I wish I didn't give them to my son. They have since sold the cottage and the tables are in their living room at their new home.Those pieces fit the setting nicely!
Very easy to make, I tried to only use hand tools but used battery operated drill to bore the mortices. Hand saw to square the seat up , hand plane and card scraper for surface work and legs, drawknife for the tenons. Setting the rake and splay was a challenge . Used a bevel gauge and a few pencil lines and hoped for the best.Interesting staked bench. At Great Dixter (a well known garden and country house), not far from us, they have a guy there who makes quite a lot of these. They sell them at the twice yearly plant fairs and he also does short courses on how to make them using traditional tools.
None taken, deliberate as I have seen it done both ways. I was drawn to a square shoulder and preferred the detail.Without this meaning to sound like a criticism, I was wondering about the square shoulders on the legs. Is that deliberate, rather than scribing a shoulder to come flush to the underside of the bench seat?
Forgot to mention I put a slight taper on the tenons and the wedges snugged the legs up nicely. I will see if I can source an image for the bench you have mentioned.The way the Dixter ones are done, since Mike raised the shoulder point, is to step the legs into a wider hole at the bottom just using a bigger auger in a brace. Gives a neat shoulder and also better support. The dowel is pared down with a chisel to go through a smaller top hole and a slot cut with the grain for a contrast wedge. It's quick & effective & neat.
Can you recall the makers name?The way the Dixter ones are done, since Mike raised the shoulder point, is to step the legs into a wider hole at the bottom just using a bigger auger in a brace. Gives a neat shoulder and also better support. The dowel is pared down with a chisel to go through a smaller top hole and a slot cut with the grain for a contrast wedge. It's quick & effective & neat.
Had a look at the website, nice grounds. With my three visits to England my wife who is English enjoyed the stately manors and castles open to the public. Shame about the spring closure.Sorry Duke. I can visualise the guy but can't for the life of me remember his name. They get quite a few students on work placement for a year of two as the place is quite special. Dixter is run by Fergus Garrett these days and he is a really nice bloke. If it is no longer on their website I will ask him next time we see him. They sold the benches typically for around £140 to £240 at the fairs depending on size and timber. Mostly sourced from the estate / farm. They also make split hurdles, small gates and stuff using traditional methods. The spring fair was unfortunately cancelled this year (we intended to help) because the care park fields were so wet.
Am I visualising this right? Is the only shoulder up inside the hole?The way the Dixter ones are done, since Mike raised the shoulder point, is to step the legs into a wider hole at the bottom just using a bigger auger in a brace. Gives a neat shoulder and also better support. The dowel is pared down with a chisel to go through a smaller top hole and a slot cut with the grain for a contrast wedge. It's quick & effective & neat.