How to build a Modern Farmhouse Bench

It is a busy time of year for everyone I am sure. Between trips to the pool, pop-up BBQ’s, and simply squeezing every once of sunshine out of the day. It is very easy to give into the hustle and bustle and quickly look past the basics.

We have been doing a lot of projects all around the farm. From repairs to the barn, pasture fencing, an even adding a few extra touches to the garden. When it was tip toeing above 100 we found more ways to keep us busy, like chipping away at our master bedroom refresh. Throughout the projects, I started realizing my cuts were off just a little bit. I thought initially I was just being too quick with my cuts, and rushing my work. Then I noticed that there was a little consistency with them being off, and it was coming from my miter saw. While I had it dialed into (what I thought was) 0 degrees, I used a little digital angle finder to confirm. and sure enough it was off by about 4 degrees. All my cuts were canted by four degrees, something that sounds like minuscule but when looking for the perfect 90 degree or perpendicular cut, it can quickly turn into a costly misalignment. It makes sense, I have had this saw going on 4 years now, with the same blade and tossed around from in and out of the workshop, slung in the back of the trailer to a few job sites.

I recently added this little digital angle finder to my collection, and absolutely love it. I was using a basic pocket one for the longest time, and found it to be a little bit difficult to practically use on furniture or in time spaces.

Once I realigned my saw with the miter gauge, I wanted to verify it with build.

I built another little modern farmhouse bench. This build is very simple, and the little kick-out styled legs are a great way to test that the miter saw is dialed in. Here is how it turned out.

When I say simple, this is the simplest.

First, we cut the legs at 100 degrees (or 10 degrees depending on your miter gauge). Since I was having issues with my alignment, I set the digital angel finder on the miter fence, draw the blade all the way down, and check my degree (it was perfectly 100 degrees). The length of the leg is 16 7/8″

Once the legs are cut, cut the little connector piece that ties one leg to another. The connector piece is 7 3/8″ along the little edge. Glue the connector to the legs and allow to fully cure.

As that cures, plane the two top boards to ensure they have a clean edge to join. You could use a router as well to create a tongue and groove, however I wanted to stay super simple and just trimmed it down on the table saw. I used true 1 inch maple, so its a very hard wood that doesn’t bow easily. 

Once the legs are dried, drill four holes from the bottom of the connector piece. Four screws with washers will be installed from underneath to hide the any screw holes from outside the piece.  Apply some glue to the top boards and legs, and install them to the to underside of the two top boards, leaving an 1 1/2 inch overhang from each face.

 

And I carried over my favorite paint color these days, Lichen by Fusion Mineral Paint (link). We used this paint color in our master bedroom refresh, on all the interior doors and absolutely love the tone of green that comes out. And that is it! Super easy –super quick. Let us know what you think, find us on Instagram and Facebook. Happy Friday and as always–Give Grace!