Three log bench - PEP BB roundwood.sand.bench

Michael Cox wrote:Some nice benches here. I'm not sure what timbers people have been using, but I have had a lot of success splitting trunks down their length using multiple wedges and a sledge hammer. In our woods the chestnut and oak splits beautifully. I made a pair of benches, but not following the BB guidelines, so will come back to that later. I have also been freehand chainsawing logs down their length, making crude boards and half logs - they would be perfect for this.

I see that the BB requires 7ft, and that various people have commented on that length. For the spot where I need to build benches - around our base camp fire in the woods - 7ft is way too long. I'd be building two 5ft if I wasn't considering it as evidence for the BB. And a 7ft half round is bloody heavy.

We have mostly pine and Doug fir here, neither of which split very well. Wish we had some nice chestnut and oak up here!

Lon Anders wrote:Nicole here is a pretty straight forward video.

Find center, measure out off it on both sides, snap a chalk line and then start hacking.

Our forefathers done it this way for a long time.

Where do you get a nice set of log dogs like he's using? Those are so nice and simple. It's elegant in it's simplicity.

Nicole Alderman wrote:I'd love tutorials on how to do this without injury...

You can pick up a cheap set of "forearm forklifts" at Lowe's or UHaul. They allow you to brace the heavy object against your palms and lift with your shoulders and legs rather than lifting with your grip which can cause you to stoop and hurt the back.

Alternatively, you could drill a hole through a longer log and pass a chain through the hole and drag it with a team of people pulling, possibly even putting it on rollers of smaller logs and having a few folks grab rollers from behind and place them in front as you go. Either way would be gentler on the back than Strongmanning it!

D.W. Stratton wrote:Where do you get a nice set of log dogs like he's using? Those are so nice and simple. It's elegant in it's simplicity.

I think to get a nice set requires spending some money or getting into blacksmithing.  To get something that works you could take some rebar and do some rough smithing on it to make the bends and pointy parts.

A three log bench! I started with a downed tree that had fallen across the trail

Here is my would-be submission for the Roundwood Woodworking - Sand - Three Log Bench BB.

My 3-log bench:
  - Saddle notches to join the seat and base logs (saddles are on the base logs)
  - 7'-9" overall length for the bench
  - 17" height to the seat top
  - freehand chainsaw cut top then hewn with Framing Slick - a 2-inch wide chisel
  - peeled logs - from the 14-inch DBH tree I felled, limbed, and peeled last fall

To document the completion of the BB, I have provided:
  - your three log chunks that you are starting with
  - your three log chunks shaped
  - final product showing length and height

Here’s my 3 log bench. Came out to about 17” high and 7’4” long. Cut the log with a chainsaw, hewed it with an adze, then hand planed it smooth.

Minimum requirements:

 - Saddle notches to join the seat and base logs (saddles can be on the base logs or the seat log)
 - 7' minimum overall length for the bench
 - 16-18" height to the seat top
 - hewn top
 - peeled logs

To get certified for this BB, post three pics.  

 - Your three log chunks that you are starting with
 - your three log chunks shaped
 - final product showing length and height

Clarifications:
- Chainsaws are allowed for this BB but the finished sitting surface must be smoothed/hewn with a hand tool  

I thought this one was going to be impossible . . . How was I going to get a seven foot log from the woods to my house on a bike . . . I’m not sure it would even fit in the car if I asked my wife to drive. Then it dawned on me . . . I’ll make it in the woods on the edge of the trail I look after. I knew there would be plenty of material as I’ve cleared dozens of fallen trees over the past two years.

1) Found an excellent candidate. It had already had a split in it and the bark had rotted off. I cut through next to a tree where the log was slightly raised of the ground and cantilevered. The wood was good. I used the measuring tool on my phone and cut of a section slightly longer than seven feet / 213 cm.



2) Make a mallet and a couple of gluts from a nearby fallen tree





3) Use the gluts and mallet to split the log





4) Saw another piece of the end of the fallen tree and then saw in half to make two legs



5) Use bow saw to make a series of cuts for the saddles.





Saddle One


Saddle Two


6) Make the surface clean and flat, removing the rotten wood from the original crack




7) Chamfer the edges



8) Bench finished and tested




9) The tools I used - no chainsaw!



10) Bench is a about 17 inches high - my hand axe is 16 inches long and there’s a chamfer.



11) Bench is slightly longer than 226 cm / 7ft 5 inches as measured with my phone’s measuring app.

I made a bench near our fire pit.

I dropped the tree and cut the log length with a chainsaw but did the rest with hand tools.

So...should I take one of the seat pieces off and take a picture of it like that? Because the bench works fine that way too. I can't imagine how having done *more* than the BB requires should be disqualifying.