How To Build A Simple Bench

Dean spotted this gorgeous piece of wood at an architectural salvage building that we frequent. We knew we had to get it once we discovered the history behind it. We were told that this vintage piece of wood was from the old Ringling Bros. Circus hotel in Sarasota. The hotel, El-Vernona, John Ringling Hotel, was built in 1926 and demolished in 1998.

Time: 2 Hours Cost: $50 Difficulty: Medium

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We decided to build a bench for our farmhouse table instead of adding 2-3 more chairs. First, Dean cut off the ends of the slab at 17″.  The 17″ tall legs of the bench in addition to the 2″ thickness of the slab gave us the 19″ total height of the bench.

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 After making the leg cuts, he drilled two 1/2″ holes into identical places on both legs. This is where the legs will receive the cast iron threaded pipe.

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 This is to make sure that the bench legs don’t collapse outward or inward and to prevent any wobble in the bench itself. The pipes help to eliminate the bench legs from collapsing outward. NOTE: The pipes had an oily film on them so after wiping it off we used a Rust-oleom spray paint in hammered bronze.

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Once the legs are cut and the pipe installed through the ends, simply screw on the threaded end caps and placed on the bench top. Position the legs so that there is an overhang on both ends. There is a 2 1/2″ overhang on both ends of this bench. Once the bench top location was determined, he attached it to the legs using the 5″ metal “L” bracket with stainless steel wood screws. The metal “L” bracket helps to keep the legs from collapsing inward.

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Here it is! Our new/old farm table bench or maybe our new farm table bench with some history? Whatever you want to call it, the bench makes for a one-of-a-kind piece of furniture and can easily seat 4 more people

Materials used for this project:

• 2″ x 12″ x 10′ wooden slab   (architectural salvage)
• 1/2″ x 6′ threaded cast iron pipe   (lowes)
• 1/2″ cast iron end caps   (lowes)
• 5″ metal “L” bracket with pre-drilled hole   (lowes)
• Rust-oleum spray paint in hammered bronze (optional)   (lowes)