Early Access Video: Furniture Forensics with the CT Bench
Added 2023-05-06 11:00:01 +0000 UTCFriends:
A few weeks ago, I found myself back home in CT attending to a medical situation. I had a bit of downtime and got to poking around in the old carpenter's shop. There I found a pair of fascinating old benches. They were somewhat in the style of the iconic "5 Board Bench" but also...not. These benches had a lot of distinctive details and a regional style that I had never seen before, despite growing up in the area.
(Did I not remember these benches from my childhood? Nope. Just thought they were old junk.)
But under the bright light of day, this bench revealed dozens of intriguing details. Of course, I captured everything on film and the analysis won't disappoint.
Furniture Forensics returns!
--Rex
Comments
Yeah. Most of the manufacturing got outsourced, or in my father's case (he was a master gunsmith), just closed. It's a shame because CT has (had?) great technical high schools.
Michael Bennett
2023-05-09 16:47:14 +0000 UTCTry using a magnetic stud finder.
Richard C von Brecht
2023-05-09 15:45:51 +0000 UTCOn the upside, there might be a nice antique store to check out. That's what I do.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:53:42 +0000 UTCCT is a beautiful but complex place. A wonderful area to grow up, but sadly lacking in opportunities today. I'm glad to be from there, but I can't see ever living there again.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:52:22 +0000 UTCI think I'll do both of those things. As to the number of nails, the paint is THICK, so it's hard to say. I won't skimp, that's for sure!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:50:30 +0000 UTCYou're very welcome!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:49:33 +0000 UTCYou're so welcome!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:49:14 +0000 UTCThank you!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:49:00 +0000 UTCI'm glad it's consistent. I only do pieces that kind of come my way by accident, so it's not easy to make it good every time.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:48:48 +0000 UTCI'm delighted that you liked it. Thank you!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:46:48 +0000 UTCThey're really fine for that use! Perfect, in fact.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:45:55 +0000 UTCI have an engineer buddy who I'm going to see tonight. I'm going to ask him for an opinion. It's a real mystery.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:45:24 +0000 UTCYou're so welcome. Thanks for watching!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:44:17 +0000 UTCI've begun, but I need to piece those wide boards together from narrow stuff. It's a process.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:43:09 +0000 UTCWell, you know, "film" in the metaphorical sense. You're right. It's funny to say. Painted furniture is great, but it can be harder to analyze.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:42:28 +0000 UTCYeah, I've never used them except for light-duty stuff. The build will be an adventure.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:40:10 +0000 UTCI think I will blunt the nails. No reason not to. Regarding the hole at the apex of the triangle, I just don't know. I see just as many benches and stools with boot-jack ends and no holes and they seem to hold up fine. It could be structural or it could just be for looks. It's a mystery.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:37:02 +0000 UTCYou know, that's a very good point. I've read that many places, but I wasn't thinking about it. Thanks!
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:34:20 +0000 UTCthe carpenters shop has bins and bins of finish nails, so they got a lot of use over the years. It's not what I expected to see.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:25:20 +0000 UTCI bet that's a fine bench. The 5 board style is just classic. Never gets old.m
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:23:58 +0000 UTCIt's very tempting to ignore evidence that shows your ignorance....but that wouldn't be honest.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:23:00 +0000 UTCI look forward to seeing that! I think a simple bench like this could be a fine sawbench.
Rex Krueger
2023-05-09 13:22:13 +0000 UTCI happen to be helping family in CT right now, attending to someone else's medical issue. Unfortunately, there's no interesting woodworking pieces here that I'd do a furniture forensics on; it's mostly my parents' machine-made industrial reproductions of colonial furniture.
Andrew Watt
2023-05-07 19:36:10 +0000 UTCYou can also flatten the length of the nail to give them even more gripping power. With the predominance of screws nowadays, the extra work to do this isn't worth the time.
Michael Bennett
2023-05-07 04:00:36 +0000 UTCEvery time you make a video from CT, it makes me want to go back to see my old stomping grounds as a kid. Then I remember how poorly Northern CT faired in past recessions. Still, I've got family I haven't seen in 30+ years
Michael Bennett
2023-05-07 03:47:25 +0000 UTCDulling the nail tip is a good idea. Hammering at a slight diagonal helps with holding but it also lessens the tendency to split the ends. How many nails did they use? As it has been said many times “quantity has a quality of its own”
Richard C von Brecht
2023-05-07 00:08:57 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed this video. Thanks.
Patricia Robbert
2023-05-07 00:00:17 +0000 UTCGreat forensics; I really like this series. Thanks
Laura Reutter
2023-05-06 20:11:46 +0000 UTCNice one, Rex! Simply love this series!
Helge
2023-05-06 19:50:17 +0000 UTCThe Furniture Forensics series always deliveries.
Alex R
2023-05-06 19:23:16 +0000 UTCEnjoyed the video. Looking forward to the next installment.
Blake Webber
2023-05-06 19:07:55 +0000 UTCNeat. I may need to put one together too. Need some benches for the fire pit.
Bradley Barth
2023-05-06 17:28:19 +0000 UTCDitto on the reason for the auger hole on the legs. Cracks in cast metal can be stopped by drilling a hole at the end of the crack prior to welding or brazing. Thanks for the video.
Edward Conway
2023-05-06 17:18:18 +0000 UTCNice bench. Love the Furniture Forensics videos. More Rex. Thank you and have a great weekend.
Matt Evans-Koch
2023-05-06 16:51:55 +0000 UTCThat’s awesome, and I’m sure it’ll make a brill build. I look forward to seeing how you get on with it down the line :)
Jim
2023-05-06 14:54:19 +0000 UTC"captured everything on film"??? Made me chuckle. Is your film camera wind-up or hand crank? Furniture Forensics are Great, keep them coming. I just looked at a little bench I think my father-in-law built 70 years ago (I'll be checking on that) and it is a 5 board with a shelf. There is so much paint drippings on it details will be hard to see.
DALE PATTON
2023-05-06 14:26:20 +0000 UTCFinally a project for all those finishing nails I bought to install baseboards in our house years ago. Or maybe I should put those baseboards in. Naaaah! Thanks for another interesting video.
John Hiemstra
2023-05-06 14:06:17 +0000 UTCNive video! Two things, I usually blunted the tips on wire nails that were going to be under stress or hammered through hard materials...seems counterintuitive, but the blunt tip punches a hole rather than splitting the fibers apart and the piece is then less likely to split. And second, the 3/4 inch holes at the end of the V cut in the legs might also be there to resist splitting. You'll see the same feature on a luthier's cam clamp, a sawn kerf to let the jaw flex under the force of the cam lever and a drilled hole at the end of the kerf to keep the jaw from splitting along the kerf line;)
John Griswold
2023-05-06 14:04:08 +0000 UTCWhen you make your replica consider avoiding driving the nails at90°. If the nails aren't parallel to each other it will increase the holding power.
Fred Gosbee
2023-05-06 13:34:08 +0000 UTCGreat video Rex, I really enjoy your view and honesty. In high school we used glue and screws, dowels and glue or finishing nails with and without glue. Finishing nails were the go to fastener for us. That was in the 70s.
Skully Wood and Metal
2023-05-06 12:30:32 +0000 UTCI love Furniture Forensics! Coincidentally, just a couple of weeks ago a friend and I built a 5 board bench. Being belt and braces guys (engineers) we put in diagonal braces, and making do with available materials we used deck screws to fasten everything together.
Brian Taylor
2023-05-06 12:20:07 +0000 UTCTwo things: 1) Great video. 2) you would make a terrible politician if you can’t be shown contradicting evidence and just ignore it lol.
James Crandall
2023-05-06 11:51:07 +0000 UTCGreat video. Very recently while sorting our way through my mother-in-laws estate in Pittsburgh we came across no less than six benches of various lengths that were built by my wife’s grandfather (an immigrant from Slovakia), painted exactly like the bench in your video. I love them and my wife claimed one for us to bring home for use in my shop. I’m considering using it for general purposes and as a saw bench. It was a little wobbly so I added an additional brace underneath the seat to stiffen it. I will be returning to the estate in a month or so and I will photograph one of the benches and send them to you. I will also attempt a little furniture forensics on it myself and you can tell me if I am somewhere in the ballpark with my observations. Again, great job on the video.
Michael Gross
2023-05-06 11:31:13 +0000 UTC
