DIY garden bench made of wood. How to make a bench with your own hands: choice of material, drawing, assembly

Respite during the day is as necessary as sleep at night. Take a smoke break while working summer cottage, sit in the shade after long working days, enjoy the long-awaited evening atmosphere, or even play sports - comfortable wooden benches are used for this.

Buying luxurious furniture for the street - now few people can afford to ruin their wallet. Making a bench with your own hands according to the drawings is a triple benefit:

A practical product made of wood, in which all individual wishes and elements are taken into account, an order of magnitude higher than stamped factory models focused on saving material. Ordering a bench from a separate craftsman also does not always meet expectations.
Do-it-yourself manufacturing will only require costs for consumables, and if you already have them, then it will cost no investment at all.
Construction of interior and landscape elements It’s hard to call it work for a dacha according to your own taste. It is always a pleasure to skillfully create something new for yourself, so that you can then be proud and enjoy the efforts of your work.

Why made of wood?

Wood is the most suitable material to make a bench with your own hands. This is due to its qualities:

Requirements for material and tools

The wood must be of high quality. For the bench, you should choose elements without knots, cracks, or rotten areas. The ease of processing and joining parts, as well as the service life of the finished product, depend on this.

Special attention: only dry wood is suitable for starting work. A damp board is the reason for the deformation of the bench and its destruction when weather conditions change. Before processing, the material must be thoroughly dried.

The breed is not limited to anything: to make a garden bench for a summer house, any available wood will do. Oak is the most durable, but heaviest. If you stand on a bench all your life in one place, it is better to choose it.

Pine is the optimal choice for any product options. It is the most common building material: wood will be easy to find at home or purchase at the nearest base; affordable, moderately durable, less susceptible to temperature influences. Linden, larch and other species are also used.

Making a bench with your own hands - carpentry work, it will require simple carpentry tools. For safety and quality reasons, it is recommended to use only reliable, working tools. Firmly attached hammer handles, plane blades, a sharpened hacksaw or a high-quality disk on electric saw– the key to effective achievement of results.

Wooden bench design

The general structure of a wooden bench will be useful for those who decide to make it themselves. Before starting work, it is recommended to make a drawing of the future creation with the dimensions and location of the elements. It will help you quickly produce the necessary wooden bench parts and correctly assemble them into one garden structure. Each element of the drawing performs its own function, without which the product will be unfinished, unreliable or not convenient enough:

The legs of the bench are supports. For comfortable planting, they are brought to a height of 40-50 cm from the ground. A lower or higher position forces you to take an unnatural posture, from which rest becomes torture and unfavorable tension on the spine. Depending on the length, wooden benches are provided different quantities elements: maximum every 150 cm. Rear and front supports are at the same level with each other. Usually two pairs are needed, since most wooden benches are small in size.
Between the legs and seats of the bench, the diagrams provide for intermediate transverse and longitudinal beams, because the plane of the seat is not always formed by one board. They must be attached along the perimeter of the seat to the tops of the legs, but if the distance is large, there may be additional transverse elements attached to the longitudinal beams. Intermediate wooden supports may be absent only if the seat of the bench is made of wide boards.
The seat is formed from elements nailed to the intermediate beams and extending 5-25 cm beyond the legs. It is recommended to choose even boards.
The screed is an element of the strength of the bench. In the drawings it can be made in different forms, but the function is the same: rigid fastening wooden frame. This can be one beam or board, the ends connected to the legs of the bench at a height of 20-30 cm, or corner bars connecting each leg with intermediate beams. The screed prevents the wooden supports from loosening.
The back is a functional element that divides all benches into two configurations: with and without it. It serves for more comfort and resting your back. The back should not be vertical at 90° - this is an uncomfortable position. Optimal angle tilt from the seat plane - 110-120°. The presence of a backrest requires modernization of the drawing of the legs. The support area needs to be larger. Geometrically, the load is distributed across the seat and the horizontal projection of the backrest. The back legs of a wooden bench are moved further from the middle or tilted so that the lower points go back. The back consists of supports and a plane. The first ones are attached to the legs at an angle, and boards or slats are attached to them.

General manufacturing principles

Assembly wooden parts benches are made using screws or nails. The second option is recommended. High-quality long nails will provide a stronger connection, while soft modern self-tapping screws often break and over time may no longer hold the rigidity of a wooden frame.

The wooden surfaces of the seat and back must be carefully sanded. The functional planes of the bench can be of different shapes: straight or curved to add beauty and greater convenience. For example, the back of the seat can be made in the shape of a boat, and the edges of the seat and back are rounded. The result is achieved by changing the shape of the transverse beams in the drawing (the upper edges are cut out with a wave).

In order to save material and time, you can often find benches where there are gaps between the slats in the seat and back. A simple example: city alleys. This is not inconvenient and, in general, practical, but it is recommended to avoid such savings when making it yourself. A solid garden bench made of wood with full-fledged elements is more beautiful and safer for health. The spaces between the seat and back act as draft windows: after sitting on a bench, an unseasoned person can get sick.

The order of assembly is not determined by anything. If the seats and backrests consist of many slats, it is first recommended to make and fasten them according to the drawing frame elements and screed, and then perform the formation of planes. If there is no backrest, and the surface of the bench is one large and strong board, it is advisable to use it as a basis for connecting the remaining elements.

Wood processing – mandatory process. Immediately after making the bench, it is necessary to impregnate the wood with protection against insects and fungi. Further painting will not only give the wood product a finished look, but will also protect it from external weather influences.

Decorative value

Those who say that there is no beauty in wooden benches simply have no taste. This is one of the landscape and interior elements that form the overall appearance of a cottage or room. Recreation areas primarily attract the attention of visitors and the owners themselves. Therefore, beautiful handmade wood products are a wealth for the home and soul.

Experienced craftsmen, designers and creative newcomers often surprise with their unique solutions. By using seemingly the most inappropriate wooden elements - knotty logs, stumps, old driftwood - masterpieces are created that people are proud of and admire. Only an individual approach to making benches with your own hands will help make your summer cottage unusual and pleasant.

Application of products

The bench is an ambiguous element. The use of finished products extends to both the summer cottage and living conditions, and for specific needs. From where it will be used wooden bench, some of its structural features during manufacturing depend.

The most popular garden bench is because it is necessary in any garden yard. The version without a backrest is characterized by the presence of only the seat surface; there is no element of vertical back support. Such a bench for a summer house is less convenient, but it is easier to make it with your own hands according to the drawings.

The option without a backrest is chosen by those who do not like to sit still for a long time: a couple of minutes of respite and then back to work. The light weight of the product and simple load distribution allow the use of thin wooden or even 2 metal legs. for a summer residence it is more attractive, convenient, but more difficult to manufacture.

A beautiful and comfortable bench can be placed on the porch of the house, in a gazebo or indoors, where it will play the role of a full-fledged wooden furniture. Often benches designed for this purpose complement soft material: the backs and seats are covered with a blanket or bedspread, upholstered with leatherette on cotton wool or foam rubber, faux fur, etc.

For sports needs (for example, dumbbell training), a wooden bench without a back is a great option to get the benefits. The optimal surface covering for the seat is linoleum with lining.

According to the classic, everything in a person should be beautiful. This also applies to everything that surrounds us. When creating comfort in your country house, don’t forget about your garden plot. A smooth lawn or flower beds serve as decoration for your garden, it doesn’t matter at all, the main thing is that there is a place where to sit and relax from the bustle of the city and household chores. A DIY garden bench is great opportunity bring individuality to your summer cottage. Let's look at a few interesting options handmade benches and figure out how to make some of them.

The simplicity of the design and the availability of materials allows even a novice craftsman to decide to create such an interior element. The best material Wood or stone will be used to create a garden bench. They fit perfectly into the design personal plot and create a feeling of unity with nature. It is possible to create a bench from scrap materials. Surely a zealous owner will have a couple of outdated wooden chairs that can be put to use.

Whatever you decide to make a bench from, the first thing you will need in any case is a design project, and the necessary drawings and assembly diagram for it. Drawings of garden benches for every taste can be found on the Internet, but if you wish, you can develop them yourself; after all, we all received the initial skills of creating them in school, and the design of a bench is not so complicated.

height - about 40-50 cm;
seat width - on average 55 cm;
back height - 30-50 cm;
the height of the armrests from the seat is 15-20 cm.

These are the dimensions that will allow you to sit comfortably on the bench.

DIY wooden bench

Let's first consider the option of a simple wooden bench.

Below is an approximate drawing of such a bench for a do-it-yourself garden. Its most complex element is the slightly concave seat. The dimensions of the elements depend on the final dimensions of the bench. We offer the following sizes of individual elements:

seat boards – 25x100x1200 mm (4 pcs.);
legs - 100x100x440 mm (4 pcs.);
front upper drawers – 25x100x1200 mm (2 pcs.);
front lower drawers – 25x100x1200 mm (2 pcs.);
seat board supports – 25x100x400 mm (6 pcs.).

Prepare all the necessary tools and materials and you can begin. You will need:

suitable boards and timber for making the seat and legs of the bench;
jigsaw;
sander;
self-tapping screws;
screwdriver;
antiseptic for wood processing;
stain;

Operating procedure:

First of all, cut out all the necessary parts according to the list with a jigsaw.

Pay special attention to preparing the seat supports. Before cutting, make appropriate markings to simplify the task.

The cuts must be sanded to protect them from splinters.
When the parts are ready, carefully treat them with an antiseptic to protect the wood from destruction and insects. This will extend the life of the product.
Start assembly by attaching the seat supports to the upper frames according to the diagram.

Advice! Make all connections with self-tapping screws. The connection with nails is short-lived, it quickly becomes loose, and such a bench will lose stability.

Attach the seat boards to the resulting frame, deepening the screw heads.

Lastly, attach the legs, securing them with the lower drawers for strength.

The already assembled bench can be covered with stain. This product will help give the wood the noble look of a more expensive material and emphasize its structure.

This DIY bench made from natural material will decorate any garden and will not create a dent in your wallet.

Bench with wooden back

A bench with a back is undoubtedly a more convenient option than a bench. And don’t think that making one yourself is more difficult. You can, for example, create a bench with a backrest with your own hands in an ethno style from a solid log.

For the seat of such a bench you just need to cut a log. The second part of the log can be used to make bench legs. These parts are connected to each other using metal pins.

First, holes are made in the fastening areas, the diameter of which is slightly less than the diameter of the pin. First, the pin is driven with a sledgehammer into one part to about half the height, then the second part is pushed on top.

Advice! Before hitting the material with a sledgehammer, place an unnecessary piece of board on top, this will prevent damage to the surface of the material.

The back of such a bench can be made from a log of smaller diameter. To attach the backrest you can use metal elements or, if you don’t have it, take wooden ones.

Don't forget to treat the wood with a protective antiseptic.

Bench - swing

The garden bench can also be made in the form of a swing. This option is especially relevant if you have children, they will obviously like it.

Have you decided to make a swing with your own hands? In addition to the usual materials for making a bench and a bench, you will need durable fastening material, such as rope or chain, as well as metal chains and carabiners. The swing can be decorated with colorful pillows made, if possible, from moisture-resistant materials.

Shop - sandbox

Another bench option that will definitely make your children happy is a sandbox with a lid.

Very convenient option, which will fit into the country landscape design, will not take up much space, and will appeal to children and adults. Approximate dimensions: 1.20x1.45x0.3 m.

When making such a sandbox bench, you can rest assured that country cats will not get to the sand, and the ubiquitous magpies will not steal small toys.

Bench - flowerbed

Lovers of wild blooms surround themselves with flowers everywhere. For them, we can recommend making a bench - a flowerbed.

Even a novice master can work on such a bench. It is necessary to build wood flooring between two boxes. It’s simpler - there’s just nowhere. The boxes are filled with soil and your favorite plants are planted there. A green corner made in this way will decorate any summer cottage.

Benches from scrap materials

To create a designer bench, it is not at all necessary to purchase material, even inexpensive ones. You can make an excellent bench from scrap materials. For example, old wooden chairs.

To create such a simple but very elegant bench, assemble a frame from a 50x30 mm beam of the same length as the seat of your bench should be. For two people 120 mm is enough. Attach the backs of the chairs to it as in the picture. For fastenings, use long self-tapping screws.

Paint the structure created in this way in the color you need.

To make the seat, you can use a sheet of plywood, fiberboard or wood furniture board. Cut the seat slightly wider than the frame. If desired, it can be covered with batting or foam rubber and upholstery fabric or leather substitute. A furniture stapler is very useful for covering the material.

The bench is ready! All that remains is for her to find appropriate place and enjoy the result.

Another handy material for quick creation construction pallets can act as benches.

If you have the appropriate tools, it will not be difficult to assemble a bench of any design from them. The main thing is to carefully treat the pallet boards with sandpaper and antiseptic protective agent(this rule works for everyone wooden products planned for outdoor use). In addition, such a bench can be painted in your favorite color or covered wooden elements stain. You can decorate it with simple jute rope and metal rivets, as well as pillows of various sizes and colors and textures.

As you can see, a garden bench made by yourself is not only a place to sit. It is enough to show a little imagination and a corner for relaxation with the whole family is ready. If you make it yourself, it will save you money and time searching for a suitable option, which sometimes you simply cannot find. If you do not have sufficient carpentry skills, create a bench from scrap materials; it does not require much labor, but it looks no less aesthetically pleasing.

How to make a garden bench with your own hands from wood. Video instruction.

Perhaps only a classic garden can do without benches; there should be nothing in the garden except potatoes or cucumbers. But even a small garden can hardly be imagined without benches. The garden is still intended for relaxation and admiring nature, but doing this while standing is not very convenient. Currently, the choice of such structures is quite large; wooden and metal garden benches are especially popular.

Types of garden benches

Regardless of the design and size, the purpose of any bench remains the same - it should give a person the opportunity to sit down, relax and slowly enjoy the view of a cozy garden. Benches can be classified according to several criteria, for example, by the material from which they are made and by design.

Materials for making garden benches

There are several popular materials:

plastic – the advantages of benches made from this material include resistance to climatic influences, light weight and a relatively low price. There are options for folding structures on sale; they are convenient to take with you on periodic trips to the country;

wood - do-it-yourself garden benches are usually made from this material. The tree looks great on garden plot, and in general it is considered a classic, and classics are always in price;

Note!
Wood, even with protective coatings, is much less resistant to moisture and insects, for example, than plastic, stone or metal.
So the wooden ones will fail first.

metal - as for metal products, then 2 options are possible: homemade benches from a profile pipeline or forged ones. It is impossible to make forged benches from scratch without having blacksmithing skills; the most that can be done is to buy ready-made forged sidewalls and then assemble the bench yourself;

stone garden benches– record holders for durability. You can fit 1-2 large boulders under a bench, or use purchased marble and sidewalls, the whole question is in the price and the general style of design of the site;

concrete - the sidewalls can be cast from concrete, and a concrete slab will act as a seat;
combined options– the most common type is a combination of a metal frame and wooden slats (back and seat). There are options for combining stone and wood.

Note!
The use of wood makes the bench more comfortable.
In cold weather, it is not pleasant to sit on icy metal or stone; wood is preferable from this point of view, because its thermal conductivity is much lower.

Garden bench design options

At first glance, there is nothing complicated in the design of the bench - 4 legs, a seat and a back.

But there are also more complex designs:

a bench without a back is the simplest option, a dubious option in terms of comfort, because you won’t be able to lean back and relax;
garden bench with backrest – adding a backrest takes relaxation comfort to a new level;

bench with table - with this option, a pair is installed on one base. This design is optimal for communication in nature;
a bench with a canopy - can be considered as an analogue of a mini-gazebo. However, protection from slanting rain is weak, so such a structure should not be considered as a full replacement for the gazebo;

benches created in artistic style, the main focus in this case is on appearance. Instead of standard sidewalls, for example, figurines of fairy-tale creatures, etc. can be used.

If the bench in your garden is not planned in the form large stone or a fallen tree trunk, you will have to spend a little time thinking about the design and counting the required number of building materials. A correctly drawn up drawing is the main basis of a good shop.

Drawings of garden benches made of wood, or any other material, must contain not only a general image of the structure, but also detailed dimensions of the main elements.

Wooden bench

There are several manufacturing options:

use large tree trunks as the main elements. Half of such a trunk may well lie on the ground and, due to its large thickness, act as a seat at the same time;

just dig a couple of posts (or concrete) and use them as the basis of the structure;
beam construction is the most common option. It makes sense to take a closer look at an example of such a design.

As for the sizes, everyone selects them based on their requirements for the shop, but you can focus on the following values:

The height of the back most often does not exceed 50 cm;
the height of the bench, that is, the distance from the surface of the ground to the surface of the seat, is also taken to be approximately 50 cm;
The angle of the backrest is important; it can be taken in the range of 15 - 30ᵒ.

Note!
This will not change the price of the bench, but the level of comfort may seriously suffer.
If the back is at a right angle to the seat, then the back will be constantly tense and you can forget about rest.

The design of a typical wooden bench looks something like this:

the sidewalls are assembled from wide beams (as a rule, the sidewalls are connected crosswise with a selection of grooves at the junction). That part of the cross, which will also be the basis for the backrest, is made longer by the height of the backrest;

if the width of the bench exceeds 2.0 m, then to ensure rigidity the same structure as on the sides must be placed in the center, otherwise the seat will bend greatly under the weight of a person;

The sidewalls are connected into one whole by square beams. The load on them will be small, so you can use a small section;
after that garden benches and the benches are covered with wooden planks. It is not necessary to make the cladding continuous; gaps of 1-2 cm can be made between individual planks;
At the final stage, all that remains is to coat the wood with protective compounds.

Metal and combined benches

Purely metal constructions don't occur very often. The fact is that the weight of such a structure turns out to be quite large, and the cost of the product increases. Therefore, the seat and back are usually made of wood.

Combined options can be made with your own hands; we are talking mainly about designs using a profile pipeline.

All work comes down to fulfilling several points:

the side parts of the frame are made of pipes. The best option can be considered one in which the entire sidewall is made of one pipe. Of course, you can use a welded connection, but this complicates the work;

Note!
A homemade garden bench made from wood and metal will most likely require pipe bending.
To do this, either a pipe bender or other methods are used (for example, filling the pipeline with sand) and subsequent manual bending.

When covering the frame with wooden planks, a bolted connection is used.

In the case of forged structures, everything is much simpler - forged parts are purchased, and all that remains for the gardener to do is select suitable tree and cover the metal frame with it.

Stone benches

When it comes to how to make a garden bench from stone or concrete, it all depends on general style future design.

There are several options:

a small bench can even be made from small stones. In this case, oblong boulders are used for supports, and flat stones are used for the seat. Most often, such designs are made without a backrest;

Note!
It is allowed to use a little mortar in such structures to make the connection between the supports and the seat more durable and reliable.
The solution should not be visible.

a bench in which both posts are made of stone masonry (using natural stone), and a heavy marble slab is simply laid on top. When laying the supports, you can also concrete the frame for the back, and make the back itself forged.

Unusual design

IN separate category it is necessary to highlight the author's benches; it would be more accurate to call them a work of art than simple device for relax. As for the material, the greatest scope for creativity is provided by the use of wood; of course, in this case, detailed drawings of benches for the garden are not needed, you can only estimate the overall dimensions of the structure.

The following options deserve attention:

the ring bench is a common design, but it is arranged around a tree; in place of the usual seat, an emerald green lawn looks unusual;
a bench can be arranged between 2 flower beds;
A bench arranged, for example, in the mouth of an animal looks interesting;
stone articles can be decorated on both sides with elegant figurines;
you can make a bench in the form of a huge bundle of bamboo, in the central part of which there is a cutout for sitting.

In conclusion

Garden benches are an excellent testing ground for creativity. Despite the abundance standard designs, you can always stand out and come up with your own bench design. Of course, the flight of thought should not come at the expense of comfort. The information provided will help you navigate the mass of standard benches and offers several unusual options.

The video in this article shows an example of making a garden bench.

The bench as a household item competes with the stool in antiquity. Because if a stump or boulder is already a stool, then a fallen tree is a bench or, if a branch extends from it, on which you can lean your back - a bench. In the last two forms, it has successfully survived to this day, which we will return to later.

A bench, with or without a back, “on paper” is not a piece of furniture, not a building, not a gardening tool and is not classified in any way. Therefore, it exists in abundance various types, and no restrictions are imposed on its design and design. The requirements of ergonomics, strength and reliability must be observed in it, but no one has the right to make claims for themselves.

Most often, this type of seating is outdoor: courtyard, garden, country, park. This could be a simple bench made of boards on a pair of logs, a classic village bench for gatherings, or no less classic garden sofa and park bench, the top row in Fig.

A wooden bench is an exquisite object and in many ways determines the face of landscape design, therefore it is the object of close attention of specialists in the relevant field. In the 2nd row from the top in Fig. individual results of their research. But the prices are my respect, sometimes more expensive than a good furniture set. There is a unique material, design, and wages for the craftsmen who embody all this in the product. And most importantly, there is a complete absence of restrictions on markups, because these are luxury goods.

Exclusive samples of benches/benches are not so technologically complex that you cannot make them yourself. However, in this article we will look at how to make a bench with your own hands, content with ordinary carpentry techniques and not even the most complex of them. You will get something like those on the 3-4 rows of Fig. And the acquired skills will be quite enough to later create a unique thing, if only there was material. You may have to learn only the simplest methods of wicker weaving on your own.

What about at home?

The bench, in fact, has never been completely pushed out onto the street. There were, are and will be benches in utility and utility rooms. Now they are gradually returning to living rooms: The increasingly popular studio apartment is essentially the same hut where everyone lived together in one large room. And the shop has proven over the centuries its ability to create a cheerful and benevolent life in housing not for biryuks. And we will further highlight a section about some types of indoor benches.

What to make it from?

The seat and back of the bench are almost always wooden. The metal gets cold, rusts, which is why it requires annual painting, and gradually erodes. Plastic is cheap and requires minimal care, but uncomfortable even in the open air and/or with intensive use random people Doesn't last long. We are talking here about the arrangement of private property, so most of all we are interested in a bench made of wood, as a harmless material that is most pleasant to the eye and touch.

Note: The wooden parts of the benches are impregnated with biocides before assembly. The most affordable one in this case is used motor oil. The entire product is varnished (primed, painted) after a week of drying after impregnation. It is preferable to take water-based acrylic varnish; it somewhat protects the wood from darkening under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.

However, the supports/legs or power frame benches may not be made of wood. For example, profiled metal resists shocks and impacts better and is more durable than wood in contact with the ground, especially concreted metal. Therefore, for benches for public use - street, courtyard - this design is preferable, especially since a simple country bench on a steel base will cost less, at least due to the smaller volume of blanks to be delivered to the assembly site.

Bench and stone

A very good garden bench is made on a stone base. For example, at pos. 1 pic. The flagstone only adds naturalness to the wood and the masonry joints do not detract from it at all. The creators of the one in pos. 2, they simply poured the rubble into wire baskets, which also served as supports for the tray-table. Shop with flower girls at pos. 3 nothing prevents you from relying on mini rock gardens instead. If you also build a pergola over such a bench, you will get a very cozy alcove, pos. 4.

Note: There are also benches with a stone seat, but a suitable slab will be expensive; it requires quite a bit of stone valuable species, very tough, resistant to fracture and chipping.

To rest to your heart's content

At the dacha you want to have a good rest, especially after agricultural work. Therefore, it is highly desirable that the garden bench meets the requirements of industrial ergonomics:

Seat height 400-500 mm.
Seat width 500-550 mm.
Back height 350-500 mm.
Backrest tilt 74-78 degrees.
The profile of the seat (back and seat) is smooth, without a dip under the buttocks.
In the area of the neck and knees, smooth bends of the profile are made back and down, respectively, so that you can throw back your head and tuck your legs without feeling the sharp edge.

Note: The dimensions of the bench are selected within the recommended limits individually according to height and physique.

Drawings of a garden sofa suitable for such conditions are shown in Fig. Its design is quite labor- and material-intensive, but technologically not complex: it does not contain parts whose configuration would require the use of patterns or templates. Its significant drawback is the large waste of expensive timber, 1.3 m from a 6-meter piece, but not enough from a 3-meter piece. Garden bench-sofa on the trail. rice. It’s simpler and doesn’t require a thick beam, but 4 parts need to be cut out along the grid. Which, however, is not scary if you have a jigsaw.

And the children too

It is known how much children love to play on benches, whether it is a noisy group of people rubbing elbows, or a whole doll world of the little mistress. As well as the fact that at the same time they fidget with enthusiasm, crawl, and, not feeling lateral support, flop. There's nothing wrong with that, it's just a child's matter. But there will be less roaring and pouting faces if the children's bench is equipped with low railings. However, it does not need a backrest, so that several shellaputs can approach both from the front and from behind, or sit astride the seat with their legs dangling.

A suitable hybrid of a bench, bench and sofa in this case is shown in Fig. It is better to place this structure near the children's playhouse. However, see what is most convenient for you, this bench is suitable in size for adults, and it is much easier to make than the previous one.

The whole world

A table with benches at the dacha just begs to be next to each other. On an already landscaped plot with overgrown trees, there will be a cozy family seating area: a table with benches. A diagram with the dimensions of one of the designs of a combined country table with benches in one block is shown in Fig. Its design is characterized by ease of assembly and disassembly and the almost complete absence of metal fasteners.

There are only 4 permanent and several technologically complex connections in this product: T-shaped bench-beams in cross-section are assembled on dowels or dowels, depending on what you have manual frezer on wood or not. But for the winter, the entire complex can be easily disassembled, put into a compact bag and put away in the pantry. Material: weather- and pest-resistant wood: pitch pine, larch, oak. On the base panel you will need 24-30 mm plywood, waterproof or twice impregnated with a water-polymer emulsion.

Note: It is advisable to attach square wooden blocks to the lower edges of the base panels using glue and screws. This will additionally protect the plywood from delamination. Gluing the connection is necessary, otherwise, due to capillary locking, the service life of the panels will only decrease.

Combi for two

Fans of a philosophical and romantic tete-a-tete in the lap of nature may like a pair of garden chair-bench with a back and a table. For a volume of favorite poems, of course. The diagram of its device is shown in Fig. on the right, and drawings and assembly diagram in Fig. below. The material everywhere is 30mm board. This product is already designed for quite experienced craftsmen, because patterns are given only for shaped parts (the grid pitch is 10 mm), and other dimensions will have to be restored using the base grid (see appendix); forming a radius of recesses for the backrests in the rear support of 1300 mm.

Metal based

A 40x40x2.5 corrugated pipe with welded ends, thrown directly onto the ground in the Moscow region, rusts right through from below after more than 15 years. And after that, the remaining box can hold the bench no less. There is no need to talk about strength: even Hollywood superheroes cannot cut steel with their hands. True, in the USSR they once made a rather stupid movie in which the late Lev Durov pierced a metal tank with his finger. Tin, for drinking water.

So, everything is OK with the strength and durability of metal benches. Garden benches made from profile pipes can be quite attractive, see fig. But please note: a pleasant appearance is achieved by using parts bent along a radius. To achieve the same aesthetic effect with straight pipes, you will need at least twice as much work and material, as shown below on the right.

To smoothly bend the workpieces, you need a fairly expensive and complex pipe bender. profile pipes. Alternative option– hot bending of a pipe filled with sand. But, firstly, at current prices, you need a forge with a forge: in order to bend the sides of the bench with a propane torch in the tutorials, bottom left in the figure, you need to almost completely burn a 20-liter gas cylinder. Secondly, hot bending is a delicate matter. If you manage to ruin no more than 3 blanks before the part comes out without wrinkles and with the ends in the same plane, you are a born blacksmith.

The next circumstance is that the strength of a bench made of metal profiles is significantly excessive. Therefore, if you make one, the main thing is your own taste and invention. And we give a couple of drawings of benches made of corrugated pipe 40x40x2.5 for purely utilitarian purposes. On the left in Fig. - a large hardware store, and on the right is Scott's shop. Why it is and what to do with it is well known to fans of bodybuilding and fitness.

Is it just a pipe?

The corrugated pipes are drawn from ordinary structural steel, and nowhere does anyone say that any other metal will not work on the bench. For such cases in Fig. several examples of metal benches. Pos. 1 – a shop for secluded and little-visited places. There is no point in stealing it: the “gain” is tiny compared to the fuss of robbery and dismantling, and reclaimed wood is not yet accepted anywhere. Material – steel strip 4-6 mm thick. Its legs won’t be able to withstand wild fun, so this bench is mainly for the cemetery.

Pos. 2 – bench/lounger-wicker for sunny and air baths. There is no pressure anywhere, the body breathes from all sides. The base is made from an old Soviet folding bed, so even a child can rearrange it much more conveniently. Support frame Instead of the now expensive aluminum, it can be assembled from propylene water pipes.

A functionally and aesthetically complete garden bench, pos. 3 is collected on the basis of worn-out parts of agricultural machinery and vehicles. The latter, however, is not necessary: instead of leaf springs, the same steel strip or corner will be used.

About transforming benches

Transformable furniture saves a lot usable area. In a city apartment this advantage can be decisive. Unfortunately, it is the only one: transformable furniture is more complex, more expensive, serves less functionally than conventional furniture and requires additional user operations when converting to another use case.

“Transfurniture” probably came to the garden/dacha only under the influence of fashion. A transforming garden bench is most often either a paired bench or a lounger that can be folded out from a table with benches, see fig. However, it is still more pleasant to bask in the sun on something soft, like the wicker described above. And if the transformer is a double bench, then it’s a garden bench, not a park bench. It is not customary to sit with your back to each other between relatives, friends and acquaintances.

There is one more circumstance: there is many times more dust and climatic influences outside than at home. therefore, if, say, a transforming apartment table, with careful use, will last 7-10 years, then a garden table will last 3-5 years, especially with wooden hinges.

In general, transformable garden furniture is not for everyone. If you want to practice mechanics and kinematics, it’s your choice. But in reality it will be easier and more useful to think through the layout of the site so that everything you need fits there separately.

Benches indoors

A bench as a piece of furniture is absolutely necessary in a bathhouse: they use it to change clothes, take a bath, relax after steaming, drink tea with linden blossom, dried raspberries or blueberries. Very useful, by the way. But grabbing something cold after something cold or eating something strong is a perversion that is fatal to your health.

But for the bench, the bathhouse is not a pleasure, but hard labor: every now and then there is dampness, the temperature can jump from –30 to +60 in 2-3 hours. Therefore, firstly, wood for a bath bench is required to be resistant to rotting, but without resins, tannins, salicylates, aromatic compounds and other natural chemicals. And it should only be treated with biocides made from purified mineral oils or silicone-based. Steamed skin is sensitive to substances that are harmless to it under normal conditions, and when sweat is reabsorbed, unwanted “additives” penetrate the body.

Secondly, in a small bathhouse, where the beds won’t fit, they steam on a bench. What kind of steam is this if there is a squishing under your stomach? Therefore, the bench in the steam room is made in the form of a lounger with gaps or a grid of small slats, see fig. But even in this case, wood is required to be porous, easily absorb moisture and just as easily release it into the air.

Thirdly, there should be no metal parts, which may be accidentally touched. The thermal conductivity of metal is high, which means it gives off heat easily. A piece of wood heated to +80 can be touched without fear, but a piece of iron at +60 (which is normal for a bathhouse) will cause a burn.

The best bath benches are made from Asian poplar tugraq. An almost complete replacement is aspen or black alder. Linden and birch are much worse; they rot easily. Silver poplar, sycamore, horse chestnut or, in the southern regions, ailanthus. All these types of wood in a bathhouse will not become slippery only if the bench dries well, for which purpose there should be no gaps in the structure that can retain moisture for a long time. And it is desirable to have the entire product easily disassembled for maintenance and, if necessary, replacement of unusable parts.

Branded shops do not meet the latter conditions and are expensive, because... made from special types of tropical wood. A homemade bench in a bathhouse no worse than a “company” can be made, at least according to the drawing in Fig. With the thickness of the seat/lounger boards being 50 mm, its length can be increased to 2 m to allow you to steam while lying at your full height. Then the width is needed from 60 cm; it is obtained by adding a board and a pair of its heels with legs. The red arrows show the oak pads of the legs; they greatly increase their resistance to rotting.

Not only for the bath

In addition to the bathhouse, benches, as mentioned at the beginning, are also returning to living quarters. And not only in studio apartments: in country house or in the kitchen, a bench will save a lot of space. Don’t be surprised, a bench under the wall, equivalent to a pair of chairs there, saves about 0.5 square meters. m area. And this is already a small stove or corner fireplace, plus you can sleep on the bench. Of course, the appearance of a home bench should be more elegant, and it is assembled “in a furniture style”, from wood on dowels or from laminated chipboard on confirmations. A technologically simple version of a home bench for two riders is shown in Fig. It will also fit into a city kitchen if there is no room for a soft corner.

Note: in Fig. on the right are options for making the well-known household mini-bench from available scraps. Height – at the knees; seat dimensions - according to your own fifth point.

Anything from

Antique

Here we will talk about benches made from scrap materials. Since the log bench is perhaps its oldest variety, we are looking for logs suitable thickness, from 200 mm. Because independent logging is prohibited by law (although it is practiced in some places) and does not benefit nature; we pay attention primarily to dry fallen trees (easier to process) or unusable trees cut down in the garden. Crooked, knotty - so much the better; visible roughness only gives the log bench more rustic charm, see fig.

Next you need to turn the log into a bench. Here you can find instructions like: “Accurately (carefully) saw the log lengthwise.” Without a sawmill with a centering and feeding mechanism? Advisers of this kind have a clearly vague understanding of wood processing. In fact, it is possible to make a bench from a log at home in 2 ways.

The first produces a large waste of material, so it is only suitable if there is an excess of it, but it is accessible to any amateur, and you can work with a regular cross-cut saw, even a hand-held one. For those who don't know: wood is cut along the grain with special rip saws. So, first we make cuts on the log desired depth more often, pos. 1 in Fig., and break out the pieces with a crowbar (this is by no means just a thief’s tool), a nail puller or a pry bar. They just jump out of dry dead wood, but on damp wood you will have to sweat over the first ones, and remove the others with a chainsaw, it will cut along, pos. 2.

Next, we first remove the remaining chips with an ax and chisel, pos. 3, and then rough out the surfaces with a planer. The product is cleaned using a grinder, pos. 4, or just use sandpaper by hand. In this way, a solid log bench is obtained. It is up to you to debark the sides or leave it as is, and biocidal treatment, staining and varnishing are the same as for any wood outdoors. Slightly rotten dead wood (with dark spots) will first have to be treated with a wood restorer (brightener).

For the second method, you only need a chainsaw, because... she saws both along and across. It requires a steady eye, a steady hand and a strong grip, but the result is a full-fledged bench with a backrest, as in fig. higher, with virtually no waste. Technological process in this case it is elementary, and the bench is completely ready for sitting 2-3 hours after starting the saw, see video:

Video: log bench without nails

Rough, but fast and easy

Summer residents and developers, as a rule, do not immediately think about benches. And they soon realize that it’s in vain: you can’t rest or eat properly on bricks, a box or a random log. If by this time the first pallet from under the brick has been released, then it will fit just right on the bench, which can be built within an hour.

Benches from pallets can also be made in two ways. According to the first, a standard 110x80 cm pallet is cut into 2 unequal parts, on the left in the figure, which will go to the seat and back. Simple and fast, but the side braces and legs, right there, require additional lumber, or you need to remove the board from the seat with the backrest, and an uncomfortable gap forms under what they are sitting on.

The second method requires additional work to disassemble the pallet, see below, but it allows you not to touch the boards prepared for construction and the bench is more convenient, because its back turns out to be inclined. The first cut is made across the top side of the pallet, where there are more boards, pos. 1 in Fig. The next one is across the bottom side (red line in position 2), but on the opposite side of the middle bosses from the top (shown by the red arrow).

Next, the part with 2 rows of bosses is disassembled, as shown in pos. 3. The bosses of the upper shield are inserted into the openings of the rest, pos. 4, for which they will have to be pulled apart with a crowbar or a pry bar (double-sided arrows in the same place), and fastened with nails or self-tapping screws, as shown in pos. 5. Residues visible in pos. 4, will go on legs, pos. 6.

How to disassemble pallets

The pallets are assembled on nails with their heads recessed, and the nails sit in them very firmly, especially those that have rusted in pallets that have been in use for a long time. If you disassemble them as usual, then one or several boards will definitely crack. Therefore, the board to be removed is first carefully lifted a little; It’s more convenient to do this with an axe, because He gives large area supports. Then the same board is put in place and the nails are pulled out by the exposed heads using a nail puller or pliers.

Simple and economical

Construction pallets are made from quality wood, which can subsequently find a variety of applications; at least for building a shed or building a shelving unit. If you are going to disassemble the pallet, then it is advisable to use less wood from it on the bench. Simple bench, which will require barely half the boards of the pallet, and all the bars will remain for best use, shown in Fig. on right. Its backrest is somewhat flatter than ergonomics require, due to the smaller width of the seat; This makes this bench quite comfortable.

A little about technology

Bolted joints are often used in garden furniture. If it is one-piece and not hinged, it is better to hide the heads of the bolts with washers and the nuts with them. The first is for the sake of aesthetics, and the second so as not to get scratched.

To conceal the connection of wooden parts with bolts, in addition to a spiral drill for wood, you will also need a feather drill, on the left in Fig. Use a pen to select holes for the head and nut. After assembly, the remainder of the threaded body of the bolt is cut off with a grinder and the connection is tightened again, because when pruned it weakens. Then the holes are filled with wood putty; You can thickly mix the sawdust with Express glue (liquid nails) or PVA for wood. Not office grade PVA for paper!

As for the hinge joints, steel clips must be inserted into the bolt holes in both parts being connected; their diameter must be taken into account when drilling. Without clips, the bolt will quickly break the wood and the hinge will wobble haphazardly.

Bolt clips can be rolled from sheet metal or galvanized steel. In this case, 2-3 drops of motor oil are added to them twice a year, at the beginning and end of the season. If it does rust and seize, brake fluid will help out, the same 2-3 drops. The rust disintegrates from it and the hinge “releases” almost instantly. After the “brake” it is dripped with oil again.

The manufacture of garden furniture also requires tongue-and-groove connections, on dowels and dowels (through round wooden bosses). In this case, firstly, wooden fastener made from the same wood as the parts being connected. For outdoor use, some strength must be sacrificed in order to ensure that the temperature coefficients of expansion, moisture capacity, swelling and drying of the wood of the entire assembly are the same. Otherwise, the connection will quickly become loose.

Secondly, it is very, very desirable to connect “furniture open sky» do with wedging, see fig. on right. Wedges are cut from solid resistant tree: oak, walnut, boxwood, dogwood. Their thickness is 2-2.5 mm, but not narrower, because... the achievable accuracy of the wood-to-wood connection is plus or minus 1 mm.

An important condition: the wedges must be oriented across the fibers of the attached part, otherwise it may split during landing and subsequently the connection will fall apart. If perpendicular (crosswise) parts are connected, then the wedges in the dowel (dowel) should be oriented at 90 degrees relative to each other. Otherwise, the production of country and garden furniture does not contain anything that would not be subject to ordinary working ingenuity.

Appendix: how to take grid dimensions

Let's look again at the drawing of a paired “romantic-philosophical” bench. How to calculate missing dimensions? First of all, we visually determine the type of oblique projection; in this case it is isometry, so both oblique axes are equal.

Then we take a longer part, for which the linear size is indicated; in this case, it is a drawer with a length of 1350. According to the drawing, using the Pythagorean theorem, we determine its length in fractions of the grid pitch. Relating it to the known linear size, we get the scale factor. If the projection is arbitrary, then you will need to calculate 2 scales based on 2 parts, for each of the oblique axes.

Next, quite painstaking work begins: we determine the missing dimensions from the drawing in fractions of the grid pitch and multiply by the scale. For each pair of parts to be joined, we check the fit, taking into account that the accuracy for wood is 1 mm. If, for example, the tenon turns out to be thicker than the groove associated with it, it’s clear that it won’t fit, you need to look for where the error crept in. If it is already more than 2 mm, this is also not good, it will wobble and the error will begin to accumulate in the calculations. And if the tenon fits into the groove with a gap of 0-2 mm, everything is tip-top, calculated perfectly.

A garden bench is an indispensable attribute of relaxation, necessary in any summer cottage. It can be very simple (consist of one board with supports) or have an unusual shape and design, becoming part of the landscape design and decoration of the yard.

Since the construction does not require special skills, many owners prefer to do them themselves. If you also like to make crafts for your home and are planning to set up a recreation area in your garden or yard, we suggest you familiarize yourself with how to make a bench with your own hands using available materials.

Types of benches

Rest bench

The first criterion by which they differ is the ability to move them from place to place, that is, they are portable or stationary. There are also differences in the design of the benches; on this basis, the following types are distinguished:

Bench without back. This option is easy to implement, although not the most convenient to use.
Bench with a back (folding or regular). This design is classic and is used more often than others. It is especially convenient to have a bench with a folding backrest that can be lowered onto the seat when it rains, thereby keeping it dry.
Circular bench. It is usually arranged in the garden under shady trees. Due to the considerable seat area, circular benches are perfect for big family or a group of friends.
Decorative bench (with flower beds, made of non-standard materials or unusual shape). The best decision to decorate the area - an unusually decorated bench. Another advantage is the ability to use the most various materials(stumps, logs, wheels from old cart and the like).

When deciding on the type of bench, you need to take it into account functional purpose and, in accordance with this, select the structure and its location. For example, it is better to equip a bench for relaxation and privacy with a comfortable backrest and place it inside the garden or in another place with a beautiful view. And near the entrance to the courtyard you can limit yourself to a simple bench without a back; it is ideal for taking a short break from the road or putting the bags you brought on it.

Bench made of pine timber

Pine timber is an excellent material for a bench

Pine is an inexpensive type of wood that is easy to process, which explains its popularity. Let's look at how to make a bench from pine timber, using the example of a design with a back. Our bench will be spacious and will allow several adults to sit on it at the same time. To make it you will need a set of tools, which includes:

electric plane;
axe;
drill;
hacksaw;
screwdriver;
saw;
roulette.

The bench will rest on two connected pieces of timber, which in turn are attached to paw-shaped legs. The beams are filled with ribs that serve as the basis for the seat and back, and the top of this frame is sheathed with sanded boards.

The first step is to saw off two 1.7 m long pieces from the timber for the beams and two more 60 cm pieces for the legs. Next, the beams are placed in the center of the legs and secured with nails and special staples (they can be made independently from wire with a cross-section of 6 mm).

When the support is ready, you should cut off blanks for the ribs, 3-4 pieces for the seat and the same amount for the back will be enough. They need to be given an ergonomic shape using a hacksaw and an ax, then sanded. The ribs of the seat and backrest are connected to each other with 120 mm nails, tightened with staples and nailed to the supports. To extend the life of the wood, it is recommended to coat the frame with acrylic paint.

Finished design

While the frame of the bench dries, we cut bars 2 m long, 10-15 cm wide and 2 cm thick for the seat and back. The blanks will need to be processed with a plane and laid on the frame, secured with self-tapping screws. It is advisable to varnish the surface of the wood or treat it with a water-repellent compound. The resulting bench, despite its considerable weight, can be moved to any comfortable spot plot.

Bench made of oddly shaped driftwood

After uprooting old trees, the question arises - how to dispose of the remaining stumps and snags? It turns out that it is very easy to make a bench with your own hands from such waste. Thus, you will solve several problems at once - clear the yard of debris and get original garden furniture without spending practically anything except free time.

Bench made of driftwood

Driftwood is ideal for creating benches with a backrest. All you need to do is pick up the curved branches the right size and diameter (at least 15 cm), clean them of bark and excess knots, and then sand them. The resulting blanks are connected into a single whole using nails or self-tapping screws. Then the structure needs to be treated with an antiseptic, varnished, and the unusual bench is ready.

Carved bench with armrests

Carved garden furniture emphasizes the good taste of the owners and creates a special atmosphere of comfort. Such benches are classic and will always look appropriate, both on the veranda and in the garden. Below we will tell you how to make a carved bench with your own hands.

The bench model in question is portable design, which features a comfortable backrest and armrests. Its sides will be decorated with figured slots, the back and seat can also be covered with carved patterns.

Drawing of a shop with dimensions

To make a bench you will need to prepare the following materials and tools:

boards;
PVA glue;
paint or yacht varnish;
screws;
milling machine;
drill and jigsaw;
screwdriver;
lathe.

All the details of the bench are first made of cardboard, and then, based on the templates, they are cut out of wood. Let's start with the sides. For them, you need to make 2 identical parts, designed to fasten the seat and backrest, in which holes are drilled in the center using the cutting thread method, forming a trefoil. The sides of the parts are decorated with semicircular recesses, and their bottom is decorated with a pattern that partially repeats the trefoil. All patterns are cut out with a jigsaw.

The supports that give the structure stability are made of timber at least 4 cm thick. The material should be processed with a milling machine and then sanded, moving precisely in the direction of the wood grain. The edges of the supports and sidewalls should also be milled.

For the seat and back, a thinner board is suitable (allowable thickness - from 2.5 cm, width - 18-20 cm). The optimal length of the bench for this design is approximately 1.2 m; accordingly, the boards should be the same length.

Design option for a carved bench

To assemble the bench you will need a leg, as well as armrests and stands for them. Fastening of the listed parts of the bench is carried out using bosses located at the ends of the parts (protrusions with a diameter of 2.5 cm), by aligning them with recesses on opposite fragments.

Now all that remains is to connect all the parts, gluing them with PVA and securing them with screws. Having assembled the bench, the surface is sanded with sandpaper and covered with two layers of varnish or painted.

Stationary bench made of gabions

A gabion bench is a reservoir made of metal mesh, filled with stones and equipped with a seat. You rarely see such structures in our area, but in Europe they are already quite popular and decorate the landscapes of many areas and squares. The unusual appearance is not the only advantage of gabions; they are also easy to implement and very inexpensive. We invite you to familiarize yourself with information on how to make a bench from gabions.

Gabions as a base for a garden bench

The filling for the gabion is usually stone - sandstone, diabase, limestone and other similar types. You need to choose a specific filler depending on the desired decorative properties, for example, limestone will make a light bench, diabase will add dark gray shades, and sandstone will make it brighter (red, green, yellow). If there is no need to save money, then it is better to choose stones that have already been hewn, since they are easier to lay than unprocessed ones.

The lattice box that will hold the stones should be purchased ready-made. Typically, for such benches, a mesh made of durable galvanized steel is used, and its individual fragments are connected to each other with special spirals (included in the kit).

The assembly sequence is as follows:

The parts of the box are laid out on the ground in the selected location.
The sides are connected to the bottom with spirals. This process is simple and does not require the use of additional tools.
The side parts are fastened together. For convenience, you can first lightly screw them with wire.
Stones or other decorative material are placed inside the resulting box.
The lid is secured to the structure with spirals.

Box assembly

To prevent the bench from sagging, it is advisable to strengthen the sidewalls with additional jumpers attached to hooks or install a diaphragm inside. You can screw boards to the finished box or simply put a soft seat on top.

A simple bench made of unplaned boards

If the designs described above seem too complicated or such materials are not available, then you may be interested in how to make a bench with your own hands from an unplaned board. The model is very simple, but at the same time comfortable - a portable bench with a backrest.

The boards should be processed with a plane

The main material is unplaned boards, which should be pre-treated with an electric planer. Bench sizes may vary, but optimal height for her - 90 cm. Manufacturing begins with cutting out the rear legs. To do this, draw on a blank of suitable size curly leg benches and cut it out with a jigsaw. Then we trace the first leg on the next piece of board and cut out the second part.

The back and front legs are connected by a rectangular piece of board, the length of which is equal to the width of the bench seat. To securely fasten them, you will need to cut grooves in the parts of the legs. We proceed as follows - we cut through several parallel, closely spaced grooves, remove all excess with a chisel, so that grooves are formed. We place a rectangular fragment of the board in them and fix it with self-tapping screws.

We have two sidewalls that need to be connected by transverse strips (front and back), also mounted on self-tapping screws. Now all that remains is to mount the seats and backrests onto the frame. The structure is almost ready, but before use it is recommended to varnish it, otherwise after 1-2 seasons the bench may begin to deteriorate.

Even a simple homemade bench can brighten up your yard.

Of course, novice craftsmen will hardly be able to do all the work perfectly at once. But don’t be upset if your bench doesn’t turn out as beautiful as in the picture. The main thing is that the design is reliable, and small flaws can always be hidden original design. Don’t be afraid to experiment and create something new, because making a bench with your own hands means adding a special flavor and comfort to your yard that the same type of factory products cannot provide.