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A do-it-yourself bench made of a log can be assembled "hastily" in the form of a simple bench or a full-fledged design with a back for a comfortable stay. The structure is assembled from a simple and calibrated log, round timber scraps, boards, timber are used.
Pros and cons of log benches
The popularity of benches made from natural material is explained by the numerous advantages:
- It will not be difficult for any summer resident to put together an ordinary shop with your own hands. The material will be the trunk of a cut dry tree. If stumps are located nearby in the garden, they will act as supports for the seat.
- The log bench looks aesthetically pleasing. Natural material fits into the thickets of the garden, combined with any type of architectural ensemble.
- The practicality of using the bench is due to the properties of wood. Logs do not freeze in cold weather and do not heat up in the heat. The bench provides comfortable sitting on it all year round.
- Logs are a natural material, which confirms the environmental friendliness of the bench assembled from them with your own hands.
- The use of round timber of an unusual shape allows you to create beautiful benches. They practically do not require maintenance, they will stand on the street for many years.
As for the disadvantages, the wood itself is subject to destruction from moisture, temperature extremes. The bench will have to be regularly treated with an antiseptic with your own hands, opened with linseed oil or varnish in order to extend the service life and maintain an aesthetic appearance. Despite the attractiveness, the construction of logs will look ridiculous in a courtyard decorated in a modern style.
Types of log benches
In general terms, garden benches can be divided into two groups: with a back and without a back. By design, it is difficult to list all the varieties. Craftsmen come up with different designs. Sometimes round timber is combined with other materials: boards, timber, concrete, stone. More often, log benches for summer cottages are found in the following versions:
- A classic bench without a back is a long seat made of a log sawn alongside. The support is two stumps, large stones, cinder blocks or pieces of round timber. It will take 1-2 hours to make such a structure with your own hands. The bench is not designed for long-term sitting, since the absence of a backrest and armrests affects back fatigue. The structure is installed in the garden for a short break.
- The classic bench with a backrest provides the comfort of a long rest. The seat is similarly made with your own hands from a log loose along it. For the backrest, a board or the second part that remains after sawing round timber is suitable. Supports are made from scraps of logs. Thin rounds are attached to them, protruding as supports for the back.
Advice! Benches with backs are often equipped with armrests for relaxation. - Fixed benches with a table are considered a special type of garden furniture. The structure is a non-separable structure.A tabletop and two seats are fixed on common supports. The furniture is placed in the garden under a tall tree. In the shade at the table you can have fun with board games, drink tea, read a book.
- If you have the skill of working with a chainsaw, the original bench is cut out with your own hands from a thick log. No legs are required here. For round timber, choose a quarter of the diameter along the workpiece. To sit comfortably on such a bench, you will need to find the trunk of a very large tree with a minimum thickness of 70-80 cm.
- The circular bench is suitable for installation around the thick trunk of a growing tree. Here you can install supports from logs with your own hands. The seats and backs are best made from a board. The bench takes up little space, and many people can be seated on it in a circle.
- A set of garden furniture consists of separate items. The table is an obligatory attribute. A bench with a back is placed next to it. You can cut down single chairs from the stumps with your own hands. The base of the table is a piece of a thick tree trunk or a wide stump. The table top is hammered out of the boards.
Regardless of the design of the benches made of logs, they can still be divided into two groups: stationary and portable. In the first version, the supports of the garden furniture are dug into the ground or the structure is so heavy that it cannot be moved by hand. In the second version, the legs of the bench are not buried in the ground. The furniture is lightweight, if necessary, it is transferred to the desired place.
What is needed to make a garden bench from a log
Before you start making garden furniture with your own hands, you need to draw up a drawing, decide on the style, and think over the design of the future design. Most summer residents refuse to develop a project, considering the construction to be simple. For such a case, you need to at least see what a do-it-yourself log bench looks like in the photo in order to understand what to strive for.
The type of bench is determined depending on its location and purpose. If you intend to arrange a place for a short-term rest in the garden with your own hands, a simple bench or bench with a back is suitable here. Massive structures are usually placed in the yard. It is advisable to place a set of furniture with a table under a canopy or crown of a tall tree, in a gazebo.
The main building material is logs. Round timber is chosen in thickness only after they have decided on the type of bench. It is advisable to refuse coniferous logs. They give off a gum that is difficult to remove from clothing.
Additionally, from the materials you may need boards, pieces of timber, screws, nails. You definitely need an antiseptic, varnish or drying oil for painting.
From the tool, first of all, you need a chainsaw or an electric saw. Without it, cutting and dissolving round timber will not work. Additionally, you will need a sharp hatchet, grinder, hammer, chisels (if you intend to cut out patterns).
More information on making benches can be found in the video:
Drawings of benches from logs
Sizes of benches made of logs
The owner calculates the dimensions of garden furniture individually at his own discretion. The length of the bench is not limited. The number of seats depends on this parameter. However, it is unreasonable to make benches longer than 2-2.5 m. It is better to build several benches with your own hands, but of a shorter length.
To make the bench in the garden made of a log comfortable, the seat width is made 50 cm. The comfortable backrest height varies between 40-50 cm, and it is better to do it yourself at a slight slope. It is important to correctly calculate the height of the legs. If the seat is raised too high above the ground or set too low, the legs will quickly get tired and numb. The optimal height of the legs is within 50 cm.
How to make a bench from logs with your own hands
The manufacturing technology of the bench depends on its type.In general terms, the actions are identical, but there are nuances.
Beautiful bench made of logs
Nice garden furniture is usually made to decorate the yard. Here, it is optimal to combine different materials. A proven option is a bench made of logs and boards, or even better, add a bar to the structure. Round timber must be cleaned of bark, dried well, and polished.
Only supports are made of logs by a beautiful bench with their own hands. Each rack consists of two rounds stacked on top of each other. The supports are connected to each other with a long thick bar. For this, grooves are cut out with a chainsaw in the body of the logs under the jumper.
The backrests are similarly placed from a bar. The seat is one wide or two narrow boards. The back of a beautiful bench is carved. They draw patterns on the boards, cut them out with a jigsaw. You can make a separate carved frame for the back and fix it above the last board.
Log bench with back
To build a "haste" bench, and even with a back, it will turn out from three long logs and two round timber 50-60 cm long. From the tool you will need a chainsaw and an ax.
One long thick log is dismissed lengthwise into two halves. These will be blanks for the seat and back. Two other long, but smaller diameter rounds are buried in the ground under a slope. These will be the backrests. In order for them to stand securely, horizontally laid short chocks are attached to the supports at the base of the earth, cutting out recesses with an ax before that. One half of the sawn log is placed on top of the round timber. In order for the seat to lie down securely, recesses are also cut out on chocks under it with an ax. In a similar way, the second half of the sawn log is attached to the back uprights. The finished bench is opened with linseed oil.
Chopped log bench
Using the log house method, they make chopped garden furniture with their own hands. Here you will need to work a lot with an ax and a chainsaw. Of the materials, only thick rounds of different lengths are used. This version of garden furniture rarely provides for the manufacture of a bench from logs in a single design. The chopped design looks beautiful in a single design of benches with a table.
For the seats and tabletops, you will need 5-6 halves, loose along the logs. The work is easier to do on a sawmill, but if you do not have one, you will have to use a chainsaw. The basis of the composition is two common racks of thick round timber horizontally laid with their own hands. Depressions are made along the edges with an ax, the seats are laid.
To raise the tabletop, scraps of logs are placed in the center on the supports. The length of the round timber should correspond to the width of the future countertop. Depressions are similarly chosen on logs with an ax. The remaining halves of the logs are stacked. The finished tabletop is processed with a plane, a grinder, so that a flat plane is obtained.
The video shows chopped furniture:
Log bench table
It is more comfortable to sit at the table if benches with backs are installed instead of benches. The composition is similarly more convenient to produce with a single structure. If you choose only round timber as a material, then the assembly is carried out according to the method of making chopped furniture.
To simplify the task, some elements can be replaced with a bar. For example, install uprights for the back of the benches. If you still want it easier, then the logs are used only for the basis of the entire composition. The table top, seats and backs of the benches are assembled from the board. However, furniture looks prettier if it is completely made of round timber.
Calibrated log bench
A feature of the design is the use of logs processed on a lathe for its manufacture. The workpieces are distinguished by a perfectly flat surface without protrusions, bends. Such materials remain after the construction of a bathhouse or a country house.
In reality and in the photo, the benches made of rounded logs look like a neat design. The assembly is carried out by the method of manufacturing chopped furniture. A calibrated log goes well with a bar. It is convenient to use it for a longitudinal lintel between supports, as well as backrest pillars.
Bench from log scraps
If pieces of logs 50-100 cm long are lying around in the country, they can also be used when constructing a bench. When using such round timber, you get a comfortable bench that resembles a sofa. From four logs laid horizontally, two supports are made. A piece of board is laid on top, which will play the role of a seat. The back of the sofa is equipped with hardly vertically installed logs. If you fix the round timber on the edges of the seat, you get excellent armrests.
Bench made of birch logs
An original chair that resembles a chaise longue will be made from scraps of birch logs. You will need 15 to 50 pieces of the same length. The amount depends on the size of the bench and the diameter of the logs. It is optimal to choose round timber 15-20 cm thick. The base of the chair is a thick metal plate. It is given a curve that forms the seat and back.
Birch logs are laid out on a metal frame. Places of attachment are marked on the plate, holes are drilled.
Each log is screwed on with self-tapping screws. White birch bark gives the bench aesthetics. If it is even without bumps, it can be preserved by soaking it with an antiseptic. Additionally, the chair is treated with linseed oil or transparent varnish.
Bench made of logs and boards
The simplest version of a bench without a single nail can be assembled with your own hands from two round timber and a wide board. From the tool you need a chainsaw, a hammer and a chisel. First, saw off two thick round timber 70-80 cm long, set them vertically. At a height of 50 cm from ground level, mark the place of the inset of the board for the seat. The recesses are cut out with a chainsaw, the grooves are corrected with a chisel. Now it remains to insert the board, and the shop is ready.
Half-log bench
If there is a log sawn along the length of the construction site in the yard, the production of the bench will take 20-30 minutes. For supports with a chainsaw, saw off two rounds with a length equal to the width of the half-log. Depressions are selected with an ax in the blanks. The round timber is laid on the ground with the grooves up, and the seat is installed. Fixing with nails or self-tapping screws is optional. The grooves on the supports need to be more accurately adjusted to the semicircular side of the half-log, and it will be securely fixed under its own weight.
Round log bench decoration
Each wood species has its own beautiful texture and must be preserved. It is undesirable to paint log benches with enamels. When decorating, it is optimal to use transparent and colored varnishes, stain, drying oil. The beauty of wood before painting is given mechanically. On a bench from a log with a chainsaw, you can make original patterns, lightly walking with a chain to apply small dents. Wood that has been burnt with a blowtorch or gas torch looks beautiful. Threaded patterns are cut out with a jigsaw, chisels with different blade widths are used.
In order for garden furniture to retain its presentable appearance longer, it is advisable to open it with varnish in spring and autumn. For the winter, portable benches are brought into the barn, and stationary structures are covered with foil.
Conclusion
A do-it-yourself bench made of a log is easy to get if you use soft woods. However, such wood disappears faster from precipitation and sun. If the furniture will stand in the open air all year round, it is better to make an effort in processing oak, beech or other hard species.
