So what happened next is called scope creep. The more I started thinking about the bench, the grander and less necessary my plans got. I could have slapped together some quick, simple drawer boxes out of ply and called it a day. But no, I decided I wanted them to look a certain way, which lead to quite the diversion.

First, skinned and planed a whole bunch of walnut and padauk scraps:






Then had a glue party:




When the glue dried, I flattened it all out and cleaned up the trim:






Made some test measurements, and cut some dados: