Reply To: Monk's bench
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I’m no expert on furniture design, but I’ve seen the following joints used on these kind of pieces:
– A rabbet down the back edge of the side panel to accept the back panel
– A housing dado near the front of the side panel to take the front panel
If the back and front panels are more than 3/4″ thick then I guess you could think about a rabbet on their edges as well. The bottom section would likely have some sort of internal framework to add rigidity and support the seat. You could use a housing dado with a through tenon like Paul did on the tool chest drawers (see photo).
If you’re not making an exact copy of something you’ve sat on, you might consider making a prototype out of something cheaper than oak! These kind of benches often aren’t that comfortable but it would pay to experiment with the seat height and depth.
Would be great to see how this progresses.