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How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part II

May 6, 2009 By Michael 2 Comments

Here we are with more to teach you, about how to build a wood stove bench. So sorry about the big delay between the parts of this project. No doubt, many of you will need to refresh your memories about where we left off. So here is Part I. We’ll wait until you come back.

So below I need to cut out a rectangular notch for the cross beam to fit through. I have it sketched out in step one, which also shows 2 holes I drilled, as starters, for me to cut the notch with a saber saw. I cut the rectangular hole to the size of 3×1.5 inches. This is 4 inches down from the top, centered.

With that done, I now had to cut the same notch out of the legs. On this piece, it’s also 4 inches down, 3/4 inches in from the inside, and 3inches long.

This is done 4 times, on each of the 4 pieces………
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Lay support pieces on top of leg halves, on what is to be the inside. Make the top flush and centered on pieces of legs, which are only pushed together here. Using 2 -1/2 ” screws, screw them together on both inside and outside.

Below as seen: Left: inside of one leg, Right: outside of one leg. Put 4-6 screws on the outside (less than the inside) for a better appearance.

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Below is one end of the center cross beam, to show the measurements that a notch needs to be cut out of.

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Cut this out of the bottom edge of both ends of center beam.

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Here below is a 1″ dowel, in which I ripped to 1/2″ wide, and then after, chopped to 3″ long. (2 times, for 2 pieces.) I’ll show you what these are for in a minute…

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At each end of the cross beam, in 1-1/16″ centered (in the height), I drilled a 1″ diameter hole.

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Now it is time to insert the center beam into the notch which is cut into the legs.

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Insert 3″ dowel.

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Now you have a free-standing base.

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Just to sturdy things up, I installed a 2-1/2″ screw diagonally, through the support, into the center beam.

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Next, I started placing the seat planks into place, making sure that they had the same over-hang on each end and sides.

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Once both planks were down and in place, I screwed them into place, through the seat into the leg bases with 2-1/2 ” screws.

In Part III, we are going to prime and paint this baby, giving it a nice worn, farmhouse look.

See you then! Click here to see FINISHED BENCH >>>> PART III

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How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part I

March 28, 2009 By Michael 5 Comments

Hi Everybody. I’m Michael, a.k.a. Mr. House Of Joyful Noise.
I’m excited to introduce my first project on the blog! I’m going to teach you how to build a wood stove bench.

I’ll be working this project in parts, and blogging as I go. I’ll do my best to explain what I’ve done, along with what photos we took, but if you find you still have questions, you can let me know in the comments to this post, and I will try to answer as best I can. So check the comments for replies if you leave me a question.

The other day, my bride mentioned that she was tired of our little stool in front of the wood stove. She wants something larger, homier, and I had to agree.

So I asked her what she would like to have, and she described the type of bench she would like. At this point, I sketched out something, as I always do when I start a project, just to have an idea of what direction I’m going in.

I came up with a height that would be best to sit and load the stove with wood, poke the fire, or clean the stove out, etc. My bride wanted it wide enough for 2 people to sit together. ♥♥ I also wanted a comfortable width so the bench would be stable on the floor. I felt like I had a good enough plan on paper to start the project.

I set out to find some scrap stock around the house. I ended up using two 6 foot pieces of 2″x10″ ‘s, left over from our sun room rafters.

I wanted the bench top 14 inches wide, and 36 inches long. So I ripped one of the 2×10’s to 7 inches in width.

Once I had that ripped to size, it was time to cut it to 36 inches in length. This left me with 2 finished pieces 7″x36″.

Then it was time to start the legs. I knew I needed 4 pieces 8 inches wide, by 15 inches tall. (Two pieces 8″x15″ per leg.) So it was back to the table saw to rip my second 2×10 to 8 inches in width.

With that ripped to 8 inches wide, I then cut 4 pieces 15 inches long. These would be the legs. I then sketched the pattern onto one of the legs. I measured from the side in to 2.5 inches, and down from the top 5 inches, and marked it with a pencil. Then from the bottom of that piece, on the same side, I measured up 5 inches, and marked that. Then I drew the angle connecting those 2 points.

How to Build a Wood Bench

I cut on that pattern, and then repeated this 3 more times with the 3 remaining pieces. This gave me 4 identical pieces to build 2 legs for the bench.

I also wanted an arch cut out of the bottom of the leg. So I measured 2 inches up the side, and marked it. Then I measured 3 inches along the bottom, and marked it. I took a one gallon paint can, set it on the piece, so that the can touched on both of those marks, and traced the curve. I cut them out with a jigsaw. (Don’t pay attention to the larger pencil arc. I was just figuring out how high I wanted it.)

How to Build a Wood Bench

Here is a finished half leg.

Putting 2 of these cut pieces together, this gives you an idea of the look of a finished leg.

Now, to secure these 2 pieces together, I cut a support piece for the inside of each leg. They are 9¼ wide by 12 inches high. To dress these pieces up a little, I cut 2 45 degree angles off the bottom, and did 45 degree bevel all the way around, except for the top.

That piece will sit centered on the width and flush to the top of the legs.

In Part II of this project, we will finish the cutting, and get ready for assembly of this bench. Later on, in Part III, we will prime, paint and finish the bench to a worn look, and show you how it looks in front of the wood stove.

Something to think about: In keeping with the general design of this bench, the measurements could be changed to build a bench for many different uses. For example, you could build a bench for your deck, your garden, a wall bench for in your home, or a bench for your kids to sit on in their playroom.

The projects I intend to blog about are anything I happen to be doing anyway, for our own home or needs. So as they come up in life, I will try to share in this manner here on our blog. I think you will find that my projects are often rough and simple. Since I am not a carpenter by trade, I have limited tools to work with. But I make do ok. My hope is that these projects will offer a jumping point for projects you may like to do, or inspire the men in your family in some way.

Please feel free to leave any suggestions or feedback about these project posts for me as well. I am new at blogging and explaining step by step. I just DO IT. So if there is anything I can do to clarify things for you, please let me know and I will do my best. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoyed Part I of my first blogged project!!
Click Here >>>> for Part II

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Baptism by Fire – Our WESO Wood and Coal Ceramic Stove

January 18, 2009 By Laura 55 Comments

If you’ve been a visitor of our blog for awhile, you may have noticed that we just get silly-excited, about the darndest things. About lots of things, all kinds of things, and sometimes most anything. : ) That’s just how we are. Sometimes, those things have to do with accomplishments with our home. If you knew the transformation our home has taken, and what we’ve been through to make it happen, you’d probably appreciate that more. That’s another ‘post all it’s own’, but needless to say…..it’s been a very long, but very exciting journey. And having done most of the work ourselves (which is still a work in progress), every single ‘check off the list’ is a big deal to us. So indulge us, won’t you please? Because we’re jumping up and down here with excitement!

ONE of our home projects has been to get this wood/coal stove vented to the outside. It’s a WESO Ceramic Radiant Heat Wood and Coal Stove.
And it’s a family piece. More on that in a bit.

1_WESO-wood-coal-stove

Except….we needed a chimney, since our old one was knocked out with a wall, and was falling apart anyway. The sun room this stove is in now, is in it’s place. So…..hooking up this stove, and getting a proper chimney up, that would pass inspection of course, was a major project. We had a deadline goal to get it done by, that was really important to us.

It was BEFORE LAST WINTER began!

Obviously, we missed that goal by a long shot! But it did get done, in all thanks to my husband, who can do all things, when he decides to. And he’s ambitious.
😉 He cut a hole through the ceiling and roof just so, got everything squared away and boxed in, and patched up the ceiling in no time at all. Well….a few days. lol His brother in-law did send one of his roofing guys over, to do the roof part properly. (Thank you BIL!!) But my husband even assembled the mile-high chimney on the roof all by himself >>> during the 2 absolute coldest days of the winter so far—in the single digits. Crazy I tell you.

I know…we’re looking a bit like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory now. (Actually, that wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing, if it were true. lol). But hey…..it gets the job done. And it meets inspection standards.

I have a thing about woodpiles. I think because they mean FIRES ARE GOING TO HAPPEN! I have always loved fires. Well….the good ones. Wood stove fires. Camp fires. Those kind. And our whole family really enjoys them together whenever we can. It’s a such a big-fun-deal to the kids, when we build fires outdoors, just to sit around and chat….which we do quite a bit in the summer and early fall. Sometimes we even have s’mores! Plus….woodpiles are so…country-ish. We just love the smell of wood burning, too.

1_WESO-wood-coal-stove

Back to the stove (and re-using this photo). We’re not only SO excited to be having a real wood/coal stove for our home, because we love having fires to gather around, making our home cozy, and just adding to the comforts of home feel. But this stove in particular, has meaningful family history. It’s a WESO ceramic wood and coal stove, made in the mid 1970’s, and it was Michael’s (my husband’s) grandparent’s stove. They had it up in their home in Maine, practically for all of his childhood.

That makes it really special, because Michael was really close to his Nana, and spent a lot of time up there. Even his school vacations, if he could. He often brought one of his friends, all of whom took him right up on that offer, because his Nana was cool! So he essentially grew up with this stove. It was there all the years I knew his Nana, and visited her with him, as well. When his Nana passed away (about 8 years after his grandfather), the stove went to his parents home, where he grew up. By then of course, he was no longer living at home. We were planning to get married by then. But nonetheless, it was there in their home, where we often visited and gathered, for years into our marriage and having four children, until his parents sold the home and moved.

That’s when we took it, in Nov 2006. And we’ve been waiting to make it part of our home, ever since.

The older we get, the more family pieces mean to us. To have things around our home that have family history, is just such a blessing. We don’t have a whole lot. Lots of little things that are just as precious. But this stove is a treasure to us. It’s a beauty!! And it was finally time to start her up!! Heading into a bitter cold weekend, too.

This corner, and just to the left of it where our french doors into the rest of our home are, is the only parts of the room that are windowless. This room is pretty much all windows, and a sliding glass door out to the deck. LOTS of natural light. We are essentially surrounded by the outdoors, but inside. We have spent A LOT of time in here……even though it is no where near decorated or furnished as it will be. The kids just LOVE this room as well, and spend a lot of time in it too….until the winters came. It just got BITTER cold out there. The stone tiles were like ice. So when we come in the front door, we kick off our shoes and get through the french doors and into the house as soon as possible. It’s been a 3 season room.

But not anymore. It’s finally a 4 season room! I have to say…..it’s been one very enjoyable, very snowy, and very cozy weekend for us, here in our home. We’ve spent much of it in this room…..surrounded by a winter wonderland, but warm as can be. Just gathered together as a family, hanging out by the fire. Right where we love to be.

We’ll be back to tell you more about our cozy weekend really soon. Meanwhile, if you have any really treasured family pieces as part of your home, we’d love to hear about them! It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, pretty or not…..if it matters to you, it matters! Please feel free to share family pieces with us if you have a moment.

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