Benches and Tables Constructed of Baltic Birch with Spiral Cone Legs 2026

Baltic Birch Constructed Benches and Tables with Spiral Cone Legs 5 feet shown above, with over a thousand pounds of gravel, uses 1/4 as much tree to create, but has the comparable strength of a 2 inch thick solid wood slab.

The panel weighs less than 12 lbs and is a structural beast!

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These seats are also sold on the website; SpiralConeLegs.com.

Step 1: Bench and instrument table

The bench panels are made from 1/4″ Baltic birch plywood, 2 pound density EPS foam, and wood glue.

• We make the benches in lengths from 3 feet to 8 feet. I use the same 1/4″ layer for each but a different thickness foam, this gives me a thicker, stronger panel for each progressive bench length, simply by adding more foam.
• I use a notched trowel, which is quick and that is important as the adhesive needs to spread and the panel to assemble before the glue dries.
• You can stack a bunch of heavy flat things on top to hold it down while the glue dries, or make some kind of holding fixture, my latest is 2ft x 8ft, made 6 inches thick and uses clamps
• I also built tabletops of similar construction but with a solid 1″ perimeter from the same birch plywood, which gives the table a very sturdy, very nice looking plywood grain edge.
• I also used strips of the same 1/4″ plywood used for the skin, as ribs glued in place in place of the foam core, to excellent effect. This eliminates the expense of foam and makes use of what would otherwise be pieces of wood, and requires a small fraction of the wood glue compared to the foam version.

As for proportions, you can certainly make very useful panels with less wood than those described above.

I'm not looking for the lightest most efficient panels here, I want strong, sturdy furniture, I just don't want to waste the center of the beam with structural material where it has no structural value.

The 4x5′ dining tables weigh over 40 lbs, which is about 80 lbs less than they would weigh if they were made of solid plywood.

Step 2: Cut it into any shape you want

• These panels cut quite well with all types of woodworking tools. I cut the final shape with a router, I'm not going to teach you how to do it, you'll probably just learn bad habits. Here is the one that was used.
• You just take the shape you want, and I screw it into place, I use a printout of a CAD drawing.
• I cut a template from a piece of plywood. I then use that template to cut the benches to a certain shape and length. The template is also a drilling pattern for the 12 leg mounting points. If it's a single bench, then I use that nifty urethane guide right on the panel.
• The longer, thicker benches are too thick for the taller bits I've found so far, so I have to cut from one side, then move the jig to the other side, and then cut that side. I do this by using the holes in the legs to register the template from either side.
• We have two forms, and we call them Cells ofdog blood and bone. Use your imagination and make any shape/length you want.

As for the table panels, the shape is determined by the perimeter frame of the solid plywood, so simply trim the skins down to the frame with a router and pattern bit or with a circular saw.

Step 3: Equipment

I pondered the equipment question for years before coming up with the next solution and was finally able to move on to the banks.

• I finally thought of something that uses off-platform components, allows me freedom of placement, meaning I can place the equipment wherever I want after the panel is already made, and leaves me with a 1/4-20 female steel machine thread.
• Drill 5/16″ holes through the panel. I make a wide flange T-nut on each one from the top side, and on each of these from the bottom side, I install a threaded bolt and a welded nut, previously welded. I glue them in place and tighten them with a screw and screwdriver until I feel the panel start to distort inward around the weld nut, then I remove the screw and I'm left with a 1/2″ internal thread of steel, which of course is wonderful.

This, of course, only works if you can live with these T-nuts exposed at the top of the panel, as is the case here with the benches where they will be hidden under the upholstery.

This isn't necessarily as good for a table and its top side is exposed, so I've been doing that with a solid wood insert, and then I use a threaded insert or you can just screw directly into the wood.

Step 4: Upholstery

My better half is in charge of the upholstery, sorry I don't have process pictures here.

I can tell you that the upholstery uses 1″ high density heavy duty polyurethane foam, polyester and heavy duty upholstery fabric. They are boxed without welding and stapled using standard techniques.

We use the thin but firm foam because we want a not so thick streamlined look.

Step 5: What about the legs?

Of course, we use our own designer spiral cone legs that we make and sell, but you can use or do whatever you want with these panels.

This article isn't so much about the legs, but we have this video showing how to make the legs, so I'll include it here.

Step 6: More photos and a little proselytizing

When IWhen I first encountered stressed skin panels, I was immediately struck by the lack of broader use in our built environment.

We live in a world of flat panels, a plurality of which would be better off constructed as stressed skin panels.

The walls of our homes, for example, would be of a much higher quality in every way if they were made that way.

The stressed skin panel is a marvel of efficiency, and should be throughout our manufactured landscape.

Get more information at perfectionidea.com and on our Facebook for more Benches and Tables Constructed of Baltic Birch with Spiral Cone Legs.

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