Wedding Prayer Bench / Altar

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I recently got married to my best friend in October. Not only were we lucky enough to have all of our friends and family help us celebrate, the weather turned out perfect and everyone had a blast.

Anyway, for the wedding my wife asked me to build a prayer bench – something for us to kneel on while the preacher blessed the marriage. I didn’t know the first thing about altars, but if it meant I had a job that didn’t involve picking between napkin colors, I was on board.

First I built out a box framed with 2x4s, 1/4″ plywood, and a 48 in. x 11-1/2 in. Unfinished Pine Stair Tread from Home Depot. I used some moulding to add a little character.

Next, I drilled 3 pilot holes to screw in balusters to support the railing, which is really just a 2×4 I routed and then attached to a 1×2 with screws. It doesn’t have to be too fancy, and it helps that my wife asked for a “rustic” look (essentially a get-out-of-jail-free card for any mistakes or imperfections in the pine. And because it’s common pine, there are a lot).

After sanding the whole thing down from 120-150-220, I applied a stain mix (Red Oak/Red Mahogany/a little Walnut) and wiped off any excess. After this had dried, I applied a few coats of poly, sanding in between.

The next part was more difficult, as I have no upholstery skills. I enlisted the help of my mom, who had hand-stitched every halloween costume we ever wore as kids. She and I were able to take a big piece of foam that I cut to size and upholster it with a blue fabric onto plywood using staples. I secured it to the bench using velcro, so if needed it can be removed later.

Under the fluorescent lights of the garage it looks a little silly, but in person the blue isn’t nearly so bright. Here are some pictures of it from the wedding. Thanks for reading!

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Wood Inlay Knife Handle

No real progress pictures to speak of, but I can describe the process for this one.

I bought a handleless knife off Amazon because it was on sale and the reviews were good. To my surprise, when it arrived it was beefier and heavier than I expected.

I started with a spare block of oak I had from a tree that had fallen a while back. After getting it to the rough dimensions, I used a bandsaw to make a curved cut dividing it into two pieces. I then cut two strips of veneer walnut and two strips of veneer maple to size, and glued them into the middle of the two oak pieces. I set clamps, let it dry for a day, and then used a bandsaw and sand paper to get it to the shape I wanted.

For safe handling, I always give the blade a few wraps of painter’s tape at the start to avoid cutting myself while working.

I finished the handle with a few applications of Watco Danish Oil, and glued it to the tang while screwing the pommel down firmly.

(Side note/Disclaimer: I have heard that certain oils don’t work well with red oak or cedar, but I haven’t had any problems in the past. Apparently one should “avoid putting oil (or Danish oil) on aromatic cedar or any of the dalbergia woods (rosewood, cocobolo, tulipwood). These woods contain an antioxidant that will prevent the oil from curing.” Source)

Thanks for reading! Bonus picture of my ever-expanding knife collection: