I saw a post some time ago from brookifer86 for a wedding guest bench...I knew I would build one someday. First I'd like to thank Ana for her plans Fancy X Farmhouse Bench, and Whitney at Shanty 2 Chic for the wonderful instructions/pictures for this build. I would also like to thank Brooke at Killer B Design (brookifer86) for the mods to this plan.
This bench had to be able to break into the top and legs as it had to go from Texas to California. That is why I used Whitney's idea for pocket holes to attach the top to the legs. I used 2" screws. Brooke shortened the table with just two legs, and used a project panel for a smoother top for writing. I did, too. She also added a 1" x 2 " board around the edge of the 3/4" panel to beef it up. I used this idea and mitered the corners of the board and filled in the space between the board and the panel to make it very smooth. I sand a lot, and I painted three coats, so this took several days for me to complete.
For signing the top, I purchased fine-tipped oil paint pens. I learned from other brag posts that permanent-type "Sharpie" pens would smear when a finish was applied later. Also, you should use spray poly-acrylic finish to avoid yellowing the white paint.
My dear friend's daughter was thrilled with her surprise, and the guest bench was a hit at the reception. Thanks to all the brag posters - I studied every single one.
