How to make a Hall Bench or Bed End Bench.

Instructions (steps 1 to 4)

Step 1.Cut the members to length and shape

Cut the front and back rails 1138mm (45 1/2″) long. Refer to the materials list and plans for stock sizes.
Cut the four leg pieces 650mm (26″) long.
Cut 8 pieces of dowelA round wooden pin that is used to reinforce a wood joint. The round wooden pin fits into corresponding holes in adjacent pieces of wood and helps fastens them securely together. 375mm (15″) long.
Make a pattern out of cardboard for the legs. Refer to the plans for dimensionsAny of the three linear measurements, length, breadth and depth..
Place the pattern on each leg piece, then mark the pattern outline on the leg piece and also mark the positions of the holes.
Cut the legs to shape. A band saw would make the task easier but they can still be cut to shape using a circular saw and a jig-saw.

Dimensions for this project are both metricMillimeter measurements. and imperialStandard. Feet and inch measurements.. All measurements are given in millimeters first, followed by feet and/or inches in brackets ( ). The metric sizes are not an exact match to the equivalent imperial sizes. A project built using the metric measurements will be approximately 1.6% smaller than the same project built using the imperial (ft and in) measurements. The imperial measurements are more suited to North America. The metric measurements are more suited to Australasia.

Step 2. Drill the holes for the dowel

Mark where the holes are to go using the card pattern.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Mark the holes on two leg pieces with the pattern and then turn the pattern upside down to mark the other two.
One pair of legs should be a mirror image of the other pair. See picture in ‘step 4’ below.

Drill 25mm (1″) diameter holes 25mm (1″) deep using a drill press.
There should be four holes in each leg. A total of 16 holes altogether.

Step 3. NotchA U-shaped cutout in a member to house another member. A notch has two sides and can be anywhere along the member except the ends (unlike a rebate that is an L-shaped cut-out with one side and is always at an end or side of a member). the legs to house the rails

Make a notch in each leg to house the front and rear rails.
Refer to the plans for position.
Cut the notch 20mm (3/4″) deep and the same width as the front and rear rails.

The notching is best done by making multiple cuts using a circular saw with the blade setHow much the teeth are angled out on a circular saw blade. to a depth of 20mm (3/4″) and then by cleaning out with a sharp chisel.

Step 4. A bit of sanding

This can be done by hand using two or three different grades of sandpaper, and both flexible and rigid sanding blocks.

Begin with a reasonably coarse sand paper and finish with a fine grade.

A little bit of elbow-grease and the legs should look something like in the picture to the right.