I’m a huge fan of Steve Ramsey from Woodworking for Mere Mortals (link). This week, I made a 5 board bench inspired by Steve’s design. It’s a quick and simple project, and could be completed with limited tools.

I started out by cutting this poplar board to length for all my pieces. This wood has lots of character. It’s old, and is full of beetle holes.

I butted the bottom of the legs together, and drew a circle with a compass. I used a jigsaw to cut this portion out. I used the table saw to cut the sides at an angle. I cut the same angle on the rails, where they connect to the top.

I connected the rails to the legs using pocket screws, then connected the top.

I used Minwax Hickory gel stain to darken up the piece.

I wanted this bench to look old, so I sanded some of the stain off. I finished it with Minwax water based Polycrylic. I really enjoy this design, and it was super easy to build.