Build an outdoor loveseat for your yard

Take a seat
The three seat supports span the bench between the front and rear leg assemblies, secured using two 3/8" dowels at each end. Cut the three seat supports to three inches wide and 16" long, then use a drawing bow to trace a smooth curve along the top edge of each seat support. Cut along the line with a bandsaw or jigsaw, then sand the curves smooth. Use a 3/8"-rad. roundover router bit to shape the bottom edges of each support piece, then drill a pair of 3/8"-dia. dowel holes 3/4" deep into the ends of each seat support.

Next, make the two round leg braces you need. You could use ready-made hardwood dowels, but making your own round cedar stock is best, so the leg braces match the rest of the bench.

Create the dowels by milling down two 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 16" pieces of cedar, then mark their centre points on the end-grain for the 3/8"-dia. x 3/4"-deep dowel holes you'll need to drill. The best way to find the centre is by drawing intersecting diagonal lines across each end. Use a 3/4" roundover bit in a router table to round the square corners of the blank. Sand the parts and you'll have terrific cedar dowels.

Joining the leg assemblies
Mark the locations of the three seat supports and two leg braces on the two leg assemblies you built earlier. The two outer seat supports should be 11 3/8" from each end; the middle one is centred between the others. The leg brace dowels are also centred 3 1/2" from the bottom of the legs and 1 3/8" from the outer edges.

Put dowel centres in the holes you drilled in the ends of the three seat supports earlier, align the seat supports with marks on the U-shaped frames, then press the parts together to mark the dowel hole locations. The central spur on the dowel centres marks the inside surface of the leg assemblies in the places where you'll need to drill holes. As with the seat supports, make the holes 3/8"-dia. x 3/4" deep.

Dry-fit the front and rear legs, seat supports and leg braces using 3/8"-dia. x 1 1/4"-long fluted dowels. Ensure all the joints come together fully; sometimes slight dowel misalignment can cause joints to hang up, and you want to find and fix these problems now. Even if everything fits well, hold off on final assembly.

Cut the legs to shape
At this stage, the main support framework for the love seat could be glued together, except that all parts are still square. You need to cut the curves. Make a tracing template out of plywood for the legs, the back support and seat slats. One template does all three jobs.

Cut the curves for just the two leg assemblies with your bandsaw. Get a friend to help: these parts are heavy and awkward. After sawing, sand the inside and outside edges smooth, then round all curved edges and the front of the inside rail edge with a 1/2" bearing-guided roundover bit. Leave both edges of the centre rails square.

Glue the seat supports and leg braces to the leg assemblies and clamp them together. Adjust for square and allow them to cure overnight. Clean up any glue squeeze-out and sand smooth.