Entry Bench

By Jeff Jacobson
This practical and stylish
organizer and bench combo
will make going out and coming
home more convenient.

T
his attractive entry bench offers and other seasonal footwear. feature the latest Blum® soft-closing
a helpful place to sit and change We built this project>mostl`>from> slides. Even the lid offers soft-close
a pair of shoes. You’ll also cherry plywood — you can harvest the conveniences, thanks to a new Aileron>
appreciate its storage capabilities: four majority of the parts>from>a>single>4x8> lid>support>s`stem.>Our>“Mor e On the
drawers can hold gloves, scarves and sheet, plus some 1/2" and 1/4" plywood Web” video for this project shows how
hats, and its deep chest can stow boots for the drawer parts. The drawers this unique Aileron>s`stem>works.>

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 When trimming the beveled ends or
edges of the project panels, use a
clean sharp blade and sneak up on
the final cuts carefully (inset). Adjust
the rip fence incrementally, if needed; Plow 3/8" x 3/4" grooves along the inside faces of the bench panels to
these exacting cuts establish the final accept the bottom. Position these grooves 3/8" up from the bottom edges.
width or length of the workpieces.

Preparing the Plywood Panels front edges of the drawer cabinet’s side Dry assemble the front, back, side
Follow the Cutting Diagram on page 41 panels as well as the top and bottom and bottom panels of the bench to make
to cut a 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood into edges of the bench’s front, back and sure the bevel joints close properly. If
slightly oversized panels for the bench side panels. Notice that tape will cover they do, spread glue along the bevels
and drawer cabinet. For the drawer the ends of the dadoes on the drawer and dadoes, and assemble the bench
cabinet, you’re cutting the back, sides, cabinet’s front edges. Carefully trim and with strap clamps. Don’t assemble the
subtop and bottom. For the bench, you file away the excess tape as needed. drawer cabinet at this time.
need the front, back, sides and bottom.
If you lay out the panels according to
the diagram, the face grain will align
around the perimeter of each box.
Now, trim the panels to final width,
using a sharp blade in your table saw to
cut the plywood’s face veneer cleanly.
The front, back and side panels of the
bench will be assembled with 45-degree
bevels, then later modified with solid
wood trim strips. Likewise, the drawer
cabinet’s back panel connects to the side
panels with the same bevel joints. Tilt
your saw blade carefully to 45 degrees, Apply adhesive-backed veneer edge tape to Trim off the overhanging ends of the tape with a
hide the plywood edges, and heat it with an iron sharp knife when the adhesive cools. Score the
and trim the appropriate edges or ends
to bond it to the substrate. Press it down firmly. veneer several times, if needed, to cut it cleanly.
of the panels. Test your saw setup first
on scrap material to be sure the bevel
joints will meet at 90 degrees. These
bevel cuts should also bring the ends of
the bench panels to final length.
Next, mill 3/8"-deep, 3/4"-wide
dadoes across the inside faces of the
drawer cabinet panels to fit the sub-
top and bottom panels. Position these
dadoes 3/8" in from the panel ends.
Likewise, plow a groove for the bottom
panel in the bench’s front, back and side
panels. Locate this groove 3/8" up from File the edges of the tape flush with the panel The front ends of the cabinet dadoes will be
the bottom edges of the panels. faces. Here, its side teeth cut off the protruding concealed behind veneer tape. Be careful when
Apply iron-on veneer edge tape to the veneer, while the bottom teeth smooth the edge. filing or trimming the fragile veneer here.

Woodworker’s Journal April 2020 39

 At the router table, Installing Tandem Edge Slides
plow 1/4"-deep grooves We’re hanging these drawers on
in the drawer fronts, Blum Tandem Edge 7/8 Extension
backs and sides for the Drawer Slides. Each consists of two
bottom panels. Since components: a cabinet-side member
most plywood is slightly that attaches to the cabinet walls and
thinner than its stated a plastic and metal locking drawer
thickness, use a router component that tucks underneath the
bit that matches your drawer bottom behind the drawer front.
plywood thickness so The two parts clip together and provide
the drawer bottoms will a soft-close action, while also making
fit their grooves well. the drawers easy to remove from the
Position these grooves cabinet when necessary. Rockler offers
Glue and clamp the chest’s front, back and side panels together 1/2" up from the bottom a helpful PDF installation document for
with the bottom in place. For this glue-up, strap clamps will keep
edges of the parts (that these slides that can be downloaded at
the bevel joints from slipping out of alignment while under pressure.
spacing is necessary to rockler.com to assist you, along with the
Making Drawers fit the drawer slide hardware). Rout the following instructions.
These drawers are made of 1/2" grooves the full length of the parts. The cabinet-side slide components
plywood with 1/4" plywood bottoms. Dry assemble the four drawer boxes require that a 1/2"-deep, 3/4"-wide
Notice in the Drawing on page 42 that to check their fit; the sides overlap the notch be cut through the back face of
the drawer boxes are assembled with ends of the fronts and backs. Then each drawer box, adjacent to the drawer
butt joints to keep the construction finish-sand the pieces with 150- or 180- sides. We cut these notches at the rout-
process easy. Follow the Material List grit sandpaper. Assemble the parts with er table with a straight bit.
on page 42 to rip and crosscut parts for glue, reinforcing the joints with 11 ⁄ 4" When the notches are done, flip the
the four drawer boxes to size. Don’t cut brad nails. Make sure their corners are boxes over and fit a pair of drawer-side
the 3/4" drawer faces now — those will square; out-of-square drawer boxes are locking devices against the front bottom
come later. much more difficult to install. corners of each drawer box. Drive the

Cut the drawer box parts to size. A rip fence can Plow 1/4"-deep, full-length grooves along the Their butt joint construction makes these four
help crosscut them to length, provided there’s a inside faces of the drawer front, back and side drawers quick and easy to assemble with glue
step-off block to prevent trapping the cutoffs. workpieces to fit the drawer bottoms. and 11 ⁄ 4" brad nails.

Entry Bench Hard-to-Find Hardware

128mm (5in C to C) Wisdom Stone Corba Pull - Chrome Finish (4) #73804 .............................................. $9.99 pr.
Modern Hairpin Legs/Feet, 4"H, 2-Pack (2) #61604 ........................................................................................ $24.99 pk.
Adjustable Leveler Leg, 4-Pack (1) #32183 ......................................................................................................... $19.99 pk.
Sugatsune Aileron Lift-Assist Soft-Close Hinge Set and Lid Stay for Chests, Set (1) #67858 ....... $38.25 st.
Blum 15” Tandem Edge 7/8 Extension Drawer Slides (4) #63111 .............................................................. $19.99 pk.
To purchase these and other products online,
visit www.woodworkersjournal.com/hardware or
call 800-610-0883 (code WJ1577).

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 Drawer Box 5
Exploded View
MATERIAL LIST
3 Drawer Box TxWxL
 1 Back (1) 3/4" x 27" x 13"
 2 Sides (2) 3/4" x 27" x 18"
4  3 Subtop and Bottom (2) 3/4" x 121⁄ 4" x 171⁄ 4"
 4 Front Rails (2) 3/4" x 13⁄ 4" x 111⁄ 2"
1  5 Top (1) 3/4" x 183⁄ 4" x 13"
 6 Corner Trim (1) 3/8" x 3/8" x 108"
2
2

6 6

6
4 4

Drawer Box Side

(Slide Locations) 3
/8" 3
/4" 5

2
1
213/8"
5

16" 2
3
115/16"
10"
1 3
/4"

2"
5
3
/8" 3
/4" Bench Box
Exploded View

Bench Box

Front Side Back Side

1 2 1 2 MATERIAL LIST
Bench Box TxWxL
Drawer Box
 1 Front and Back (2) 3/4" x 15" x 23"
Drawer 8  2 Sides (2) 3/4" x 15" x 18"
Side Back Side Faces
Bench Box  3 Bottom (1) 3/4" x 171⁄ 4" x 221⁄ 4"
2 1 2 9
Bottom  4 Seat (1) 3/4" x 183⁄ 4" x 227⁄ 8"
3 10  5 Corner Trim (1) 3/8" x 3/8" x 60"

11
Woodworker’s Journal April 2020 41
 Drawer
Exploded View
3
4

3
4

9
MATERIAL LIST
Drawers TxWxL
  1 Top Front and Back (2) 1/2" x 23 ⁄ 4" x 10"
Note: The drawer
  2 Top Sides (2) 1/2" x 23 ⁄ 4" x 147 ⁄ 8" boxes for the second
  3 Center Fronts and Backs (4) 1/2" x 4" x 10" and third drawer
  4 Center Sides (4) 1/2" x 4" x 147⁄ 8" are identical. The
drawer faces are
  5 Bottom Front and Back (2) 1/2" x 61⁄ 4" x 10" different sizes.
  6 Bottom Sides (2) 1/2" x 61⁄ 4" x 147 ⁄ 8"
  7 Bottoms (4) 1/4" x 101⁄ 2" x 143 ⁄ 8"
  8 Top Face (1) 3/4" x 41⁄ 2" x 121⁄ 4"
  9 Second Face (1) 3/4" x 51⁄ 4" x 121⁄ 4" A pair of plastic and metal locking devices fit
10 Third Face (1) 3/4" x 57⁄ 8" x 121⁄ 4" behind the drawer fronts and against the bottom
panels. Attach them with short screws.
11 Forth Face (1) 3/4" x 81⁄ 4" x 121⁄ 4"

Each slide requires that a notch be cut through the drawer back,
adjacent to the drawer side. We milled these left and right notches with
a wide straight bit at the router table. Setting the bit and fence spacing
accurately was easy, using a 1/2" brass setup bar (inset).

Once the locking devices

included screws at an angle through there’s another simple way to do it with-
were installed, marking a
holes in the hardware to attach them. out measuring (see photo, this page). centerpoint in the drawer
These slides have a pointed metal It’s much easier to align and attach back for the slide’s hook
locator hook on their back ends that the cabinet-side slide components to the was a simple matter
must fit into a 1/4"-dia. hole bored into side panels when you can still lay them of engaging the slide
hardware and bumping the
the back face of the drawer box back, flat on a bench, and that’s the reason
hook against the drawer
one hole per slide. Lay out and bore why we haven’t assembled the drawer back (top inset). Drill the
these holes 13/32" deep; you can locate cabinet yet. Carefully lay out the four 1/4"-dia. hook holes 13/32”
the holes by measuring, of course, but slide locations, as shown in the Draw- deep (bottom inset).

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 www.woodworkersjournal.com

MORE ON THE WEB
To watch a video that introduces how
www.woodworkersjournal.com
VIDEO the Sugatsune Aileron system works, MORE ON TH
please visit woodworkersjournal.com and click
on “More on the Web” under the Magazine tab.
For a narrow cabinet like this,
drawer slide hardware is easier
to install while the cabinet’s side
panels can be laid flat. Mark the
slide locations, and attach them
with short screws (inset). Once www.woodworkersjournal.com

those are in place, bring the MORE ON TH

front rails, subtop, bottom, sides
and back panel together with
glue and clamps. Both strap and
ings. Make sure that your panel layouts quick-grip clamps were put to
good use here.
match and that the slides will be square
to the panel edges. Attach the slides and lock the rip fence 3/8" away from Mounting Drawer Faces
to the side panels with their included the blade’s outside face. Raise it to Find the remaining 3/4" plywood panel
screws. exactly 3/8". Make test cuts on scrap to you set aside initially for the drawer
Next, rip and crosscut a pair of front be sure your blade and fence settings faces. Trim the panel to 121 ⁄ 4" wide, then
www.woodworkersjournal.com

rails for the drawer cabinet from solid are accurate. Then, carefully feed the follow the Material List on the preced- MORE ON TH
wood. Plow a 3/8"-deep, 3/4"-wide drawer cabinet and bench boxes over ing page to crosscut it into the four
groove along the inside face of each the saw to trim the corner material sequential drawer faces. Mark each face
front rail, 3/8" in from one edge. These away. to remind you of their original ordering.
grooves will fit around and capture the Once those notches are cut, rip This way, their grain pattern will align
subtop and bottom panels. eight 3/8"-wide strips from a piece of down the bank of drawers.
Dry fit all of the drawer cabinet work- 3/8"-thick solid wood that are long Cover the ends and edges of the
pieces together, making sure that the enough to cover the notched corners. drawer faces with veneer edge banding,
subtop and bottom panels seat in their Trim them to length, and glue them trimming and filing it neatly. While
www.woodworkersjournal.com

MORE ON TH
dadoes or grooves and that the back into place on the drawer cabinet and you’re at it, finish-sand the “show” sides
bevel joints close properly. Make any bench. Hold the trim in place with tape. of the drawer faces.
necessary adjustments. Then give the
parts a finish-sanding, and assemble the
cabinet with glue and clamps.

Adding Wood Corners

You’ll see in the Drawings that the four
vertical edges of the drawer cabinet and
bench are actually strips of 3/8" x 3/8"
solid wood. There are two good reasons
for adding this corner trim detail. First,
if any of these long bevel joints come
together less than perfectly after glue-
up, replacing the plywood with a strip of
solid wood allows one more chance for a
better-looking corner. Second, the trim Wood strips strengthen the
provides a tougher wear surface than corners of both the drawer
thin plywood veneer for the scuffs and cabinet and bench. A pair of
cuts at the table saw created
dings this project will certainly endure
3/8" x 3/8" notches, into
when used in a busy entryway. which the strips were glued.
To trim off the beveled corners, install Set up and make these cuts
a very sharp blade in your table saw, carefully with a sharp blade.

Woodworker’s Journal April 2020 43

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 Bringing Cabinet, Chest Together
You still need to prepare a top panel
One panel of plywood forms for the drawer cabinet and a seat for
all four drawer faces. Mark
the bench. Follow the Material Lists
the orientation of these faces
so you can install them on on page 41 to glue those up from solid
the drawers and maintain a wood. When the panels come out of the
consistent grain pattern from clamps, trim them to final size and sand
top to bottom. them up through the grits to 180.
Position the top panel on the drawer
Now, clip the drawer slide compo- one drawer at a time. Drive several 1" cabinet with its back edge flush to the
nents together to hang the four drawers flathead screws through each drawer cabinet back, in order to create a 3/4"
in the cabinet, and test their action. If front and into its drawer face to secure overhang on the front. The panel edges
they open and close smoothly, you’re the parts. Countersink their heads. should be flush with the outside faces
ready to mount the drawer faces. We When the drawer faces are in place, of the cabinet sides; this is particularly
installed ours using Rockler’s Drawer go ahead and drill mounting holes for important on the side of the cabinet
Front Installation Clamps (item 54804). the four drawer pulls. We located all that will be adjacent to the bench — the
A pair of these clamps enable you to four pulls 21 ⁄ 4" down from the top edges bench lid will need to pivot past it when
clamp a drawer face to the drawer box, of the drawer faces and centered them, opened. Attach the top panel to the
then easily make final adjustments to it side to side. Carefully drill through subtop with either brad nails or screws
while still being able to close the draw- holes for these screws, backing up the only — no glue. Since this panel is made
er. Install the faces beginning with the drilling area with a piece of scrap wood of wood and not plywood, it must be
top drawer and working your way down, to prevent the drill bit from splintering allowed to expand and contract across
the face veneer as it exits. the grain with changes in humidity. If
you use screws to attach it, drive them
through slotted holes in the subtop
where necessary so it can move.
You’re now ready to attach the drawer
cabinet to the bench with glue and
screws. On a large flat worktop, set the
cabinet (without drawers) and bench
into position. Spread glue on their
contact faces, and clamp them together.
Make sure their front edges are perfect-
ly flush. Drive eight to 10 countersunk
#8 x 11 ⁄ 4" flathead wood screws through

Rockler’s unique Drawer Front

Installation Clamps enable drawer
faces to be held in place and posi-
tioned vertically and horizontally
as needed. The clamps free your
hands to make necessary adjust-
ments. Their narrow profile allows
drawers to be closed with the
clamps still in place to check your
progress. Once properly aligned,
attach each face to its drawer front
with countersunk screws.

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 After the Aileron cup-style hinges are installed and adjusted on the chest Three black adjustable leveler legs — one under the drawer cabinet and
and seat, a lid stay arm mounts on top of one hinge with a pair of brack- two under the bench — provide added support to the metal hairpin legs/feet
ets. This arm can be adjusted for the level of soft-close action you prefer. when this project is used as a seat.

the side of the drawer cabinet and into the drawer cabinet. Complete the lid’s Now, ask a friend to help you move
the adjacent side of the bench. This way, installation by attaching the Aileron this project into place near your entry
the screws won’t show once the drawers Lid Stay arm and bracket hardware door. Then, get ready to enjoy its practi-
are in place. over one of the hinges (see left photo, cal conveniences.
We’re installing the seat on the chest above). Adjust the arm for the lid clos-
using Sugatsune Aileron Hinges. They ing action you prefer. Then fasten the Jeff Jacobson is senior art director of
incorporate a soft-close lid stay that pulls to the drawers with screws. Woodworker’s Journal.
mounts over the top of one of the two The bottom corners
included hinges. These hinges require of this entry bench are
that a 35 mm hole be bored 11" deep supported by Rockler’s
into the seat to fit a hinge cup, similar 4"-tall Hairpin Legs/Feet,
to “Euro-style” cabinet door hinges. screwed to the chest and
Mark and bore these two cup holes into drawer cabinet. Howev-
the panel’s bottom face along the back er, we also added three
edge. We positioned the hinge cups 31 ⁄ 2" black leveler legs along
in from the ends of the seat panel. the bottom center of the
project. You’ll see in the
Finishing Up right photo, above, that
Smooth any areas of the bench that two of these legs are in-
may still need a bit of touch-up sand- stalled beneath the chest
ing, then apply several coats of finish and one is located under
to the assembled bench, drawers and the cabinet. These legs
seat panel. When it cures, mount the allow the project to bear
cup side of the hinges to the seat and the load when the bench
the hinge brackets to the back inside is used as a seat.
wall of the chest with screws. Snap the
hinges together to mount the seat on A combination of deep chest
and shallower drawer stor-
the bench, then fine-tune the hinges
age provides plenty of room
with their adjustment screws so the for organizing shoes, boots
seat overhangs the front and side of the and other outerwear such as
chest evenly. Also make sure the lid can scarves, hats and gloves.
open and close without brushing against

Woodworker’s Journal April 2020 45

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