Seamless joins for bench seat

**zoovegroover** · 30th March 2015, 10:25 AM

Hey guys

Another question from the beginner woodworker over here...I'm making a bench seat for a friend of mine. It's going to function more as a desk type thing at the end of a bed for throwing clothes on and books. It won't be used for seating, it needs to be sturdy but not to support a human being.

I like seamless joins, but not sure the best way to approach this. Was thinking dowels might do it for joining the tops and sides, and then screws to join the support beam underneath. However, I could be totally wrong. Any suggestions on how best to tackle this? Should mention, I'm using 19mm thick White Poplar.

The seat will look very similar to the attached picture. Thanks, guys!

Screen Shot 2015-03-30 at 10.24.23 am.png

**mark david** · 30th March 2015, 11:07 AM

Hi there are many ways to tackle this bench design, depending on your skill level,tools available and how you want it to look.
Could be but-jointed and joined with dowels (visible or hidden)
Mitred joint
Housing joint
Dovetailed
Biscuit jointed
Screwed and pegged.

The stiffening rail underneath could be just butt jointed and fixed in after the rest is constructed but would be better tennoned or dovetailed in from the top.

If well made should have no problem supporting the weight of one or more people.

**zoovegroover** · 30th March 2015, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the tips, mate.

Think I might try a butt-join with dowels for the top, and I like the idea of tenon or dovetail for the support beam, but not exactly sure how to do it as I've never cut those kinds of joins before. I do have access to a router with a dovetail bit, so possibly that could be the go? Not sure exactly how you mean "dovetailed in from the top", though? If you could provide a bit more advice on that, I'd be really grateful. Thanks!

**mark david** · 30th March 2015, 12:35 PM

Hi, to dovetail the support rail you would need to cut that and join it to the vertical uprights before attaching the top seat.
The same approach would be required if you did a tenon joint instead.

**zoovegroover** · 31st March 2015, 11:32 AM

Hi Mark, just so I'm clear (new to all this and not quite up with it all), by dovetail join for this, do you mean cutting the male dovetail into the support beam, and sliding it into the matching female like a dado? sorry if that's a dumb question...

**mark david** · 31st March 2015, 11:53 AM

Yes exactly that

Originally Posted by zoovegroover

Hi Mark, just so I'm clear (new to all this and not quite up with it all), by dovetail join for this, do you mean cutting the male dovetail into the support beam, and sliding it into the matching female like a dado? sorry if that's a dumb question...

**zoovegroover** · 31st March 2015, 12:21 PM

Sounds like a great first project for my new makeshift router table! thanks for the advice on this one.

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