An outdoor workbench is more likely to swell and shrink.  As a result careful construction is required.

The outside bolts holding the table to the legs, is normal.

The inside hole for the bolt is a little different so the wood can shift.

Note that the outside hole has the bolt in it already, and the hole is filled with wax mix.

This slit will allow some movement over time, and may keep the wood from spitting.    Wood swells most across the grain.  Since the legs and the top are attached along the same grain intersection,  they should match a bit for expansion and reduce the issue.

The stretcher is matched with it’s greatest expansion axis against the legs least expansion axis.  Cedar is a very stable wood, and this cedar has been seriously wax treated, but this is where a problem could easily arise.  I will be doing a bit more to improve it soon.

The base is also a big, big issue.

Two different woods, treated pine and cedar.  Both have different expansions qualities.  The pine does not expand much along the length, and the cedar will expand a bit along it’s width, so this is potentially a big problem.  If left on it’s own without compensation, it is sure to split the cedar during dry months.

This cedar is actually juniper and it’s greatest expansion axis has a maximum expansion of five point four percent.  Since between the bolts is four inches, the expansion range is a bit under a quarter of an inch.  Does not seem like much, but it can split wood and ruin what could have been a long lasting work.  So I need to modify the base of the legs and the stretcher to be able to handle a quarter of an inch stretch.

Here is where a lot of reading comes in handy, Fine Woodworking has a really nifty workbench that uses a trick that will do perfectly here.

Bob