2 ½ Seater Bench

This is an adaptation of the “Normandy chair”, a 14th Century stool constructed of Oak with Mortise and Tenon and Tusk Tenon joints, located at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The original appears to be a single seater, with unknowable dimensions, given that I have only seen it as an isolated picture in a medieval furniture book.

I have assumed that the chair is made of Oak because that was the cheapest and most available wood for a woodworker in 14th century England. Given that farmed Pine (Pinus Radiata) sits in the same place in modern Australia, I have chosen that as the material to use.

Unfortunately, Pine is a good deal less strong than Oak, so when stretching the design to suit 2 ½ people, I have added a buttress attached to the rail to prop up the seat. Given the assumptions I have documented, I believe that in the same situation a 14th century woodworker would choose to do the same thing, rather than use a more expensive wood.

The legs of this chair rake (slant) outward at 12° to 14°, putting the feet almost under the end of the chair. This gives it unusual stability when compared to the more common Gothic stool or tavern “Sawhorse” bench, both of which have legs extending straight down. These other benches experience ‘tilt-up’ when a person sits at the very end of the bench, an undesirable feature in a modern litigious society.

Materials

·  Pine Dressed 240 x 19 x 1200

·  Pine Dressed 240 x 19 x 900

·  Pine Dressed 90 x 19 x 1200

·  Pine Dressed 90x19x 200 (two of), or else 90x39x200

·  Boiled Linseed oil

Tools

This bench can be constructed using basic hand tools:

·  16mm wood chisel

·  5mm wood chisel

·  Wooden mallet

·  Brace and bit

·  19 mm Forstner (or spade) bit

·  Cross-cut wood saw

·  Coping saw

·  Keyhole saw

·  Block plane

·  Oil brush

·  Sandpaper 80 grit to 240 grit

·  Square

·  Mortise Gauge

Given that I do not have a team of medieval apprentices to do the manual labour, I have used the following power tools:

·  Hobby bandsaw 240 mm throat

·  Drill press

·  Random orbit sander

·  Jigsaw with wood blade

·  Plunge router with round-over bit

Plan

The legs rake at 14°, so require an angled mortise of 20 to 21mm length. Given the weakness of the chosen material, I have not shouldered the tenons. Such a technique would, in any case, be contrary to the intended use of the bench. A bench in Tavern or Inn would expect to suffer a lot of hard use and so cannot afford to be any more delicate than the design requires.

This intended usage also influenced my finishing. Only the top of the seat was sanded with anything greater than 80 grit sandpaper. The Pine will show distressing very quickly, so it is wasted effort to spend much time finishing the legs and rails when they will be kicked and banged around the place.

Method

  1. Saw the 240x19x900 into two planks of 240x19x450. These will be used as the legs.
  2. Set the Mortise Gauge at 47 mm and mark the edge of the tenons on each side of both legs. Mark the edge of the four mortises using this setting on the seat. Then reset the Gauge to 94mm (47mm + 47mm) and mark the inside of the Tenons and Mortises. The Mortises should be marked at 20mm wide and the Tenons marked at 21mm deep.
  3. Use a pencil to mark X in the middle of the mortises and around the Tenons. This is an important step to ensure that you don’t cut in the wrong place.
  4. Cut out your mortices on the seat using your favourite method. Remember to angle your cut 14° from the top towards the end of the seat. My favourite method involved a drill press, 19 mm Forstner bit, and a levelling Jig (below).
  5. Cut out the Tenons on the legs using your favourite method. Remember that the top of the tenons and the leg shoulders slope at 14°. I cut them straight using the bandsaw, then tilted the table and cut the angles on the Tenons and shoulders. The picture below shows the bench with the seat raised slightly to show the angle cut into the shoulders and Tenons .
  6. Check the fit of the Mortise and Tenon Joint and adjust using a Chisel by taking off fine slices from the Tenons.
  7. Mark the angled Mortise on the legs, in the centre and 130mm below the Tenons. A 90mm rail will give 50mm wide Mortise. Remember to angle the Mortise in the same direction as you have angled the Tenons (see picture above)
  8. Assemble the bench carefully and measure the distance between the two leg mortises and the top and the bottom (on the inside). It is no good giving measurements, as the slightest variation in angle of the legs makes a large difference in the gap.
  9. Allow an extra 80mm each side of the rail and cut it to length.
  10. Use the Mortise Gauge to mark shoulders on the rail with a depth of 20mm. Draw in the slope on the shoulders and cut. Fit to the legs and adjust the Tenons with a chisel.
  11. Cut the holes in the rail Tenons for the wedges. Cut some scrap wood to form wedges and fit to the rail tenons. This joint which used the wedge to hold the joint form is called a Tusk Tenon and was widely used for takedown furniture.
  12. Glue the two pieces of wood together for the Buttress, and let dry. Then cut out the centre to form a sliding bridle joint with the rail. Fit the buttress to the rail.
  13. Round the corners of the seat with a jigsaw, and then use a router with round-over bit (or a plane) to shape the edge of the seat.
  14. Shape the sides of the legs to give it a nice curve. I start the curve 140mm up from the base and continue it for 170mm.
  15. Cut a decorative shape in the middle bottom of the legs. The plan shows a tri-arch shape, but Fleur-del-lis, plain arches, and other complex shapes appear on gothic bench legs.
  16. Sand all the parts. 80 Grit for all parts, but go up to 240 or 360 for the seat.
  17. Oil with boiled linseed. Remember to wipe it off afterwards. The seat will take four coats over two days, and a final coat a week later.

Jigs

A most useful Tool for angling the legs can be created from a scrap piece of Pine around 70 (or 90)x39x100. I measured in from an edge ¼ of the width of the wood and marked a line to the opposite corner. I then cut this line, giving me a 14° angle on the end. By putting a level on the end, I was able to tilt my Bench press table and bandsaw table accurately and repeatedly to the required angle.