Woodsmith - 064

I

$3.50

NOTES FROM

THE

SHOP

Woodsmim

W

hat's the most difficult thing about building a chair?

The joinery? Maybe , .. because you're faced with a lot of

me

n

ise

and

te

n

o

n

jom

ts

,

Although they're not the

e

a

s

i

est

joint to make. they're not lhat difficult either. Uyou C3Jl drill a series Ofholes, you've just about got a

m

o

rti

se

mad

e,

And

af

you can cut a rabbet on the end of" board. you're halfway

to

forming

a

tenon.

\Vell, how about the curved pieces on a chair? Most chairs have curved back legs or curved staison the back that conform to the shape 01 the occupant. Anything that's curved isalittle more difficult to make. And there's also the image of bending thepieces 10the curved shape. BUIcurvcdpieeesdon't haveto be bn,l pieces, Thecurved pieceson the chairs shown in this issue are easily cut on

a

band

saw.

Okay, you can cut acurved back leg Ona

band

saw,

but

it's

an

0<1<1

shape that's almost afree-form sculpture. How do youculthat? Actually. h'sprobably the easiestpart ofthe chairto cut -if you

u

se

a

te

m

p

lat

e

.

Even

an

exotically curved loA'can be cut on a band saw just by following a template. And the same templale Canbe used to do the final smoolhingand shaping on

a

router table.

Howaboul tileupholstery? Because [was working with rabrie.fhadthis vision onearo. ing how to

sew.

But tile upholsteryfor these chairs requiresno sewing skills, Basically. if you

can

use' staple gun, you can upholster these chairs.

Okay Don. then what is the biggestproJ>. lemwhenitcomeslobuildingachair?lthink

it's

the..,,,,bi'lanon

of all these things (join-ery. cutting curves. upholstery) that creates apprehension.

Yetitalsocreates

intrigue be-cause it's nOltypica,1woodworking,

Uke most projects, when taken ODestep at • lime, chair building is not all that demanding. !lut in the process or building

these

chairs, Idiscovered

tw

o

things Ididn't really anticipate.

First, chair building takes a101oftime, It look me aboullOO hours tobuild

and

finish

a

set of six chairs, 11131'5nota lotof!imeper duur,bUIthe hours lend toadd upwhen you build asetof chairs, You'reactually building

a

lot o!indivldual projects- they all happen to be the sam e,

That leads to the second discovery. Al-though chair building may not be mass pro-duction.

it

is ntilltiple production. Each piece forthe first chair must beacioneofthe pieces lor all the other chairs. To get this kind of repeatability means using templates

2

No. 64

and production techniques to ensure identi-cal shapes.

I found that using

a

template was the key. We've included an article (page 18)Onthe basic technique of how to use atemplate to

mak

e

the back

legs

for the chairs. Bul this technique applies to any project that needs

several

pieccs-

011

Identical.

!Xffil'lStON1'A'llY..Although the chairs re-quired some ingenuity to figure outthe tech-nique to repeat shapes, tile table we built to accompany the chairs required ingenuity of design.

'Vhat

wewanted wasane

x

tension

table-one in which leaves could be added to

ex

-tend the size of the table. The problem was that

I've

never been particuJar!yfond oftypi-calesteesiontables. ThetopisusuaUycutin

haHsothe 1W0halve1!C3Dbe pulled apart to add the extension leaves.

This typeof table works, but itseems a shame to cut the table top inhalfjust to ex-tend il afewUn>esuyear (usuaUy on Thanks-giving. Christmas. and farnlly reunions). Therestofthe timeyou havetocontcnd with

that crack in tile middle ofthe table.

The solutlom Build atable with a solid top (not cut in hall) and pul tile leaves on

run-ners

so

they can be pulled outal tile end$ of the table to extend its size.

This system is nOlhing new. But itis sort of a mind·twister to explain.11le idea is that Ibe extension lea"es

are

On runners. These

runners are

mounted at an angle under the lable top. 'Vben )'ou

lin

up the top (it just 'lIoats" on the

1t'RS

and aprons). the extea-sion leafcan bepulled

out.

Since the runners aremounted at an angle. tile leaf winraiseup 10be level with the

surface otthe tabte

top.

l

ralso

means the leaves

are

always partof the lable - not Siored in the closet where they might warp or could be scratched. All in all. this extension design makes a nice dining roo

m

lable for the 362 days. year when the leaves are 'lot extended.

NEw P,ICES,

Th

ere

comes" time when

a

business needs financial guidance. If noth-ingelse, you have toknow where you stand, and predict where you're going,

Tha

un

e

an

s

accounting.

Paul Gray has joined us as our corporate controller. Fortunately, he's also a wood-worker (andw3sa subscriber 10 lI'oodsmitir even before he

was

hired), so he has an un-del'SWlding why we spend so much money 00wood and power tools.

S£\"TISSUE.The next

tssue

of IVoodsmitir (No. 65) win be mailed durin)! the week of October30, 1989.

Sawdust

CO

L

UMN

ED

I

TO

R

'S

WOODSMrTH (ISSN 0164-4114) is pub-lished btmonthly (February. Apnl. June, August. October, December) by Woodsmith Publishing Co" 2200 Grand Ave" DesMoInes, IA

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r

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weeI<days. SAMPLE COPY:VW!JWlIsend afree

sam-ple copy 01 ~sm#h to anyone. Just send

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andaddress.

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StoreManogors:

St loUIs.MO Jon Behrle

8ofI<AlIey,CA Micllael DeHaven Oos_tA KentWelsh

W

OO

l

)S

M

I

T

H

S

TORES

EdllOr Donald B. Peschke OosIgn00t00l0< TedKralicek

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August

,

1989

3

Woodsmith

No

.

6

4

Iiyou'd like

to share a tip withothers. send in your idea

to Wcodsrnhh. Tips &. Tech-niques, 2200 Grand Ave,,·Des Moines, Iowa 50312.

\Ve pay $15 for accepted

tips, Please send an explana-tion and a sketch il needed

(

we

ll

draw-a newone).

SEND IN YOUIrTIPS

Placing clamping blocks be-tween pads on a C<:lamp and the project (to protect the surface) usually takes ~,ree bands. On. tohold the Cclamp and another two to hold the blocks whiletry.

ingtotighten down the clamps. To solve this problem. ruse seIf.sticking pieces 01round felt on Ihe pads of my C-elamps. These inexpensive pads are used on the boUom of jewelry boxes and found in most hardware stores ina variety of diameters.

Robert

A71d~son Chandler,A";"O)U1

Sometlmes when using the

router (able. irs laugh to get a

.clean finished cut that doesn't bum. To get agood cut. I use a two-pass system-s-but I only have to make <»18selling for the height ofthe router bit.

To do this, 6.'St set the router bit 10 cut at !he fidl1t8¥Jht and check it with a test piece 01 scrap. After the height of the bil i~ set, tape a piece of cardboard (approximately II.lt'·lhick) to the top of the router table, in front 01 the bit The cardboard should be about as long as U,e table and just a little wider than Uteworkpiece.

Wilh the cardboard in place. the workpiece will be raised slightly SOthe first cut does not cut 10 the complete finished depth. Then. to make the finish cut, remove the cardboard. This

lowers the workpiece $0 YQur next cut

will

bea

full

cut,

/)(rve lI'ortM"

Spri?1gji

e

ld•Dnio

GLEAN ROUTING

CLAMP PADS

Then

remove

the clamps and

drill W'·diameler holes at the marks through the drawer front Oldy (not the lalse [rant).

To align the false front, mount

i

t

with two roundhead

screws

that go

through

the pull

mount-inll'holes (in the I,"sewnt) and through the W'·dia. holes (in the drawer lront) and finall¥ into a scrap block (inside the drawer),

see

Fig.1.

near each end of the slop.'Then clean the Lsbapes out using a chisel.

Toanaeh the stopto thework-bench, posltion the top edge of the stop flush withthe top of the workbench. Now tighten the

stop to the bench using two No.

S

x 1" roundhead screws with

washers placing the screws at the lOpofthe "L"slot. Keep the Screwsjust loose enougb s.othat the stop can be raised and lowered.

1'0 use the bench SlOp,lift it straight up until the screws bot-tom (Jutinthe "L,"111en 10lock itin place. slide itleftto Iheend olthe "L,"see drawing.

This bench stop worked so welllor

me.Iadded

another stop on the adjacent e:dge of the bench. Now

J

have two stops at 90' from each other, which is handy fors<tuaring uptwo frame

pieces into the comer.

C!iffmYLHicks

8"reva.,yJ.,

l\'ort

J

"Caroiilla

BENCH STOP

AtUrnesIwanlto plane orscrape

a project on my workbench. but I don't have adog system or an end vise to stop the piece,

To solve this, I made.a simple bench stopoutofUlin hardwood

scrap, then screwed itto the-end 01my workbench.

ntis works fine. but there are times when I don't want the stop

stickingupabovethetopsurface of !he bench.

So.

I altered the

bench stopso itcould drop down

cut of Ihe way.

To do this, drill a series ofW· dia. holes in the shape 01an"L".

ALIGNING

DRAWER FRONTS

Tips

&

Techniques

To adjust the falsefront.place

Ihe drawer in the cabinet.

I.!

it needs adjustment. pull the

drawer

out and genlly lap the

false Irontwitha

mallet

Once

i~s

al

i

gned. secure.

it with

screws

U,rough the countersunk holes. Alter screwing tile false front inplace, removethescrap block. and install the pull. see Fig.2.

H(LrlJey

Freeman

Halifax, Nova.f;colia

WO

OD

W

O

RKE

RS

through the back of the drawer front (lor the screws that will hold the false front.in place). see Fig. ia, Alter these holes have

been drilled. drill two holes lor the pullthrough thefalsefront

Next, temporarily clamp the false front onto the fronl of the drawer. Now comes the trick. Stick an. awl through the pull holes in the f,use trent to mark their location 0)1the real front.

FELLO

W

In

Woodsm

.

ilh

No.

62

you showed how to align

Ialse

drawer fronts in a cabinet using a four-screw method. Iusca slm-ilar method when mounting a drawer front tl

ta

thas

a band pull

with

mounting screws. The rnoullljrtg holes lor the hand pulls serve as the adjustment holes lor the false front

To use this method. first drill

four countersunk shank holes

4

Woodsmith

N

o. 6

4

ing this table is very straight forward. The joinery isn't complicated and the only hardware you Deed is lour hanger boltsand afew

screws.

CI1T11NG1H£TOJ'.Thetopand the leaveson this table arecutfrom asingle sheet ofoakpJyv.·ood. To make the grain of the plywoodtOP match upwitlt the leaves. I laid oul mycutsasiflbe leavcswere partolthe top.seethe

CutlingDiagram.

Since

the leaves fitunder the table top (when in the

stored position). they are slightly smaller (narrower) than the top. see the Detail inthe Exploded \rlCw.

11IELEes. One other interesting {eatoreon this table ismelegs,aodbowlhey·remow>tedtotheaprons. The

legs are mounted so they stand at a45'angle.They're mounted to the table's aprons wilh corner blocks and hanger bolts. Thisroakesthemremovableand theycan

also be tighlened ifthey loosen over time.

FINISH.To provide the table with extra protection I

used two coats ofpolyurethane, sandingbetween coats.

T

he biggest problem wilh this table is Irying 10 explain how iI works. Ihad such

a

hard lime

explaining me design 10everyone. mal Ifinally

went

down 10me shop and JUSIbuill il.

When Ifinished. everyone said. '"Tha(sniceDon.bul I thought you said mis table had leaves?" I couldn'1 resist showing off

a

little; ISimply lifted one end 01 me freeOooting lOPandpulledthel.aHrom Imdn-Ih~"'blt.

I

didn'l

evengerachanee

10pulloul theothcrleaCbcfore

someooe

fiRedme table 101>011to

see

how iI

worked

.

HOWrrwORXS. On most extension tables the lable top is cut in hal! and each halns attached to some sort of runners. To extend Ihe tableyou pull

Ole

halves 81"" and the leavcsdropin-on topef the runners.

With this

tabte

the leat'C' are attached to

Ole

runners. When youwanuocxtend thetable. liftuponeend ofthe top and pun out a leaf. When the leaf is lully extended me topdrops down and rests ontOl'ofthe runners.

Once you understand how the runners work. build

-It

l

o

oks like a standard Danish Modem table

.

But beneath the top

are

twO

extensi

o

n tvings that

add

another

43"

to

the overaU length.

But

wait

a minute ... hotv do those

exrensions

actually tvork

?

Dining Table

W.oodsmith

N N N N ~LSON£EDlD ONE4' x 8' OF~.&"ptYWOOD,FOR TA6U TOP AND Lf,AVES

M l~x 6~· 64 (5.8 8d. Ft.) M 13(..)(s - 100 (6.9 ad. Ft.) J t

I

L l o

I

a J ~~xS·60(2.18d.Ft.)

I

J

CUnlNG

DIAGRAM

SUPPORTARM GUIDED

SUPPORTCARRIAGE

5

NO,G4

GUIDES KEEPTOP CENTEREO ONBASE UfT'fDGf OFTA8lt

--

-._

-

-_

--

--

_-~

-

~

TOP TABLETOP @ TOP EDGING

• Thesepleclil$

9,e

0/,'P!ywbGd,

¥d XMV,,· 54'A: %x~~~33 ,,.,x 1~~56(gh, "., x 1%-36rgh, 'Ilx 'AI,

35

rgh,

'I.",

'AI- 22'''' rgh, ~.,lt31"'-4W, %x3"., - 27% 1%x3-' 'If,)(,2-

2'1¥'

414)(2· 28V~

~. x

21-2 - I(W, 10/,x2\(4-4911> 10/,x 3 - 271-'2 '¥4x2'h-6% A TGP(l)'

B

le

a

ves

(2)' C SId&T(1)Edgl<lg (2) o EndTol) Edging(2) E Eodleal edging (4) F St<feleo! Edging (4) G Side'AplOns(2) H End J\prons(2) I CGmerIllo<:I<.S(4) J TopBloce.(2) K LowerBloce (l) l Crosssroess (4) M SUj)portArmo(4) N LegS(4)

o

GuldG$(2l

MATERIALS LIST

PUll.lEAf STRAlGHTOUf LEAFEXTENSION DETAIL

, 1

, '

EXPLODED VIEW

Woods

m

i[n

6

Th

e

n

e

x

t

ph

ase is to

make the four

aprons that hold the jegs togetller. The

sideaprons(G) are very easy - justcut

two

pieces of :¥"tI_

thick stock 3Ii'l"

wide b~ 47¥.!"long. The end aprons (H)are also 31i'l" wide, but only

2

10/

,

"

long.

i'o.'OTCH E~"APRONS.Altertheend aprons are cut to length, you have to layout the locationoltwo notches. Tbesenotchesallow Ihe leafsI\Ppor1s to be pulled out.refer to the

Exploded View.

Tbe notches in each end apron are in diffel'en\ positions so thaI the leaf sUPPOr1S will bypass each other under the table. To make the notches, raise the blade on the table saw to cut 10/16"deep. Then make

re-petitive passes to waste 6ut the notches.

Alter the notches havebeen-cut, use a rasp

N01CHESfOR SUPPORT ARMS l~~"I)E(JI' ",.' £DG-EGUIDE

No

.

64

(0form aslightbevelon the bottom ofalHour aprons. These kerfs match liPwith kerfs in

notches. This bevel should slope toward the the corner blocks (I) sosplines can be used

imide"ace

01

the end aprons (H).

see

Fig.

5.

to align the aprons to the comer blocks. Cut

KllRfS f·OR.SPLINES.To complete Ole these kerfs 1

\I

,"

from the end ofeach apron,

ap

r

ons,

kerfs

are

cut

at

both ends

or

all four

V

4

"

deep.

see

Fig. 4.

4

a.

ROUT

C<>ON1'Ql·

ClOCKWIS( _{TRIM [OGING RUSH}NOTE'

RIP FtNCE

r

~

..

RIP FENCE

3

2

edginj1 pieces (C,D). also rout

a

\-i

n

round

-over onthe i71sW"bottom

edge

,

see

Fig.

2

.

APPLY EDGING.Now tbe edging can be glued and clamped to theplywood. Miterthe endsoffuetopedging pieces (C.D) and glue them to the table top (A). (For some tipson this.

see

page 11.) Also miter and glue the

leafedging

<E

.

I')

tothe leaves (8).

When the glue is dry. trim the edging flush with the plywood.

0

used aDush trim router jig.see IVoods»titil No. 62.) 111eedg-ing on the leaves (B)is trimmed 6ush with both the topand thebortomface ofeach leaf. ROUNI)OVEREOGING.

1'0

complete the

topedging, usea If.!''round-over bitand rout the Oil/sidetopand bottom edges. see,,"tg.

3.

EDGLNC.After the longue is routed, you

can cut the four top edging pieces (C,D).

These piecesare resawnrol;:'J" thick and thenripped to 1W'wide. see Fig.2.They're

cuttc rough length about2" longer than the

sides and ends of the plywood top. Also cut the eight ?lst'·widelear edging pieces (E,F),

see Fig.

2

.

GROOVllIN EJ)(;ING.The edging is joined to the plywood'pieces by cutting a~"-wide groove (to match the tongue) onthe inside faceof each piece. The groove ispositioned

sowhen theedging isrnounted.thetopedge

sticks upabout Vt6"above the topface of the plywood. (It's trimmed flush later.)

ROUNDIlJ)GE.Before mounting the top

TOP AND LEAVES

11\c

table begins

by

making the.top.I cut the plywood (or the top (A)and the two

leaves

(a)

to size.

refer tothe Exploded

Viewon page

5

.

RQfJJ'TONGUE.In

order to mount the,

edging pieces thatcovertheplywood edges,

I

routed Iitongue on

all

the edges of each plywood piece. To do this, mount an edge guide and li't' straJgbt bit in the router, see Fig. 1.

Then

rout a rabbet on the tOP and bottom faces

01

tile plYwood to produce"

7

Wo

o

d

s

mi

th

N

o

. 64

GlUECoaNEQ: 81.OtKAND SPUNE nuSh wmt TOP OF APROm

,

....

MAS()NfTt $PUNE Pilot IiO~ «NT~~DON ntJCKNESS Of'ltG 1';.a" ~

.

.

WASHER _ ANONtn ;'''_16 x 5" KANGEll80LT

10

PI\OTHOlfORJU~6· TQ·AOfPrt-l Of21n"

®

LEG

9

o.

HOLO CORNER 8LOCt(:nGHT AGAINST F(NCE block isser backfrom the ends oftheaprons, refer 10

Fig

.

8a.

SUANKItOIJ!.

Lat

e

r

.

the legs

are

mounted to the corner blocks

with

:Vs"-&a. hanger

bolts. To prepare lor mounting these bolls. drill a%"-&a. shank hole on the driU press. Center the hole Onlbe inside lace of ilte comer block.

see

Fig.

8

.

ASSEMBlE TIlE APRONS.

Now

tile aprons

can be assembled by gluing and clamping

the COmerblocks inplacewith

l1i"

Masonite splines,see Fig.

Sa.

(used aclamping block to support theCdamp and hold the comer square. (See Shop NOles on page 10 for more onthis technique)

saw blade at 45'and cut abeveloff one end ofeach legblank, see Fig.

6

.

No

w

tu

m

IbeJeg blank over andcutilagain to form a trlal1gu·

lar-shaped, piece so one corner has 3 l)'t'

-wide fiat face.

see

Fig. Sa.

KEJ.tFTHE BLOCKS.The corner blocks are kerfed toaccept

111'

Masonite splines.These splines

align

the corner blocks to the kerfs ill the aprons (G.H).

Start by positioning the .saw fence l'k" from theblade, and setting Uteblade height to

V4"

,

see

Fig. 78.Then cur

a

k

erf in

b

oth

beveled sidesof the corner blocks. see-Fig.

7

.

Note: The kerfs in the aprons are only

IV4"from the end oHheap",n soIhecomer

The next step is

to

cut and, shape the

legs (N). First, cut them to a finished

length

of27W'. CliM1PER U'GS. The inside edges of each leg (N) are chamfered so

the

legcan butt against theapronsata4S' angle. Begin by setting the blade to 45'and posi

-tio

n

the sawfence 1"fromtheblade,

see

Fig. 9a. Now. cut achamfer on one edge. then

tum theplecearoundand cbamfertheother edge. TbisshouJd leavea-V."·wide nat onIhe

inside face of the leg. see Fig. 9.

ROUND EDGES. Arter the legs are chamfered.! routed

b

oth

oul$ideedges with a

W

'

round-over bit; see Fig. 9.

Pll..OTHOl.ES.The legs are joined to the comer blocks witl,a%"'<Iio.hanger bolt.To do this. drill apilot hole 1

W'

down (rom the top and centered on the \1.1" natonthe inside (ace oftheleg, see Fig.lO.

Now. attach Iheloglo the comer block by screwing in a hanger bolt, see Fig. 11.(For

details. see Shop Notes. page 11.)

LEGS

"0

BLANK

®

6

The T:able aprons

are held

t

ogern

e

r

at

each corner

with

a

corner block (1).

-

S

i

n

ce

the COtner

blocks are cut from

tbe same sjze stock as the legs (N).

r

made the leg blanks 4"longerthan needed and cut a comer block

(I)

oft

the end of each leg blank.

ClTI"TRE~I..OCKS.So-start by cutting four leg blanks from 1:v,"·thick stock. Cut the blanks to. width 0(3"and alength of31:¥..".

Then to make the comer blocks. set the

ENDVJEW •

N

o.

64

8

'''.

ROUND OVrR SUPPORT ARM Woodsmith

1

5

theend closest 10thenotch, see Fig. 14.The

taper starts

1#'2"

in front of the notch and tapers 10the

en

d

soirs

1

0/,,;,'

wid

e.

see Fig.

15. Shop Note:

J

used Ihe taper jig featured in lVoodsmithNo. 61.

SOFrEN 1HE END. Next, file the bottom

comer of

each

arm to a

0/',

"

radius, see Fig.

14.Thenfinish the supports by routing a

!IIi

"

reundover onboth bottom edges.

i

~---

49

~·

SUPPORT ARM

NOTCH _DETAil flU COA~(R TO A :f."RADIUS

TOP

curNOTCAF.S.llach arm isnolched sothe

edging (0) on the table lOP can fit into it,

(See Detail in Exploded View.) Locale the l"-deep notches

2OY

z'

!

in Fromthe end ofthe

support arms.

se

e

Fi

g

.

14.To cut the notch.

usethesame methodason the aprons (refer 10Fig. <t).but leave theiboucm flat

TAPER SUPPORT ARMS. After (lutting the

notch, taper the lop ofeach SUPP9rt ann at

TAPER STAATS 11h"

IN FRONT OF NOTCM

SUPPO)!T ARM

..

14

Th

e

four

s

u

pport a

rm

s

(M)are

th

e

key to making Ibis table work. Since you want the

leaves to slideup 10be level with the main

top, I tapered the lOPedge o[ each arm so

that the leaves are level with the lOPwhen

extended.

cur 'I1IEBlANKS.To make the support arms (M)'i>egin bycutting l:V."·thick stock.

2

V4"

wide by 49lh.·long.

SUPPORT

A

RMS

~ CR._OSS .RACE

<D

braces (L).seeFig.13a.

TOP BRACES.Nowturn the table over-and

screw

u

ie

twotop braces 0)to

th

e

top

of the

aprons. They should be flush with the out

-sideofthe aprons and their edgesJlush with the ends of thecross braces (L). see Fig. 13.

Next, slide the remaining two cross

braces (L) between the top braces 0) and thelower brace (K) andscrew them in place.

a.

"'I -TOP BRACtS ,. _-

"'

~

..

TOP8RAC.E J ~ND VI~W

a.

C£NTt:R CROSS &RACtS ON LfNGTH Of SIO£ APRON

1

2

A'ITACB CRqSS BRACES. Whe.n all the

pieces arecutto

size,

screw two o(thecross

braces (L) to the inside faces of the side

aprons (G).

see

Fig. 13. Center the lirace on

the length of Ihe apron and screw it to the

apron sothe lopedgesare flush,see Fig.12a.

!.OWERSIMCE.With the cross braces at· tached. tum ihe table over and screw the

lower brace (K) to (he center of the cross

With the legs (N) attached to the apron

as-semblY,1started workingon thesupportcar

-riage which guides the supportarms (M).

cur

l'I.CIiS TO

sIZE

.

AU

the pieces (or the support carriage are made from :v."·thick

stock.Start bycuntngfourcross braces (L)

2lh." wide by lo:Y.i"long. Next, cut two top

braces (J)

2

·

wideby,29¥." long.Then cut a

lower brace (K)

2

"

wide by

28\1.,

"

long.

9

Woodsmim

GUIDE (!!Tt::

¢::l

q

NOTE: GUIDE PRfV[NTS TABU TOP FROM SHIftiNG -~

UNGT'M OF1HI TAeu:

18

placing a piece of double-sided carpet tape

On

theguides and checking ihefit,

Exceptfor applying the finish. the table is complete. The table leavesshculd slide out easily when lite table topis lifted.

side lopedging (C), mark lines 3<'8"in from either side, seeFig. 19.

TESTTHE 1.OCAll0N. Sioce the guides

"

"

(st

fit between the top braces 0).llested their

l

ocatio

n

before] glued them inplace by

n

/9

'.'~ ,Noll .... LEAf.... APRON L.: l-l

~

.~

"

'(1;)

'

KfEP ARMS PARAII"

b

CENTtR ARM IN NOTCH,

6 TIGmt"" REMAINING SCRoo ...

PUT MIDDLE

..sCRlWS IN

"'ST

NOTE: lOP JS RfMOYED

m

II

"-

I

I"

~'

\..L.-INSIDE Of NOTCH

fLUSH Wlnt OUTSIDE

l

\

{NO APRON IDGI OFAPRON

TOPVJ£W

.

,.J

®

S"PPORT ARM

(OO£R

L!.~

ON$UPPOK

ARM

a

__

EOG-£OFl£AfAND NOT(H

.

r

·

MUST BE FWSH

17

DRIU H(5S TABU;

No. 64

~6"SHANK MOll NOTE:

PLA(_t TAP[RCO StDJ! DOWN

AGAINST IMtIU PRESS TAbU'

1

6

Now that the leaves ., have been attached

to the support rums,

1\

the last step on the table is 10attach the

two

g

uid

e

s

(

0)

10

the bottom of the table lop (A).These guides are what keep lite table lop from moving around,

em TO SIZE. Beginning WiOl :Y:1"·~lick

stoc

k,

cut

tw

o

pieces

21o'.!

"

wide by

6%"

long, With the guides (0) cut to length and width,

cut a 45" tapered notch off each end, The

taper is cut so there's a2"·longnat lelton lite

bottom ofliteguide. see Fig. 20.

After lite guides are cui out, rout a

W'

roundover onIhe bottom and end edges.

POSmONOF'IREGUIDES. With the guides

completed, I located their position on the

bottom side ofthe table top (A),

First, locate the guides so U'ey're centered onthe length of the table,secrlll.1S.

111en, measuring from the inside of the

TOP GUIDE

S

Once the tapers have been cut on the four support arms (M),screwholcsare drilled on the

bot-tomsideofeacharm so uhe support arm can be screwed to

lite leaves.

ORlWNG11IEARJIIS.Begin bylocatingthe shankholeson lite bottom side ofthe su

p-portarms(M).Thesethree holesarespaced

Sl1!"

apart,withthefirst hole located 2W' in

fromthe naJ'!'OWend, sec Fig. 16.

With thehole locations marked, place the taperedside ofthesupportarm face down on

U,e <!riO press lable, Now. at the marked l o-cations, drill'll,,;" shank holes centered On

lite thickpcss of each

aim,

see

Fig. 16.

COIJNT&RBORJNG,Once the shank holes

are.drilled.eaohhole iscounterbored with 0 ~8"bit so the screws canreach LIPinto the leaf. But since the support

ann

is tapered. litecounterbores are atdifferent depths,

To gel the correct

co

un

te

r

bore

depth, set tile depth stop on lite drill press

so

the bOI

-tom ofthe bit s(QpsJ"from the table. Now,

with the tapIJ>wljace ofthe arm still against

the table, counterbore theholes, see Fig. 16. POSnl0N'I1J£ U!AVES.After theholes are

counterbored, the leaves are positioned on

the support rums. Begin byputting the arms in place in the table, so thatthe inside ofthe

no

t

ches

in

t

he

a

rms arc fl

u

sh with the

out

-side edge otthe apron, see Fig.17a.

Nowplace aleaf (8) on lOPof the arms so tile inside edge of lite leal isllusb with the

""....COUNTER60R£

With the leaf in place. slide itall the way

into the table, Now.adiustthe tapered endof

the

am, so

it's centered inthe apron-notch,

see Fig, l7b, With the arm centered. reach under the table and screw in

th

e rest

of

the

screws through thearmsand into theleaves.

AnACHING

THE LEAVE

S

outside edge ofthe notches, see Fig. 170. AITACR 11IE l.E.~VES.Now, adjustlhe leaf

so irs centered On the support.arms. Using No,

S

x 11

1.1"

w

oo

d

sc

r

ews,

a

t

tac

h

the Jeafto

thesupport

ai

m au

h

e

deepest

c

o

u

nter

b

ores

,

10

Woods

llli

t

h

No. 64

a

.

CLAMPlf<fO PRlS5URI! CI.,AMptNO (IOCI!""K_-;;

2

1

1

Fu

fs

T: ...

1

fo

,

-CUT MOCK

t

FROM. 21i14

....J

,-!,,_

_,

-

_

I' 6'"- ... SECOND: CUTOUT_ ~ AtiAW11l< &AND SAW

»

.\¥hen Iwas building the Table

shown in this issue. I used

comer blocks to join thecomers

ofthe aprons and the legs to the apron assembly. The problem was how 10 clamp the block (0

ihe "1)rOnS I0 get pressure

where it'sneeded.

Th

e

solution is lOlise 8 clamping block, see I'ig, 1. lllist1aml.ing block provides asurface

that', parallcllo the

comer block SOyou

can use a C<lanlp. The shape of the clamping block also

transfers the

clamp-ingfon:eso ilpushes

the aprons tighl

againsl the ends of

splines,

see

Step 2. The retief

alsopreventsthe block (rompu

t-ting any pressure On the very

end

on

h

e

aprons.

Afterthe block lscuttc shape,

use it(0clamp the comer block

to Ihe aprons, see J'o'ig.2. comer block,

see

rag.

2.'1.

cur

o

ur

BLOCK.All you

need

to make the block is • scrap

pieceof2x4 about 6"long. Begin

bydrawing two intersecting 45'

lines that start1IItrem each end.

see Step Iin Fill. I.

(I1.

ose

two

lines will form a right angle.)

Then I cut along these lines

using a

band

saw.

Nler the notch has been cut

out. Irelieved the inside comer of the block 10direct the cl

amp-ing pressure directly over the

CLAMPING

BLOCK

2

Then, come back and clean up

any remaining ridges by moving

the bltupand down while sliding the piece slde-to-slde,see Fig, 2,

SQUARE €IoIl)S.Since the ends afthe mortise are rounded, you have IWO options: You can

square upthe end. with8chisel.

O

r

. you can

r

ou

nd

ove

r

the edges of the tenon with afile or

chlsel,l Lhinkit's easier10getan

accurate fit by squaring up the

ends of Ole mortise. RPMfor hardwoods. Ithinkthat's

too fasL.llike torun thesebits as slow as possible to keep from burning them up. On my drill press. that's 380 RJ)~1. ~F.NCE. Before drilling, I mouma fence 10the drill press

[0guide the boles for the

mor-tise in

a

straight line. However,

When drilling the mortisesin the

curved

back

leg of the Chair (m

this issue), Iused

a

dowel stop

pin

so

Icould follow !he

curve.

ORlU.MOKJ1SES. To drillout a

mortise, start bydrillingthe end

holesto deline!he totallenglh of

the mo

r

tise. see

Step IinFig. 1,Then drill a series of holes

next toone another,

see

Step 2.

Th

e

r

e

will be some srnall rridges'

alonll

t

h

e

sides of the mortise. 1'0

re-move these ridges,

position the bn on

each ridge and CUIit

off, see

SIep 3.

outside rim, This edge lessens

the chance ofIhe bit wandering

when drilling the overlapping

holes needed (or a mortise. \Vith

a twist bit or brad-polnt bit, the

centerpoint tends towander into

aprevious hole.

Unlike a Forstnerbit, ihe

ver-mont American bit 113$a long

Ilute. This allows chips 10 be

pulled out of a deep mortise. DRlUJ.SC SPEE!). One tI.ing youhave towatch wilh these bits

is thedrilling

SPeed,

The

instruc-tions that come

with

the

bit

say

the bestoperating speed is 1100

• What's the best W'dy10make a mortise? The method \IIC

u

se

i

s

t

o

drill"

se

ri

es

ofholc~ torough out tilCmortise, find then square upthe ends withachisel.

So,

what bit is best to use 10

drill the holes? Our favorite bits

aremade byVermont American,

They're available in three si=

and reasollabll' priced,

see page

24.(For more on mortising bits,

see

lI'ood6mitl.

No, 26,)

The design of this bitmakes il

ideal for dnltiol! mortises on a

drill

press.

Uk.

a

Forstnerbit, it

has a SCOnnlledge on the very

CUnlNG

MORTISES

Shop Notes

1

1

.

1

was getting ready to glue the wood edging

on

the ends of the Table (page 4) when I realized

that Ionly bad one clamp long enough to reach the full length of the table.

Since the edging doesn't

re-quire

a

lotof pressure

J

was able to get byusing one long clamp, two short clamps and some packinglllpe.

FIT EDGING. I

1

found il best

to

miter andglueonepieceof

.edging at a time.

Start by mitering a

piece so the miters

align wid' the ends of the plywood top.

ClAMPING.

0

nee

the edging' fits, r

e-move it aod apply glue to the inside face. Then clamp it

inplace USingalong

clamp about

2"

from

the end, see FIg. 1.

.TIteTable au page

4

uses v ir-tually no hardware. Infact the

only metal pieces in (he table,

are a fewwoodscrews and four

hanger bolts. ''''hile there's

nothing special about

wood-screws, hanger bolts are not

something

Iu

se

every day.

Ahanger bolt has threadslike a

I

,

ag

screw on one end and ma-chine threads on the other end.

FIRS1:PO$mON

CI.AMP NEAR IND

Now, move (he seeond clamp

4" farther away. tighten it, and apply another piece oftape, see

Fig. 2. Continue moving the

clamp and taping until youreach

the end ofthe piece.

When the glue is dry, remove the clamps and tape, then aJ)J)ly the

next

piece of edging USing the same procedure.

TAPE CLAMPS

FLAT WASHER NUT

-the lOPnut is flush with the end. Afierthenutsaretightagainst each other. place

a

socket

wrench over thetop nutonlyand

tighten thehange: bolt into the leg. see Fig. 2.

Then remove the nuts and

fit

the hanger boll through the comer block on the table and tighten a washer and nut ul)tight

against the block. sec Fig.

3.

Woodsmith OVERlAP SHORT

No

.

64

1

~-t6x-S" SCREW IN MANGER HANGER BOLT UNTIL 80LT

1

211::1"'5 ~POSED

I!!: . ,

~

~

'

..

_/

/

.\,~

'J

.

~

""

F'D

.

"('

HANGER BOLTS

lfAVE FtRST ,LAMP IN POsmON TAPE EDGrNG OOWN.When

both clamps

a

re

in place, reach fora roll of rape.Thetal1f!luse is called filament packaging rape. (It has fiberglass-strands in it.) This tape is very -strong and

doesn't stretch.

First, wrap" &' piece

ot

tape

tightly boom the top of the table

around the edging,

see

Fig.I.

Use

a

clamping pad to

pro

t

ect

the tongue onthe other end. see

FIg. 1a.Then place a second

clamp about 4" from the first Shop Note:

I

f

you don'l have long enougbclamps (I only had one) you canoverlap thejaws of

two

s

h

o

rt

clam

p

s

as

shown

i

n

FIg.

1

.

I

wrap the jaws with tape

t

o

k

ee

p

them frOID coming apart.

JAM NUT ,TURN OOTtA NlITONLY CORNER SlOCK $ocm WRtNCH

2

That's handy ifyou're moving or you have(0replace the leg.

the other benefit to hanger bcus is that if the leg becomes

loose youcan tighten upthe nut. Thefirsttime Isawthis typeof

bolt. I saw how it worked. but

wondered how do I screw it in?

The w.y Ido it isto double nut the threaded end.

Start

by turn

-ing two nuts onto the bolt until seeFIg. 1.Hanger bolts come in

a

variety 01sizes. and I

used

one of the largest (W'-16 ,,5"). (For

sou

r

ces.see

page

24

.

)

You could

u

se

a 1'!8' screw to attach the leglo thecorner blocl< on the Table, burl used ahanger bolt fortWO reasons.

first, the machine thread end

ofthe boll allows you to remove thenur, and thenremove the leg.

N

o.

64

Wood

s

mit

h

12

WOOD.The chairs have acontemporary. Danish modern design. Usingoakenhances

the centemporary feel. However, by using

mahogany orwalnut, the chairs would take

on

a

more formal. traditional appearance.

IIPIlOI.STERY.Woodworking is nol the

only challenge when building. chair. you also have 10upholster the seat, OnJ>age19 we show how lOupholster the seal (without

bunching at the comers).

FlNISJI.To provide a durable finish. I aJ)o plied Iwo coats of satin polyurethane 10each

chair. sanding lightly between coats,

complere a SCtof six chairs. There are 22

mortise andtenon joints on

each

chair.

h may appear asthough you haveto CUt

angled tenons on the back slats. see Ex

-ploded View.Thai's not the case.Allofthe tenens are CUIstraighl. on Square stock.

Th

e

n

,

after tile

tenons

are cut. the stock is

CUt

on

a curve with

the

band saw.

DESICN.The thing Ilike most about this

chair is silting in it. The curved back allows the slats 10filthe shape ofmy body. And ifs • comfortable angle - straight enough for

eating.yet comfortable forsitting.

B

uilding chairs: juSI the thoughl of it

brings out a certain uneasiness in many woodworkers.

Okay

.

111

admit this

chair isn'l theeasiest project we'veever fe",

tured. Butitisn't the most difficulleither,

AI6rs~ the curved back leg and back

slats

may seem inlimidating. Bul Ihey're f"i!iy easy 10cui by using a template 10rOUjlhout theshape on a band saw.Then use the snme

template to smooth then. on a router table.

JOINERY. I found the process of building the chairs 10 be 1110retime-consuming than it was difficult. Itlook me aboullOO hours 10

Chairs ar

e

n

'

t

as

difficult t

o

build

as

you might think

.

T

he trick

is t

o

use

a

templat

e

t

o

cut the curved back legs and slatS

on

the

band

saw and

router table. Then the legs are joined with mortise

and

tenon joinery .

Ladder-

Back Chair

P

R

O

JE

C

T

1

3

W

ood

s

m

i

th

N

o

, 64

I

E.

I

AlSONtlD 2." •

2"·

PltG(

I.'"_.__ ... ..L...__ ....:..__ __J_ Of 1)."' PlYWOOD fOR StAT

;1

CUnlNG

DIAGRAM

LUMBER FOR ONE CHAIR

• 2.1 BooldIt. 1 '. ·Ihlckook • 3.8Boordh 1~·.'·IhIcl<OOk

• O.5Booldll ~.'·thlCkOOk

• 24'x24'piece

¥.

plywood

UPHOLSTERY

• IS' X IS' plGCO2' loom

• 2A'

x

21St placo

roenc

SU

PP

LI

ES

ABocklegs(2) IIiI.x'·39f91t

8 I'fontLegs(2) Ihx Ih·lm

C SOOtSide1loI1s(2) ~

x

2-

t.~

D l.owelSld&Ro"s(2)~x 1·1'~ E 8ock5eoiRoft(l) ~x2·16h F F.ont5eotRoII(l) ~.2-151~. GBock5101.(5) 1

Y"

X 1¥.· 161'> H8ockCleot(l) ¥•• ¥.·15 I SOOt (1) ¥.ply. 15lt.X 15'/.

MATERIAL

S

LIST

OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 17"3tJ,'"W

x

38"H • j- _~

t

_..

_"

.

,

"'.

,

•

-1

r

.

,

TtMP1..A'fE GRID

-

-

..

1\~"

DIVIDED INTO

,. SQUARES

--

...

I·

I

-

-

I

₁

.-.

,

"'

.

,

NOTE: I

i

AU.MOaTlSlS -

-

.-

,

~

.·

DUP

_.~.

_•

I , _I

,1,,-AllMO'''SlS---J==

t

:

l'J'I."FROM

~

.

r~

"

_2· fRONTfDG( _

i

•

'

'''.

-

--fRONT LlGS

-.

'

~:\

'

~'.

-i-

f

•

,

'/'-j

1 , 3•

'

"

."'

_

1-

-

_J i ~ I

ru

_.. f-.

_,

.

l

,

,.

,

.

f+:t

~-

-

if

,

....

_,

... :-t .... .J

-

f-=

_•

•

i ~ -." ,

..

.

-

~.'1

" -f ..

I

,

r

...

,

12.

"

,

-

--14\'t."- 14\fl,· 1$......

--

,-I

i[

-*

I

•

,

_•

_{! !}

•

•

LEG

TEMPLAT

E

1

~

.

x,

-

....,

..

.

SO'" l3..1 ad. 'I.}

1....__

.".

:

__

-,-1 '

_

_

-":S

'--

_---'-

~

_

b_·..

#id

~ LOWER SIDE RAILS

•

FRONT LEGS

®

FRONT SEAT RAIL SEAT SIDE RAILS BACK SLATS o "...."2\." .

»"

C.5 ad.ft.l

EXPLODED VIEW

•

W

oodsm

l

lh

L4

No.

64

fRONT 1,001 SQUARE UPENO$ WITH ' ....

(l

u

sa

\'

fRONTEOGf

7

$UGHTLY PARI fRONT SIDI10 SQUARf UP CUIVt IN MOmsI'

the

same

lemplale -

b

u

i

rhe

mortises have

lO be cut into opposite faces. To do this.I

stuck the template on the

back

side 01the blank. The" (,'01out thesccond leg lollowing

t

h

e same

procedure

as

thefirsllcg.

MOR'TISI3S.After both legs

a

re

cut

out

and

themortises ouUined.youcan drill them out USing'thl!

sam

e

sto

p

jig and

pr

oce

dur

e

used on the template. Theonly difference isthese

mortises

are W'

deep.see Fig.

6.

These moniscs will be siightlycun'ed

be-causethcyfollowtheCUf''eorthelcg(sortof a cooked hOIdog shape).To get the tenon 10

fil.Use a chisel 10square the front edge ofthe

mortise to a straight line. see Fig. 7.Also

squa

re

up u

ie

ends of the mortise.

Start by Iastening the template to the blank with double-sided carpellape. Then roughly cut out one leg about V." oversize. see r,g. 4. (Save the waste fortheolherleg.)

Next, Icut out the leg exactly

1'16"

ove r-Sil.<!by using' aguide block on the band saw.

Then it's cut to filialsize with. Ilush trim bit on u router table. (Fora detalled explanation

of these steps, see tbe article 011page 18.)

MAR.K ~tOR11SES.Before removing the

lemplate. draw through the mortises in the temptateto markthe Jocalionofthemonises on the leg.see

F',g

.

5.

~11RROREDSET. To make one

c

hair

,

you

need a rnirrored set ofback legs. Sinceboth leg•• reexactly thesame shape. you can use

----

'

fASTfN

lfMPlAn TO

8LANK W1THDouaU'SIO(o CARPETTAPC HallS "('IAINCI UNf CUT TtMPLATt $UGHTlY OVfRS':UO~ mtNRll TOUNI

2

curOUT ROUGHLY

1/.... OVIRS.ZfD

,

~

-

'

_MORT1SE$

'''''K

8UCR. .£MOVING ltMPLAlt

Non:

SI[ P.I.fOR _UG lOflNAl.$1U

5

Ibegan building the chairs by making a template (or the back leg. The te rn-plate is used as a guide 10 cui bOlh back legs 10 the " same shape. and 10

L..---IIT-----' layourthe monises.

lAY OOT 1'£MPlAn:.

To

make Ihe tern

-n

l

a

te

,

lay

euuh

e

shape or the leg on apiece

of

\4"

Masonlte 4" x

38".

O'ollow the grid drawing on page

1

3.

or send ror the full-siee pattern. see page 24.)

Also

lay out the

t

ecaue

n

s

of the.moruses for the back SIaIS and back seat rail NOle thaI the start and stop points 01these mor

-tises are

drawn square 10the back edge 01

the template.

see

Fig. J.

CUTl'ING1'£"PIA1'£. Afler the mortises

(Ire

layed out. I

cuuh

e

t

e

mplat

e

a

little

ov

e

r

-s

ize

00

the

b

andsaw,

sec

Fig.

2:I1I.n

l

car

e-fully filedand sanded down tothe line. MOR'llSES.

Si

n

ce

the templale is used as a

guide for themortises. Idrilled ouuhe

mor-tises on the template, To keep the mortises

a consistent distance from the curved front

edge onhetemplate.I used adowelpin SlOP

clamped 10the drillpress table. see Fig. 3.

STOP.

To

make Ihis SIOI>drill a.

%"

hole in

a p

i

ece of

~4"

plywood and insert

a

sho

rt

length ol%"o([i•. dowel. Now. clampthe ply.

wood 10 the drill press SOthe dowel is1/16" behind the back edge 01the bit.seeFig.

3.

Toalign the Slop. mark

a

refereneelineon the plywood straighl out from the center of the dowel. As the plywood base isclamped down. alignthe center 01the bit on this line.

ORJ.U.i\IORl1S~.Now the rnortisescan be

roughed cut on the drill press. (For more

infonnation on drilling

mortises

,

see Shop

Notes. page

1

0.) A

s

ea

c

h

holeisdrilled, keep

the front edge of the template against the stop pin. and the back edge 90' to the refer -ence line on the plywood base. see F,g. 3.

CUT OIIT LEG.When Ihe template is completed. you can beginworkon the back

leg)! (A). Iwasable to get twoback legs OUI

crone IVt6"blank Ih81 measured Sv.."by39"

Sfl'fUl1

"'.

ROUND-OVOlSrT

3

4

2

1

OP("POSesITE Woodsmith

12

15

NOTE: MAKE FRONT trGS A MIRRORED SET

No. 64

2x4 as a fence to the lop of the drill press

table)

When you drill Out (he mortises on adja·

cent

sides, the bottoms will break through very slighUy

i

nto

each other, see F'tg. 11.

111arS okay, the tenonswiU becutback later

where Utey meet.

ROUND OVER EDCF.5. After squaring up

Ole mortises witb

a

chisel. I rounded over the edges and ends of the (ront tegs on the

router table. First, round over the two edges

nearest the mortises with a V4u

round-over

bit

set :V,6"

high, see Steps 1and 2in·Fig.12.

Then ...aise Ihebitlo [out a full

'14"

round-overon Ole

inside edge (Step3) and both top and bottom ends. Finally. switch to a

W'

round-over bit and rouuheoutsideedge.see Step4.

CUT~ORnS£$1.tI

6-FROM001$10£"

'''''(5

1

1

(8) asthe two mortises onthe back leg (A). Notethatthemcrtlsesareeet centered on the thickness. but '/16" from (he outside edge ofeach leg. (Here's where you have 10 start tltinking ofthe two front legs.as

arnir-rored set.)

After Ute mortises are layed out on the back face of each teg. layout a 1%".long mortise on the

inside

face of

each

leg tojoin to Ute Irent seat rail (I'), see Fig. 11. Locate these mortises 14'1116" up from the bottom

end

of the legs, ?l16" from the outside edge. And be sure they face each other, (/\gain. so you end up with a mirrored set Q!legs.)

cur

MOtmSES. Now you

can

drill

out

all

the ~6"-deep mortises on the drill

press.

(As

before, to help position Uw mortise inrel

a-lion to the edge of Ute leg. clamp-a straight

SCRAP

UNO!R

MORTIS(5 TO l£VtL lfG

At th is point. the

back legs

CA)

are

complete. Now you

can begin work on

the froot legs (B). It's critical lbat the

mortises in the

front

legs align with those in the back legs. CuTtING Tl\E .PlEeES. Start making the front legs by cutting out two blocks J

'W'

squareby 1m"long.

MOROSE

lAYour.

Once the blocks are cut

to s

i

ze.

l

ayout two v.."·\videmortises on the

back face of each leg to

iOln

to the

side-rails

(C, 0), see Fig.

n.

These mortises are

lo-cated

the same

distances (12:Vt6· and

J5¥JG")

from the bottom end ofthefront leg

I

nUSH£NDS

',,

'

scrap block under the mortise locations to raise the leg up.off the drill press table. see

Fig.9. (Stick the block to the legwith double-sided carpet tape.)

Now, drill ~8"-deep mortises. moving lbe

spacerblock along with the leg as you driU. Complete the mortises by squaring up lbe ends with. chisel.

ROUND OVER EDGES.When all Ute mor-tises arecui in the back leg, the only step left

is-to round over Ute edges and ends. To do

this. use a

WI'

round-over bitset

:Vi6"

high

i

n

Ute router

table, see.Fig. 10.

Now measure up 12'1116" and 150)'16"from the end of the framing square to mark the

bottom of

the

mortises.The

lowermortise is W'long and the upper one 1%"Iong.

DRIll

our

MORTISES.To drill out these

mortises, start by clamping a straight piece

of 2x4 to the drill press taille as a fence, see Fig. 9. Po~ition the fence so the

\I,"

bit is centered on the thickness ofthe leg.

Since the back of the leg is curved. there

isn'ta longenough flatspoton it to allow the leg to sit down flat on the drill press table. I solved this problem by putting a 5'.long

BACK LEGS

CONnNUED

After drimn~ out five mortises for the slats

and

one for the back rail. you

can

begin

lay-ing out the mortises 011the J;"mt edge of each back leg. These mortises will hold the side seat rail(C)and lower side rail (D).

MORTISE IAYOl1l'.The trick is to layout the mortises so they

will

beatthe exact same

location on both legs, Begin by laying one

leg down on its side at the end

of

a bench.

Then

l

ay

down

a

frarning square so

one ann

of the square is Ilush with the end of the bench and the other arm rests against the ilatsectiOQ on the front of the leg. see Fig. 8.

•

N

o

. 6

4

Woodsmith

1

6

ROur·V."' ---~OUNQO,!fR O~AU. FOUR t:'DGts DON'T ROUND OvtR tENONS lOCAlE fflOT

NAILS1UIGHT DOWN

FROM CENnR or TOOLATt

roo'

SQOA.t TtMPLAT£ TO C(NTERUNf FAlliN TEMPLATE TO&£N<;KwnH CA_PET TApr .... " MASONJTE TRAMMEL POJNT C.ENTIRUNE

1

5

BACK SlAT TEMPLATE

T

\.\,,\

,

1

~.·

, '~ ,

I

'\ \ "

.L ' ,

1-

,.

",,-1

BACK SLAT (CtJtAvt PJECH) c

---'CUTOfiP RAB8tT ON8ACK FA~E

13

Afler the legs are complete you can begin working 01) the back slats (G).

Each slat iscutto the

curvedshape from a

l%"·thick block.

cer-ro SIZF.. Start

by cutting five

blocks of l:v.,"·thick stock to a width of

l

W'

and lengtjl of 16\1!'\ see Fig. 13.

COT'rENONS.

I

rsea

si

es

t

to cut Ole¥4"·long

offset tenons on the ends ofOle back slats

before

cutting the slats toshape. To dothis,

first...aise a 1:j<I6"dadoblade Va" highandcut

rabbets on the ends of the block, (Shop Note: To cui a\\I.··long rabbet with

a

':VIs"

dado blade. I "buried" the dado blade VIs"

into an auxiliary fence, see Fig. 14a). Cut the Va"ode.p,rabbets on the front face and top and bottom (bul not the back) ofthe block.

To complete tile offset tenon. t

cui

a deeper rabbet intothebaekface onhe block.

Since ies

a

heavy cut. make itina series of passses sneaking up Onthe finished heighl,

see. Fig. 14.Check the )il of tile tenon by trying,it inoneoffhemortisescutin the back legs. If the tenon is too thick, increase the

bladeheightstightlyandmakeanotherpass. ~1AK£ATJ::i.'tlPl.J)Tt. After all the tenons are

cut to fittile mortises, youcan cut the back slatsto shape.

Istart

e

db

y

making

a

template out of14"Masonite, see'Fig.IS. CuIthe tem

-plate 15"long and 81>0u13"wide.

10 get the. curve, strike and cut a 36"·

radius arc on the template. Shop Note: To

strike the radius, I made a trammel point

[rom a long strip of Masonite. see Fig'. 15.

cur

ARC ON BLANK. After the arc on the

template

ha

s bee

n fil

e

d

smooth,

att

a

ch th

e

template 10 the top of the slat blank with

double-sided carpettape, Besure to facethe arc onthe template to (heft',n!

01

the blank.

(lbat's thefacenea.:esvthe!Al"offsertenon.)

Now, ClIIout Ihe curved 1r01,lt

ra

ce

of the

s

l

at

VIS"

from 'h

e

t

e

mp

l

at

e

all

the

band sa

w

,

see Fig. 16. (Use

!h

e

sam

e

guide

ann

and technique used to cui out the back legs.)

Thenmark the (ronledge of the template on the blank and remove the template,

To remove the last >')6" up to the line, I used araspanda drum sandertosmooth the frontface onallfive slats. see Fig. 17.

cur Il.~GI<FACE.Then, to form the back face, make a guide block with a pointed eod and clamp the guide so the poimed elld is 1I't6"away Irom the blade,

see

Fig. 18. Next.

cut theback slat to shape by running it b

e-tween the pointed block and theblade. (This method keeps each slat a uniform

0/16"

thick) Now file (or plane) the back edge smooth so itends up about

W'

thick.

ROUND·OVjlR ®GiiS·

1

1

,

.

t

as

t

step on the

s

l

ats

-

is

(0round over the

[our

edges with a

V

,"

round-over bit. see Fig.

1

9

.