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Heritage Ukrainian bench
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Build a piece of Western-Canadian history from a hardy group of immigrants for your front hall
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By Dave Bond, photos by Roger Yip, illlustration by Len Churchill
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This compact bench makes your entryway welcoming. It's perfect for taking a seat while you put on your shoes or pet the dog
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From 1891 to the beginning of World War I, many Ukrainians took advantage of a Canadian government program designed to populate the Western provinces. Escaping cultural persecution and economic repression, the new settlers brought agricultural and manufacturing skills, and they applied them fervently in the new land. Favouring a “peasant baroque” style, early Ukrainian-Canadian woodworkers enjoyed ornamenting their pieces with both carvings and painted icons, often religious or political, and multi-colour finishes. This Ukrainian bench, collected in Saskatchewan, features a whimsical back that shows the joy that went into building the piece.
I reproduced this decorative little hall bench from a very grainy photo. Because I knew only the outer dimensions of the piece, I spent a lot of time adjusting the size of the pieces to come up with the right proportions. Some elements of the finished product vary slightly from the original, but the result is a comfortable, functional piece, perfect for the front hall.
To test how the piece would look as a whole, I built a full-size mock-up from scraps before I started on the real thing. That let me sit down and try it out to get a sense of how the finished project would feel. The mock-up also allowed me to adjust sizes of the individual parts to replicate the original more closely.
Choose Your Materials
I chose #2 kiln-dried white pine because it's inexpensive, easily available in my part of the country and a pleasure to work with. The original bench was probably made with pine as well, although early Ukrainian furniture was often made with spruce, birch, fir or poplar.
Since most of the bench parts are small, you can cut around many of the knots, substantially upgrading the quality of lumber that actually makes it into your project. I milled the legs and arms from 2" x 2" stock planed down to 1 3/4" square. This allows sufficient dimensions for the joinery while making the legs look slender. I tried 2" x 2" stock originally, but found it looked too thick. The reeded rail pieces are dressed from one-inch rough stock, finished down to 7/8" x 2 3/4". Don't use conventional 3/4" wood here if you're building from pine. The extra thickness adds necessary strength to these high-stress components. Prepare pieces for the arms, legs and reeded rails now, leaving some waste wood beyond the dimensions listed.
Cut all four legs to a finished length of 27", then taper each one so the bottom ends are 1 3/8" x 1 3/8". Apply these tapers to each side of the legs, beginning 10" up from the floor. You can use a taper jig on a tablesaw or bandsaw to cut these, but there's another option too. If you mark out the taper with pencil ahead of time, a sharp hand plane will make quick work of the job.
You'll need a 3/32" bullnose router bit to create the reeded details on the rails. You'll also need a table-mounted router with an extra-high fence to support the stock as it's milled on edge. I also strongly suggest the use of feather boards to keep the work tight against the fence and table. Without these, any tiny movement will cause unsightly ripples in the reeding. Prepare some scrap wood to the same dimensions as your rails. You'll need these to arrive at critical machine adjustments.
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