This bench, custom-sized for a friend of mine, is made from about half of a long piece of ash wood that I got from Alderfer Lumber. The wood had been extensively chewed up by insects prior to being kiln-dried. First task was therefore to clean out all the rotten bark and holes to prepare for finishing.
Next step involved painting the entire slab with penetrating epoxy, to stabilize the wood and make sure that nothing further deteriorated. The slab is close to final color now, but we’ll have to go backwards here before being able to move forward.
I sanded down the entire slab (with 80 grit sandpaper) and filled the top of the bench with TotalBoat epoxy, so that anyone sitting on top of the bench would have a smooth surface. I left the holes on the sides and bottom unfilled. You can see the hole on the top filled in the photo below.
Next I sanded/scraped off excess epoxy, then sanded the slab (80 grit, then 120, then 180) before finishing the entire slab with Rubio Monocoat Pure (and Rubio Maintenance Oil, for some extra sheen). You can see a clear epoxy-filled hole (with the sun shining through) in the first image below.
Then it was time to attach the custom steel legs from SemiExact. Ash trees in both Europe and North America are dying out (in Europe because of fungus, in NA because of the emerald ash borer), so there’s something especially poignant about building with ash.
The finished bench! Legs far apart to accommodate the radiator it will be placed over in its new home.
