[Tutorial] How to build a timber bonsai bench

[mworley1991]

Stupid question but I've no idea about carpentry but considering doing this but at about half the width as I have a small garden, could I half the width measurements and it would be okay, furthermore I would want to create the canopy, what length beams would I need to create this and also what dimensions for the canopy beams themselves?

[greg27]

Stupid question but I've no idea about carpentry but considering doing this but at about half the width as I have a small garden, could I half the width measurements and it would be okay

You'd be fine to halve it, just leave out the centre legs (so you end up with 6 legs instead of 9) and reduce the width. I found it really helpful to do up my plans in SketchUp - this helped make me very familiar with the design and also made it easy to pull out random measurements as needed.

[mworley1991]

Would I need to change any measurements if the posts are slightly larger? Cant seem to get 65 x 65 here in the UK most common is 70 x 70 or 75 x 75

[greg27]

Would I need to change any measurements if the posts are slightly larger?

Since you're changing the design anyway it would be worth doing up your own plans. You can use ClickUp or just do it on paper.

[greg27]

Today I started on part two of my bench: adding a roof. I'll also run poly pipe along the roof and add some shrub heads or something for overhead watering; initially I was going to run pipe under the existing bench and have a micro sprayer for each tree but I like to move things around so that will just get annoying. Mostly I'll still water by hand anyway, the irrigation system will be for when I'm away or for extra hot days.

The roof goes up on a seven degree angle - I think it's 2.1m high at the rear and 2.36m high at the front. It extends a little way past the front shelf of the bench.

roof.png

The design in SketchUp. The legs of the roof bolt to the outside of the front and rear legs of the bench.

I got it half assembled today and will finish off tomorrow.

In the future I might also add removable/retractable shade cloth, but I don't think I'll bother with that this year given how mild the summer has been so far.

[greg27]

20220106_093804.jpg

Assembled roof.

I ended up leaving out the smaller central beam - I think it would've just ended up getting in the way and it wouldn't have added much in terms of strength (this thing isn't going anywhere in a hurry).

All up I spent about $50 on wood (35x70 treated pine) and $30 on coach screws / bolts.

The irrigation system will have to wait until I next get a block of spare time.

[greg27]

A slightly tidier photo of my (still very overcrowded) happy place. @terryb there's a flowering melaleuca nesophila in there somewhere!

[terryb]

A slightly tidier photo of my (still very overcrowded) happy place. @terryb there's a flowering melaleuca nesophila in there somewhere!

Great to hear! The rest of the batch that I still have all flowered and the new growth is extending from the flower. Going to repot these soon and maybe cut a few back to the lowest green to develop further.

[legoman_iac]

Forgive my ignorance ... loving this thread and it's inspired me to build my own bench, but am confused by Step 2 (I'm a newbie when it comes to wood working), should I be using "bolts" or "coach screws"?

[greg27]

Forgive my ignorance ... loving this thread and it's inspired me to build my own bench, but am confused by Step 2 (I'm a newbie when it comes to wood working), should I be using "bolts" or "coach screws"?

You want coach screws.

Sometimes they're referred to as coach bolts which is very confusing. Bolt = something you'd need to use with a nut to hold two bits of wood together. Screw = can screw directly into wood without requiring a nut.

[legoman_iac]

Thanks for the insight a Greg!

[legoman_iac]

Finally designed, purchased the wood, and assembled my bench ... just need to paint it now.

I ended up using actual bolts (as I had already bought them). Also, went with thinner timber, more like decking wood than the other designs as that was more easily available to me. May put another cross beam across the back/bottom, just need to check it'll fit properly within my bonsai area.

I may need to make this higher, in which case I'll need to buy new posts, but wanted to stick to my original design and see how it holds/works/looks.

Thanks again for the inspiration (and explanations)!

20221009_unpainted.jpg

[greg27]

Looks great! I'd add a few more joists, particularly for the legs at the far left which don't have anything to prevent them from moving/twisting/etc. You could add decking to that as well to give yourself some storage space for pots or whatever.

[legoman_iac]

Looks great! I'd add a few more joists, particularly for the legs at the far left which don't have anything to prevent them from moving/twisting/etc. You could add decking to that as well to give yourself some storage space for pots or whatever.

Thanks for the feedback and mark up Greg! I have noticed those legs are already prone to roam.

I will be putting pots underneath, should have good sun under their too ... I hadn't planned on shelving down low only as I like having some pots on the ground, for times some of my trees need to soak up the goodness of the Earth, a.k.a to let them bury their roots into the garden bed for an added boost.

This design (probably hard to see in my yellow sketch) is actually a three storey bench with: soil (lower) level, crowded middle level, top level penthouse for "best in show".

Will move the bench to it's final destination today, check the height and clearance, add some joists, then paint.

Thanks again!

[legoman_iac]

Oh no, forgot to measure twice!!

Well, technically my measurements are/were good, except as I've adjusted the design to have the posts protrude the front and back of the shelves, the overall footprint is now too deep at the narrowest part of the garden bed! Orange line "on the ground" shows the space I have for my bench, so options are:

a) cut the back right leg, so it sits approx on the pavers that line the garden bed (green X)
b) move the back right post, to the right hand side (green arrow)
c) leave it as is, and put it elsewhere in the garden/driveway

Am leaning, much like my bench might (pardon my pun) towards "option b".

- Daniel

garden_bed.jpg