How to Build a Bench
Still in the shop. Still making a mess.
For my next act, I've designed a bench with concrete legs. Well, to do that, I need to build a mould to pour the concrete into. I chose to build a negative mould using 0.75" MDF board. The board itself is coated, but will more than likely be destroyed after the first casting without coating the boards with something to keep the water out. In this case, 2 coats of lacquer.
Concrete is strass under pressure, but brittle with any sort of flexing. So I used some foundation bolts and 16 gauge fencing for the internal structure that ended up buried in the mortar mix. The concrete sets in 24 hours and strengthens over time.
The bench top is 2" solid oak with cherry end caps. I have entirely decided how to finish the bench, probably just a few layers of polyurethane. The final piece weighs nearly 150 lbs. and measures 40"x16"x10", it will probably be finished with a few layers of polyurethane.