♪♪ Welcome back to "The Woodsmith Shop."

We have a great project in store today, and it's for the outdoors.

It's a potting bench.

And I know there's a lot of woodworkers out there who also enjoy spending time out in their gardens or creating nice containers for their patio or even inside the house.

And you can think of this potting bench as your base camp for all of those activities.

There's plenty of storage.

There's a large shelf below.

We have a smaller one up top to keep some of your most-used gardening tools close at hand.

And of course, there's a wide-open work surface here, and it's got a little bit of a secret.

If you lift up the lid, there's a tub installed inside that's perfect for storing some extra potting mix, keeping that close at hand, as well.

We chose to make our potting bench out of easy-to-find cedar construction lumber.

You can pick it up at just about any home center, and it's really a great look.

Weathers well outside, no matter what kind of finish that you put on it.

When it comes to building the bench, we wanted this thing to get done quickly but still be sturdy.

So, we're using pocket-hole joinery on a lot of it.

There, you just use a drill bit to drill angled holes in the various parts and drive in long screws to join them together.

In a short amount of time, you'll have the structure of the potting bench all assembled, and then you can start working on the shelf and the work surface.

To cap things off, there's even a great way to customize the project, and that's with the backing material that you use.

Now, we chose some rough-sawn cedar slats that we drilled holes in just to add a little bit of sparkle to it.

You could also use a lattice panel or anything else that you want to come up with and be able to transform this project into your own.

I'm ready to get started on it, and if you are, too, you can find the plans for this potting bench at our website, WoodsmithShop.com.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Man: Old Masters, offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

Announcer: And by... Man: Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Announcer: Additional funding provided by... Man: Titebond wood glues, the pro's advantage.

Announcer: And by... ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ The potting bench is a great project, and it's great because the construction is very straightforward.

No fussy parts here.

We've got to be careful, we've got to do things right, but it's going to be a fun build.

So, where do we start?

Well, I've got a 4x4 cedar post here, and the first thing I'm going to do is cut the front legs.

So, what I'll do is I'm going to square up one end, measure off, and then cut two 35-inch pieces.

Once I'm done with that, we'll move on to the rear legs.

The rear legs are a little bit different than the front legs.

Not only are they longer, but our top cut is going to be at 10 degrees, and that's going to support a lovely arch, which will really make our potting bench look sharp.

As before, we're going to trim up one end first, then I'll deal with the angled end.

The side stretchers and the front stretchers have all been cut out of 2x6 cedar.

Now, the lower front stretcher, I'm going to add an arch to it, and that arch is going to mirror a nice detail up top on our potting bench, which is also an arch.

So, let's go ahead and fire up the band saw and get it cut.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well, I've got my legs all cut and the stretchers.

So, what's next?

It's joinery.

Now I'm going to go with fast, easy, and solid joinery by using a pocket hole jig.

What I want to do on the inside face of each of these stretchers on each end is to place three pocket holes.

To do that, I'm going to use this shop-made jig.

I have it set up to cut one hole on the top, one hole on the bottom, and then when I've done all my parts, I'm going to come back, set up my jig again, and get that center hole.

So, let me go ahead and get started, and I'll cut the top and the bottom pocket holes.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Well, I've got all the pocket holes drilled in the stretchers, and now it's time to start assembling.

My stretchers are set back 1/2 inch from the face of my legs, so I cut a bunch of 1/2-inch blocks of plywood to set them off just right.

I also have clamped my back leg down, and I've clamped everything in place.

And that's because when putting these pocket hole screws in, the parts can kind of wiggle around a little bit if they're not secured.

Well, I want them to stay put, so I thought a few clamps were in order.

Well, I'm making progress with the frame, and I'm sticking to the plan, though.

I'm using the plywood spacers to hold our stretchers 1/2 inch into the frame, and I've got everything clamped so the parts won't move when I put in my pocket screws.

So, let me go ahead and get this wrapped up.

♪♪ ♪♪ And there we go.

The frame is done, and now it's time to move on to the details.

Alright, our potting bench is up on its feet thanks to Chris's work in getting the basic framework taken care of.

The second stage here is to create our work surface up top and then a smaller shelf down below.

Now, that's going to be made up of just some cedar decking.

But in order to attach it, we need to add some internal structure here.

So, you can see the starting point of that.

There's a pair of cleats on each end here, and then that fills the distance between our outer stretchers and the inside surface of the legs.

You'll see why that's important in just a little bit.

Now, to attach these cleats, I'm going to use some stainless steel screws because they're not going to rust and they're not going to react with the cedar.

Part of the design for this potting bench is to have a recessed area in order to catch potting soil, or if you're using this as a party platform, to hold some ice and some beverages.

So, we want to create a space where we can set a plastic tote right inside and it'll be below the level of the work surface.

So, to do that... ...we're going to add a couple of extra internal stretchers or supports here.

That'll fit inside, against the leg here.

I can use some pocket hole screws and attach that, and then we'll use a couple of smaller cleats... ...and a second support that's sized to match the width of our plastic tote here.

So, once I get these installed, then we can start talking about the decking that's going to go on top.

Alright, so we have the cleats installed on the top here that'll allow us to attach the decking that's going to form our primary work surface or party surface, as the case may be.

What I want to do now is attach another set of cleats over in this well on the side, and that's going to hold our small plastic tub in place.

So, it's going to suspend it there.

And I want it to be at least flush with the surface of these cleats, but actually a little bit recessed because I just don't want the decking to bind on the top of that and maybe cause the plastic tub to crack.

So, what I've done... ...is I have an adjustable square here that I've set to match -- actually, just be a little bit more than the lip that's around the edge of the tub here.

All our prep work has gotten us to the point where we are ready to install the work surface and the shelf down below.

So, I have the boards cut to their correct length.

But there's a little work that we need to do here.

On this back board, we want it to wrap around the back legs so that it's flush with the back surface of those legs.

So, what I'm going to do... ...is use a square to mark out a notch.

And then with these two notches marked, I'm going to cut those out with a jig saw.

I can just use the potting bench here as my workbench.

Then, I'll grab a small handheld router and a chamfer bit and buzz a quick chamfer around all of the surface boards here, and then we can get into the process of installing them.

Alright, I've attached the back slat and the front slat here.

We're not going to attach the two middle ones yet because what we need to do is cut out a section that's centered over the plastic tub here, and that'll serve as kind of a removable panel to get access to the tub, but still allow us to have a continuous work surface when we need it.

So, I'm just going to use a large square here and line up to some marks that I've made.

Then, I'm going to take these two boards over to the miter saw.

Cut these up the way that I need to.

We'll attach the various sections that we can.

And the nice thing is, is that now the grain will still flow all the way across.

It's a small detail, but it's the details that matter when we're building stuff on our own.

With just a few cuts at the miter saw, we're able to cut the pieces out for the access to our tub here.

And there's a couple of more steps after that.

The first is to add a couple of cleats to hold the two pieces together.

It also helps register this lift-out section within the opening that it's going to sit in.

Now, one thing that you want to make sure that you do is to make sure to round over or chamfer the freshly cut ends of both the insert and the ends of the upper surface here.

Then, over at the drill press, I drilled an access hole with a Forstner bit.

It's kind of fielder's choice on what the profile is that you want here, but I think a round hole just plays really well with what we're doing.

So, once that's in place, we're all ready to turn over this section of the potting bench to Logan to take care of the stuff here on the back.

So, the final area to concentrate on on this potting bench is going to be this upper section.

We have a couple of parts here.

First, we have an arched top that we're going to add, and we also have a shelf.

Then, we're going to finish it out with some decorative slats on the back.

Now, the arched top is going to be the most difficult thing to do, but it's not too bad.

But before we tackle that, we want to add this shelf in place.

That's because this is going to support these posts as we bend this top and install it.

So, for the shelf it's simply notched on the ends, and I'm going to attach it to the post with a pair of pocket hole screws.

Okay, so with the shelf in place, we can look at this top section.

Now, Chris cut these at an angle, and that is for a curved top.

Now, in the plans, this was originally built out of PVC, and the PVC is extremely flexible.

So, I think you could just kind of muscle that in place by your hands.

With this cedar, however, planed it down so it's a little bit thinner, and we're going to attach it to one post first.

Then, I'm going to use a pair of clamps to help pull the other end down and form our curve.

Now, of course, there's nowhere to clamp on this post to help pull it down.

So, what I've done is add these hand screws.

And I just kind of get those nice and tight, and that's going to allow me somewhere to put some big clamps to hold everything together as we attach this.

So, I'm going to take some measurements, get this attached on one end, and then we'll go and start bending it.

So, the back of our potting bench is going to have these slats.

We'll dress them up in a little bit.

But what I'm going to do is I'm going to screw them in along this bottom edge and up here on that shelf.

But that does leave us with this exposed end grain up here.

So, what I've done is I've cut a rabbet along this piece at the table saw.

Then, we can go ahead and install this up here, and that's going to add a nice cap to the top of those slats.

So, the first thing I need to do is attach this top rail, and then I'll just go ahead and screw these in place.

And when I add these slats in, I am going to use the same 1/4-inch spacing that Phil used on the top.

So, I'll screw those in place, and then I'll show you how we're going to dress these up.

Okay, there we go.

So, all the slats are added, and it looks good as is.

Or we can add a little bit of decoration to them.

Now, initially, I had thought maybe we were going to scribe the same arc along these slats and then drill some decorative holes.

I think we're still going to stick with the decorative holes, but instead of having them along the arc, I think that will look a little too orderly.

So, instead we're going to do random sized holes.

kind of spaced out on this back.

To drill the holes, I'm going to use a hole saw.

I have three different sizes that I'm going to use.

And hole saws are going to work really well for this, but they can be a little aggressive.

So, what I'm going to do is I'm going to start by drilling the hole on the back.

And this is just going to be kind of a scoring cut.

I'm going to punch that pilot bit through to the front, and I'm gonna let these teeth score this back.

Then, I'll step around to the front of the potting bench and relocate that center bit in that centered hole and punch it through.

That should give us a good, clean hole on both sides.

So, there we go.

I think that looks pretty good.

One thing you'll find is when you're trying to be random, it's kind of hard to be random.

But overall, I think it adds kind of a nice, fun look to it.

So, now the only thing that's left to do with this potting bench is to either add a finish or not, put it outside, and get planting.

As woodworkers, we have a workbench that we do a lot of our projects at, in the same way the potting bench that we made in today's episode works for your containers inside the house, as well as your garden outside.

And we need to equip it with the right tools and accessories.

And for that, I've invited Kristin from Garden Gate magazine, one of the titles with Woodsmith, to talk about what we need.

So, what are some of the essentials that we would have?

Thanks, Phil.

Let's start with gloves.

I am a glove person.

Not everyone is, but I really like to have a pair of gloves.

At least one pair of gloves, actually.

For container gardening, I think this nitrile style is really handy because it's lightweight and it has a rubberized coating, so it keeps your hands dry.

And when you're container gardening, a lot of times the soil is really wet.

And so, it's just more comfortable, both cooler and drier.

I like those because you can pick up stuff with it, too.

Exactly.

It has a little bit of a grip to it, and you can feel what you're doing a little bit better because they're so much thinner than the work -- the heavy-duty work gloves, which of course are handy for all other kinds of gardening.

With digging, you know, digging in the soil, it protects your hands from soil-borne disease, and it keeps you from getting blisters when you're working with equipment.

Or moving like big rocks or timbers or stuff.

Exactly.

You really need a pair of those, as well.

So, it's nice to have both kinds of gloves, I think, in hand.

Another thing that I would equip my garden potting bench with is digging tools.

Okay.

And so, here's a couple of ones that I like to have, especially for container gardening.

This is a soil knife, and this is the tool I keep with me all the time, no matter what I'm doing in the garden because it's so versatile and handy and it has a lot of different features to it.

Not only does it have a little bit narrower profile, so it's really easy to dig into things and it's perfect for small spaces like containers, but it's sharp enough that it can go in garden soil, as well, and it has a serrated edge.

And this one also has size markings or height markings on it, so you can see how deep the hole you're digging is, which is handy for things like planting bulbs, for example.

And this one actually has a little notch here, a pretty sharp notch that is good for cutting twine and things like that.

So, it's a handy tool.

And then, another digging tool that's kind of handy for container gardening is a soil knife.

And it has a -- as you can see, it's got more of a bowl, deeper kind of scoop to it.

So, you can really fill your pots a lot faster with a big bowl like that.

And so, that's kind of handy to have.

Another thing that you'd want to make sure you have in your potting area and in your garden shed is cutting tools.

And of course, I always -- this is another thing I keep with me all the time is my pair of pruners.

They cut everything from, you know, thin little annual stems to about up to 1/2-inch or so shrub stem.

And so, something for larger branches than that, you need other tools.

But this is the kind of thing you can keep in your pocket.

And it's handy to do those cuts, but also it's handy to have just a pair of scissors if you're potting or little snips.

If you're potting up annuals, especially, sometimes there's some fine detail work that you need to do.

And these are easier to -- that's easier to manage.

Yeah, because you have a much smaller -- Exactly.

...tip on them.

Yeah.

Yeah, so you can really get in there and do the detail work.

And then, you know, also when you're doing your containers, you of course need containers.

[ Chuckles ] So, you might be -- depending on whether you're a seed-starting person or you're potting up pots for your patio, you know, these are handy to have for that when you're potting.

It's kind of nice to have, you know, I mentioned filling your pots with the soil scoop, a scoop like this or something to really get larger volume of potting mix into your containers.

That's really handy.

So, it's kind of nice to have that to fill things with quickly.

And then, also when you're potting your containers up, you might think about a lazy Susan, actually, because as you're potting, then you can work your way around the container more easily.

Yeah, that's a great idea.

I know we use them for finishing small projects to be able to get to all sides and it's nice not to have to you know, work around stuff.

Or, you know, pots and containers sometimes start to get heavy, too.

That's exactly right.

So, it's easier than trying to lift it and turn it.

If it's the right size, that you can just set it up on your potting bench.

You know, a lot of times you will want to plant all the way around the container.

They're not just seen from one side all the time.

So, yeah, you would just want to be able to plant all the way around.

Excellent.

Of course, you'll need your watering tools because every time you plant, you really need to water everything in.

And this is a small watering can that would be perfect for seedlings and for small pots and for, like, house plants, smaller house plants.

And the nice thing about this one is that it has this gentle flow rose on the end, which will help you apply a gentle flow of water to your seedlings, because if you were just to do a stream of water on there, all the seedlings and the potting mix would splash all over and, you know, seedlings need to be at a particular depth.

And then if you're displacing them, they might not -- they just -- you wouldn't be as successful.

So, this would be a nice one to have, as well as a larger watering can for your bigger pots.

And notice this one also has a rose on the end that gives you a little bit better control of the flow.

So you're not just flooding it on.

Yeah, exactly.

You want to really give -- direct where the water goes and make sure that it's not just burrowing holes in your potting mix.

You know, that's not the best thing for the plants.

Of course, you'll need potting mix.

And then there's some other sort of accessories that you might like to have.

Okay.

One thing I like to have is I like to keep my potting or my tags, my plant tags somewhere convenient so that at the end of the year, I can look through them and decide, "Didn't like that, didn't like that.

Oh, I love that.

I want to buy that again next year."

That way, I can keep track of everything and make sure that when I go shopping again, I get what I want.

That's a great idea because I feel like if you leave them in with the pot, they'll float away when you water them sometime, or they get sun faded, and you'll never be able to read them again.

They do, or they're kind of ugly when they just stick up.

I mean, you'd really rather look at the flowers than the tags, you know, when you first plant things.

And sometimes I'll tuck them.

I have sometimes tucked them down inside the pot on the side.

But then when I pull everything out, it's the end of the year, the roots have grown around it.

I can't find them again, you know.

So, this is a better way to keep track of them.

Yeah.

Well, thanks, Kristin.

You're welcome.

If you're interested in building a potting bench like this for your own garden or to take care of the plants that you already have, you can find the plans at our website, WoodsmithShop.com.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Phil: If you'd like to get more video tips and techniques, sign up for the free weekly Woodsmith eTip.

Every week you'll receive an e-mail with a video tip to get more out of your table saw, router table, and more.

Sign up at WoodsmithShop.com.

Everything in today's show comes from the newly expanded Woodsmith Guild Edition with shop projects, plans, tips, and techniques.

To get a free preview issue of The Woodsmith Guild Edition and a free Woodsmith book, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

In addition, past seasons of "The Woodsmith Shop" are available on DVD, or you can watch them online from your computer, tablet, or mobile device.

For more information, go to WoodsmithShop.com.

Announcer: Major funding for "The Woodsmith Shop" has been provided by... Man: Old Masters, offering wood stains and finishes for the woodworking enthusiast and professional.

Announcer: And by... Man: Kreg -- from the first cut to the final assembly, providing woodworkers with products that help to simplify woodworking challenges.

Kreg.

Announcer: Additional funding provided by... Man: Titebond wood glues, the pro's advantage.

Announcer: And by... ♪♪ ♪♪