Queensland outdoor bench seat

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I have been looking for a nice bench seat with the cast iron ends. I did find someone with genuine and copy antique ones but the cost killed my wish. That's when I came across these at a recycle centre. I'm guessing they came from a school (happy to be corrected. The steel bases is nice an thick and the wood was thick and heavy.

1. Selected short bench seat I could handle and wide base for standalone stability
2. Trialled sanding the top with belt sander
3. Removed the planks (last bolt as usual took longer to remove than the rest)
4. Selected the underneath to become the top as it was smoother and needed less work
5. Put over the planer (of course everything is bent and took a lot of work and even sweat to get done)
6. Used a small hand plane to trim all the edges down to smooth
7. Trialled wetting with metholated spirits to see what it would look like wet.
8. Last 2 photos are the top with first treatment of Penotrol wood oil

Later I will have to trim to uniform length and then smooth all edges. There are some splits at the end of one plank and I'll have to decide what to do there.
I think for the steel bases I just want to clean any loose rust and then give it some clear layer to show the history. I could reuse the old bolts but I think for safety I will put in new galvanised ones (cup heads).

Appreciate any feedback especially on the wood type (in a selected close up you can see red grain beside a blonde grain) and where these bench seats would have come from. I will add an update when this is done. I have a lot to get done and place where they are to be used or sold.



Original 1.jpg Original piece sanding started.jpg Base steel.jpg Planks underneath original.jpg Plank sanded close up.jpg Plank sanded close up 02.jpg Planks underneath sanded and meths added.jpg Planks sanded and oiled.jpg Planks sanded and oiled close up.jpg

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Finally a recycled bench to last many more years with proper maintenance. The steel frame is certainly heavy and treated with Rustkill.
Completed 03.jpgCompleted 02.jpg