johnledbetter
Member
- Joined
- Jan 29, 2015
- Messages
- 4
I’m relatively new to this fine community of craftspeople and I have benefitted mightily from the many contributions you have made in this forum. Thank you!
This project was a way of moving forward for my wife and I after our sweet seven-month old passed away in January. I wanted/needed some way to honor him and designing and building a bench to take the place of his crib made sense.
I began with a sketch-up drawing and then printed a 1:1 profile to make MDF templates.
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It’s made from walnut. I used the Domino XL for all of the joints in the base. I REALLY enjoy using that tool. I am certain I couldn’t have made this any other way. The unique leg on the bench is a reference to our boy’s clubbed right leg. It was the first evidence to my wife and I of his genetic condition and it will always remind us of him. I was able to cut the shape with my track saw (TS75) using the plunge feature to start and stop my cuts.
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I beveled the ends of the top with my track saw as well, but given its thickness I was only able to cut about 95% through. I used a flush trim saw for the rest and it came out great.
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As a second special feature, on the underside I made a shallow cavity to hold our boy’s ashes and we sealed it with a simple cover made from some of the lighter-colored walnut we had ordered.
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I prepared the piece for finishing with a my RO 125 and scrapers. Since I was on a roll with the Festool system, I decided on the Surfix oil-wax finish. I love how the piece feels.
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Overall, I’m very pleased with the result. Our other son who is 3 years old loves to sit on it. Despite his age he understands that this piece is special. I’m not a particularly skilled or experienced woodworker, but I really feel like I was able to make something that is meaningful, beautiful, and lasting. I only used two non-Festool tools on this project—my table saw and my router. I’ve already since traded my table saw in for an MFT/3 (haven’t used it yet) and my router will hopefully be next.
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As you can see, this project’s aesthetic borrowed heavily from the work of Jory Brigham. When I finished I sent him a picture of the bench and he seemed genuinely delighted. This project was generously shared by the good folks at The Wood Whisperer (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/viewer-projects/lukes-bench/) and then someone from Yahoo! must have read it there because I got an email asking for permission to share it. I reluctantly agreed and I think it was handled well (https://www.yahoo.com/makers/heartbroken-dad-crafts-unique-wooden-c1254060287082550.html?nf=1). I’ve shied away from posting this for a number of reasons, but for the same reason I agreed to let Yahoo! write about it, if there’s a place to affirm the tremendous impact our boy had on us, then I think it honors him to share.
This project was a way of moving forward for my wife and I after our sweet seven-month old passed away in January. I wanted/needed some way to honor him and designing and building a bench to take the place of his crib made sense.
I began with a sketch-up drawing and then printed a 1:1 profile to make MDF templates.
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
It’s made from walnut. I used the Domino XL for all of the joints in the base. I REALLY enjoy using that tool. I am certain I couldn’t have made this any other way. The unique leg on the bench is a reference to our boy’s clubbed right leg. It was the first evidence to my wife and I of his genetic condition and it will always remind us of him. I was able to cut the shape with my track saw (TS75) using the plunge feature to start and stop my cuts.
[attachthumb=3]
[attachthumb=4]
[attachthumb=5]
[attachthumb=6]
[attachthumb=7]
I beveled the ends of the top with my track saw as well, but given its thickness I was only able to cut about 95% through. I used a flush trim saw for the rest and it came out great.
[attachthumb=8]
As a second special feature, on the underside I made a shallow cavity to hold our boy’s ashes and we sealed it with a simple cover made from some of the lighter-colored walnut we had ordered.
[attachthumb=9]
I prepared the piece for finishing with a my RO 125 and scrapers. Since I was on a roll with the Festool system, I decided on the Surfix oil-wax finish. I love how the piece feels.
[attachthumb=10]
Overall, I’m very pleased with the result. Our other son who is 3 years old loves to sit on it. Despite his age he understands that this piece is special. I’m not a particularly skilled or experienced woodworker, but I really feel like I was able to make something that is meaningful, beautiful, and lasting. I only used two non-Festool tools on this project—my table saw and my router. I’ve already since traded my table saw in for an MFT/3 (haven’t used it yet) and my router will hopefully be next.
[attachthumb=11]
As you can see, this project’s aesthetic borrowed heavily from the work of Jory Brigham. When I finished I sent him a picture of the bench and he seemed genuinely delighted. This project was generously shared by the good folks at The Wood Whisperer (http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/viewer-projects/lukes-bench/) and then someone from Yahoo! must have read it there because I got an email asking for permission to share it. I reluctantly agreed and I think it was handled well (https://www.yahoo.com/makers/heartbroken-dad-crafts-unique-wooden-c1254060287082550.html?nf=1). I’ve shied away from posting this for a number of reasons, but for the same reason I agreed to let Yahoo! write about it, if there’s a place to affirm the tremendous impact our boy had on us, then I think it honors him to share.
