Five-Board Bench

As well as being outdoors as much as I can, I also have a passion for carpentry. It’s the perfect activity – especially if the weather isn’t so good and I can work outdoors if it’s not so bad!

I’ve made a few things for friends and family, so I thought I’d share what I’ve made with you.

Five-Board Bench

First off, I made a bench for my parents’ kitchen. They renovated this year, and needed some more seating for their table, so I made it. It’s really simple and was pretty easy to make – it’s just a five board bench. The most time-consuming part of the whole thing was glueing two boards together so that I had material wide enough for the bench.

Bauernstuhl/Brettstuhl

Then I made some bauernstuhls (or brettstuhl whatever you prefer to call them!) for cousins and family friends. These were a little trickier to make and much more time-consuming, but they were an enjoyable build. One has been painted white to go with the room that it’s going in, but the other is varnished, which allows you to see how it was built.

I really like the way that these chairs are built, the seat has dovetail grooves in it to keep the boards together and provide additional strength. The legs are round tenons hammered into the seat and the back has an oblong tenon which is pegged under the seat.

Bauernstuhl/Brettstuhl

I first made one of these chairs a couple of years ago, so this time I already had patterns cut for the seat and back. I’d always admired them when we saw them in ski chalets in the Alps.

I didn’t take photos of the making process, but if anyone is interested, I’ll make some more and provide photos of the steps.

© RockiesOutdoors 2014