a certain amount of time.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you use as a form for your footing? Did you also make that yourself?
Pogo, This cedar top was actually a bit advanced because of the tappered ends. My father in-law actually built a jig to acheive the same tapper for all the 2x4s. I'll be posting another bench up soon with a more simple top and I'll try to include some more detail for you.
ReplyDeleteNik, Thanks! Concrete is great to experiment with! I have all kinds of projects going that I hope to share soon up here. I do use an accelerated mix but you have plenty of time to get your material in place before it sets. For forms I use 3/4" sheets of melamine board, found at any lumber yard. Check out the Cheng Concrete Counter top site for ideas or search for their youtube videos. I have a lot of experience with concrete so I made my own mix but there are plenty of places out there that will sell you mixes and help you with the forming.Good luck! There is nothing to be afraid of, have fun with it!
wow, that is amazing! i love the mix of the elements. can't believe you guys made this-seriously amazing!
ReplyDeleteWow, that's really cool! I've been wanting to try some concrete projects. The bench is gorgeous - great work you two!
ReplyDeleteHey.. thats really great.. How did you get such a marvelous idea??Any chance that you could give more details on how you built the bench?
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