Gluing Legs and Short Stretchers
2009.11.18
Well, the moment of truth: gluing the legs and short stretchers together. It was such a hectic operation that I didn’t take any progress photos. The epoxy set up faster than I expected, so was difficult to spread, yet oozed out gleefully as I slid each tenon in place, so I had to scramble to clean that up with damp shop towels. The pegs were easy to hammer in place though, and held each joint firm, so I did not need any clamps. Some of the tenon shoulders could have been a little tighter but oh well.
Leveling the Tops of Leg Assemblies
2009.11.21
Since there was so much epoxy on top of the legs after the glue-up, I decided to start with the belt sander to take that down and start to level the assembly.
After doing the rough work with the sander, I continued with a wooden jack plane and a block plane, checking with a square and straightedge.
Trimming Pegs with Kugihiki Flush-cutting Saw
I trimmed the pegs with a flush-cutting saw made by Veritas. It has a flexible blade and the typical impulse-hardened teeth of Japanese saws. The teeth have no set, hence the flush cut. However it took some practice to get the right technique, and so I managed to tear up the sides of the legs on some of them until I got the hang of it.
Partial Assembly
I couldn’t resist putting the legs and long stretchers together to have a look. I have not made the wedges, or chopped the mortises through the tenons for them, to secure the long stretchers yet. When I put the second leg assembly on, I had to use a dead-blow hammer and a block of wood to knock the assembly in place. Ironically I think I will have to make the tenons fit more loosely so as not to bind during assembly and disassembly. I think the problem is that the mortises are not parallel with the tenons.
Prepping Legs