A workbench with no top!
But that's next on the list now that I've finished the joinery on the legs.
By the time I was working on the fourth leg I had managed to find a good technique for getting all faces square and flat.
I had been using floats, which worked great, but they left a rather rough surface.
By using a chisel, the surfaces are smooth, which will help them slide into the mortises more easily.
When squaring up the surfaces, I found that if you make your cut lines really deep, saw close to the line, then pare to the line all around the edges with a chisel, it's easier to remove everything in between.
I used a straightedge to check my progress. If you hold both ends of the straightedge and try to rock it like a seesaw, it will reveal high spots. If it doesn't rock, there are no gaps, and the straightedge rests on the cut lines on both sides, the surface is flat. |
| The tenon on the bottom has been squared up. The one on top still needs to be pared. |
I worked on these legs for a long time to get them as square as possible. I believe I averaged about eight hours per leg.
If only I were able to be that focused at my job, I'd be a rich woman.
I used a router to clean up the outside cheeks. By sliding two legs together end-for-end, the router was supported on both sides.
Using the router was a welcome break from all that chiseling.
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