Building a buddy bench

Today at the Clear Spring School, first and second grade students will be assembling buddy benches. What are buddy benches? When you feel alone, you can sit on one, and be joined by another, thus assuring you're not alone. These are being made from weathered white oak, and will likely last no more than a couple seasons or so. But that will give us the excuse to make more when we have a fresh group of first and second grade students.

I'll be instructing the class via google meets, so have prepared a tutorial covering the making of them. It's roughly done but can be found on my youtube channel. https://youtu.be/l2wRcImKZtg 

Many of the steps involved require greater strength and skill than would be found in an elementary school student. So this is a cooperative project with children and adults working together toward a common goal.

In my own shop I'm building "torsion tables" using a simple technique of my own invention. I've given them that name due to rods used to stabilize the design. The table base is held together with turned front to back cross members, tenoned on each end with holes drilled to allow for the addition of the rods that triangulate the structure. Because the tables are a unique design, I'll attempt to interest various woodworking magazines in allow me to write an article about making them. The photo shows the turning of a basic part.

Make, fix and create.