Planting workbench my son and I built...

[Mowin' Man]

Here are a couple of pics of a planting workbench my son and I built late last year. My in-laws enjoy gardening and live in a small 2 BR apartment with a small porch. My wife measured the porch and we built this planting bench specifically to fit onto their porch.

One aspect of the construction that I spent a little bit of time trying to figure out was how to draw the oblong cutout on the top for the dish pan to drop into. The dish pan had a lip & a couple of raised handles on it so I could not just turn it upside down and trace it. I was trying to think of something flexible but stiff that I had around the house. VOILA - rosin core solder!! I unrolled some and made a loop around the upper edge on the outside of the pan just under the lip, formed it to the shape of the pan and then cut and taped it together to form a continuous loop. Then, VERY CAREFULLY moved my solder loop from the pan to the top of the bench and then traced the shape onto the bench. I cut it out and the pan fit perfect!

Pretty simple project - nuthin' fancy. We were proud of the way it turned out.

Front:

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/8817/sonydsch502110.jpg (http://img197.imageshack.us/i/sonydsch502110.jpg/)

Rear:

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3433/sonydsch502111.jpg (http://img148.imageshack.us/i/sonydsch502111.jpg/)

Mowin' Man

[Nat]

Looks good! how about a shot with plants on it? did you paint it?

[Mowin' Man]

Maybe I can grab an "action shot" the next time I am at the in-laws.

No - I used exterior grade wood and did not paint it. What you see is what you get!! :eek:

Mowin' Man

[Squid]

Looks good, did you use a plan or just build as you go?

[Mowin' Man]

My wife found a set of plans on the net - we just modified the dimensions to fit our footprint limitations!

Mowin' Man

[Mr.B]

Is that a springer frontend on a 20'' bike I see in the background?

[Mowin' Man]

Looks good, did you use a plan or just build as you go?

Squid, these are plans we based our bench from:

http://www.wrcla.org/cedarprojects/planters/pottingbench.asp

We did not change the width/length or height just the depth. My in-laws porch would not allow the full depth of the bench!

Used Georgia-Pacific treated lumber all around. The top and shelves are 5/4 x 6. The rest is 2 x 4 and 1 x 4.

For the pan we purchased a Sterilite 12qt/11.4L with bar code: 73149 06579 (I think from Wally World).

Mowin' Man

[Mowin' Man]

Is that a springer frontend on a 20'' bike I see in the background?

Kinda looks like it huh, no those are just the brakes on my daughter's bike!!

Mowin' Man :D