My daughter Angela, wanted me to build a bench for her business lobby at Open Door Escape Games. Now I've done a lot of work for her over the years and thought this project would be fun to work on. What I'll be making is two different things, one 12 foot long bench, and the other is a table with two benches (think picnic table here).

The long bench she wants will have steel legs with a wood top that will be painted to match an accent wall. The table and benches will be similar but without paint. The material for the legs will be 2" X 3" X 1/8" wall thickness steel tubing. And the stringers that go between the legs will be 1 1/2" square X 1/8" wall steel tubing. Make no mistake here, these will be very heavy when completed.

I bought three lengths of the 1 1/2 square tubing that were 20 feet long each and two lengths of the 2 X 3 that were same length at 20 feet from Cal Mesa Steel. They cut them all in half for me so it's easier to take home. With that being said let's get started.
 

Metal Working

To cut this material I'll be using my newest machine made by Evolution, which is basically a miter saw that has a vise. However, the blade speed on this new saw runs much slower than its wood slicing cousin otherwise it wouldn't last. In the metalworking industry the term "Speed Kills" applies here because blade or cutter longevity is the key to metal working.

Now I did look at some abrasive cutoff saws but decided to buy this style for two reasons: first it doesn't throw sparks and second it doesn't stink while it's cutting. As the abrasive blades on the other type of saw wear while cutting, they emit toxic fumes that will drive you out of the room. Not a good thing, so this was an easy choice to make.
 

I used my mobile work bench to tack-weld things together with the aid of some straight-edges fastened in the T-track. This worked great and I double checked with a square while I was welding.
 

This large bench will have three legs and to make sure things come out right, I'm using some uncut square tubing under my project to make sure things sit flat. Once I had everything welded together it didn't take long to find out this beast is extremely heavy. And it's only going to get heavier once I add the wood for the seat.
 

I used a string fastened to the far end, lined it up with the other end and then tack welded it in place. Once I was sure it looked good, I made small welds here and then so I didn't heat just one area. Doing it this way helps keep things inline because heat does funny things to long structures.
 

I ground all the welds flush and then I used some Bondo (body filler) to even things out. This was necessary because I'll be painting all the metal and didn't want anyone to see the high/low or uneven spots from the welds.
 

I used my side yard as my paint booth like I've done many times before. But this time it took up almost all of it. Notice the black floor mat under my project to keep the paint from getting on the concrete. Also notice the yellow dolly near the fence. I used two of these to get this beast outside which made it much easier to move. I made four of these dollies when I was building my 33 Ford so I could move the car inside my garage years ago. And they've come in handy for a bunch of different projects over the years.
 

I bought two 2" X 8" X 20 foot long boards to use for the seat for the long bench. I had the lumber yard cut them to 12 foot, one inch long, which helped me in two areas: first they fit in my truck much better and second, I didn't know if their saw cut straight or if he could read a tape measure correctly.  Once I was home I cut them to length.

Here I'm running the lumber through my planer. However, I had to place my planer in just the right spot to handle this kind of length. What I mean is, one end is sticking out side the door that is open when I start, and when the board exits it's right next to my tool box on the other side. Whatever works ya know!
 

I ran the wood through my table saw which again served me in two areas: first it gets rid of the radius of each piece and second, it joints the edges as well, which helps when it's time to screw them together. I picked out the better of the two sides and now I'm ready to fasten them together.