How to make a bench seat with the wrong tools 

The comp was fun even though I wasn’t happy with the result. Hopefully, next year’s contestants learn a bit from this for whatever their competition brings

Good to hear from you! I was worried you’d taken a turn for the worst. I seem to recall you were ill. I think I know about that staircase. Perhaps he used something similar to Japanese carpenters - they work absolutely fascinates me. I would love to make some of my own saw horses. Unfortunately, I don’t have a van or truck yet, so I need collapsible ones. They’ve been great for everything until now. There’s just enough movement in them to make the finer work a bit more frustrating.

@@nakedapprentice Thanks for remembering . I am doing relatively well . Yeah . I got stage 4 melanoma and it's made me weak and clipped my carpenter wings . Considering writing a carpentry book , But one that addresses the real world of carpentry and some of the things I have discovered that I'd like to share . Yeah .. Chinese/ Japanese carpentry is absolutely fascinating , How they bracket out and build a roof with no fasteners at all . How the timbers were transported and milled thousands of years ago from far in the mountains . How thier structures have stood through time . Seen a documentary where they tested a build on shake table to simulate an earthquake of 10 on the richter scale and it stayed together because how it was allowed to sway . Seemingly if built too tight and rigid is what makes some structures fail . I have always buillt in a way that I jokingly say " It's going to take explosives to make my door go out of whack " Just watching your video here , I know the nuances of what you are doing and the procedures . Well done . Down to how to plunge a jigsaw , how to removed material , how to use a chisel . I have often said " Give two guys two pieces of wood and you'l; get two different results " and yet a complete build is exponentially more complex which few can appreciate . Some will fumble with it , others will not consider the grain ,knots and nature of the two pieces and the challenge is merely getting them to be flush and attached . Not like thier building a Swiss watch . Other elements is assessing before the build and using spatial reasoning and seeing whatever your building in the minds eye before clearly . Like when working in unison with someone else that calls out dimemsions and you have to be able to project your mind and see what they are seeing without actually seeing it yourself . Carpentry in my opinion is limitless , So many styles and crossovers , Some of the most fascinating carpentry I have ever done was triaxial ellipitcal vaults , erraticism , Mountain laurel deck railing , Live edge siding . I love the nature of wood and how to make it not only be functional but beautiful . Doing good . Love your demeanor and tenacity . Peace

That’s tough man. We know all about melanoma here in New Zealand. I think we have the highest rates in the world, largely due to the hole in the ozone layer that developed down here due to CFCs use back in the 80s. It’s mostly come right now I think, but the damage is done. I’m curious what you thought are on the jigsaw. I couldn’t get it to cut plumb though the material. I wonder if I was using to fine a blade, cutting too fast or simple that it was too thick. The timber was 32mm or 1 1/4”. It’s only a recent addition to my tool collection, so I’m far from an expert on it.

The truth is I was probably too hard on myself immediately after the competition. I don’t think it was possible to complete correctly during the 2 hours without prior planning. From what I’ve heard, those who did ‘complete’ them made different mistakes, such at checking out the legs 90mm around the support rail, meaning the legs would provide very little lateral support. I built a shed myself during the second lockdown. Likewise, I prebuilt it on my driveway and rebuilt it around the back.

I may have had to bribe him 😂 He was pretty good, although I’m sure he was playing games a few times

@@nakedapprentice haha. Kids are a bit like that. I try to get mine involved when I can. Your second attempt looks great. It almost seems like they had a design that most would struggle to finish in the allowed time and a few things that would take some skill not to break, like those corners. Plus it’s a challenge to not have tools you’re normally used to working with. It’s all about testing you

@Mueller_projects Yeah, absolutely. The goal was to test as many skills as possible in 2 hours. The funny thing is I asked my contact at Master Builders for a digital copy of the plans for this video and was sent a plan that was slightly different. It had all the measurements on it, but some of the check outs were different and it probably would have been a bit stronger. I suspect that may have been a draft which they later amended.