Around the time that the bench project was assigned to the class, I had just learned how to use the lathe and quickly grew to love it. So, naturally, for this project I wanted to put whatever skill I had at the time to the test and make a bench that was made primarily on the lathe.
Because the only rule I had given myself for the project was that it had to be made on the lathe, the direction of the design ended up relying a lot more on intuition, and developed into what it is today as the project progressed rather than being based on a solid set of blueprints drawn before production began.
The bulk of the work was turning the legs and stretchers but more importantly, making sure that it all fit together evenly. This having been my first major lathe project, I was essentially learning along the way so I made sure to be especially careful and watchful over what I was doing. Thankfully my meticulousness throughout the production of the bench payed off and the legs stood perfectly even right after gluing up.
After this, I made the cushion along with its side straps. I decided on a fabric that was already padded and insulated which gave the inner-cushion a little extra support. Additionally, I felt the blue complimented the warmer tones of the cherry and maple below it. My first instinct for the straps was to hide the below the cushion so that there wouldn't be too much emphasis on the cushion of the bench (At this point I had become so obsessed and proud of my lathe work that I wanted all the attention to go to the bottom of the bench rather than the top). However, after some quick mockups I was convinced that if I were to add a strap it should work to compliment the rest of the bench, in the same way that the cushion did.
