I started off by drawing and re-drawing curves on to a sheet of thin plywood. When I was happy with the shape I wanted I cut it out with my jigsaw. This was then sanded and refined to give a smooth edge. I then cut two leg blanks out of a piece of thick Meranti I had and transferred the design to one of them. I flipped the template on the leg to give both sides. The Meranti is 30mm thick, 30 cm wide and each leg piece is 67cm tall. The jigsaw was used to cut the curves as close as possible to the line. I then spent time with the oscillating spindle sander and hand sanding at 60, 80 and 120 grits to refine the curves and smooth it all out.
Meranti is like the MDF of the hardwood world. It is easy to work, sands smooth and paints lovely. However it likes to chip quite easily especially with a router near the edges of pieces. It is one of the softer 'hardwoods' but it is cheap for large amounts.
When I had a shape I was happy with I stuck the cut leg to the blank using masking tape on each and super glue in between. This gives a solid connection and allows you to use a flush trim/template/pattern router bit to cut the second one without them coming apart. However, while routing I didn't realise at one point the bearing had fallen off the router bit so it was cutting into the blank. This left me having to refine the second leg into a new shape, so both parts are slightly different. (Before routing it is best to cut close to the shape you want with the jigsaw so that there is less work for the router to do)
Once I sanded the curves and refined the shapes I added a 1/2" roundover to both sides of each leg. I then spent some time sanding the surfaces and edges by random orbital sander and hand at various grits to get them smooth for painting.
I will need to make the stretcher pieces tomorrow and assemble it. Then paint it white and attach the bench top, which will also receive some paint. It is probably hard to picture how these strange shapes will come together to form a bench but the idea is in my head... I think!
So why the strange shapes? Well I saw a window at Casa Battlo that was a series of strange curved shapes. I took isnpiration from this and did the best within the limitations of it having to be a strong, functional bench. Gaudi liked nature as his inspiration and I think with the roundovers it could almost be tree-like.
I would recommend a bandsaw for this type of work but mine broke a few years ago. A jigsaw can work but you have to be careful not to let the blade deflect while moving it through the wood as it will lead to an edge that isn't straight. Also an oscillating spindle sander is the fastest way to smooth and refine curves and remove blade marks from the edge. You can sand by hand or use a rasp but it is so much easier to pick one up for doing curved work. A router and track saw and very handy tools to have. You don't need the best or most expensive. My tracksaw and jigsaw are a hardware store's own brand and do the job cheaply.
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