Fw: Bench Construction Part III

[pianoman]

James Grebe
R.P.T. from St. Louis
pianoman@inlink.com
"Only my best is good enough"

----------
> From: drgrebe <drgrebe@inlink.com>
> To: pianoman@inlink.com
> Subject: Bench Construction Part III
> Date: Wednesday, December 03, 1997 5:39 PM
> 
> 
> First a correction.  My use of the word Rabbeting got past my spell
> checker.  I wrongly printed it for the hare rather than the cut out.
> 	
> 	So, the object of this bench is to have all 4 legs reach the floor at
the
> same plane.
> I purchase Poplar 2X2's which are really 1 & 1/2" square and are glued up
> from 2- 1 X 2's from HQ and are available from most places that sell
> hardwood.  They come in 36" lengths so you can get a set of 4 legs from 
> just 2 of these.  It works well that they are  2 boards glued together as
> they tend to be warp free and probably stronger since the grain
orientation
> is different.  Since they are 36" long you can cut them into 17 & 7/8"
> pieces.  I use a sliding cut off jig with a measured stop block on my
table
> saw so I can get  precise repeatable cuts and this is the one place where
> you need four legs the same length.
> 	Now you have 4 legs and we will proceed with the metal corner bracket
> assembly.  Measure down on the corner bracket with 2 sides attached. to
> mark where your bench hanger bolt will go into the leg.  The top of the
leg
> should be flush with the top of your bench rails.  On my drill press
table
> I have a jig made from 2 2X4"s which have 2- 45 degree cuts out of them
so
> they will cradle the bench leg with a corner sticking straight up.  I use
a
> 1/4" brad point drill bit.  Position your jig so that the top edge of
your
> leg lines up flush with the edge of the jig and clamp down your jig so
that
> the drill bit goes right into your guide mark on your first leg.  You can
> now drill repeatable holes in all your legs.  Set your stop on your qwill
> travel so that it drills just a little deeper than the length of the
> threaded portion on your hanger bolts.  I use 2 & 1/2" 5/16" -18 size
which
> I get from Woodworker Supply.  The catalog # is 892-750.  When you get
your
> 4 holes drilled you will notice that the drill bit has peeled up some
nasty
> splinters around the new hole.  From here I go to my radial-arm saw and I
> have another jig which looks like my drill press jig so that the corner
is
> sticking straight up.  I set the saw blade height at about 1/4" down into
> the corner and slide the leg back and forth under the blade to create a
> flat plane that extends from the top of the leg to 3/8" inch past your
> hole.  This removes the splinters and give a finished appearance around
> your hole.
> 	Since square legs tend to look clubby I taper them.  I use a tapering
> fixture on my table saw so that the taper starts 3" from the top of the
leg
> extending to the bottom of the leg.  At the bottom of the leg it become a
> 1" square where at the top of the leg it is 1& 1/2".  After you make two
> consecutive tapers you have to rig up some way to move the leg out to
make
> up for the parts you just shaved.  I have screwed 2 round head screws
into
> the bottom fence of the fixture to push the leg out so that the taper is
> the same on all 4 sides.  From this point on to the belt sander to
lightly
> sand all four surfaces of the leg to get rid of any saw marks you just
> created.  If you are using corner bracket construction your home.
> 	If you choose to mortise the legs into the rails you have to rout out
> matching mortises in the legs as you have in the ends of the rails.  You
> want the legs to stand out from the rails of your bench so make sure
where
> you set the router it will allow for this.  I use masking tape on the
fence
> of my router jig to mark start and stop places.  Again rout in 1/2"  This
> is a good time to make your floating tenons.  Take your 1/4" Masonite and
> cut a strip just under an inch wide and measure how long your mortises
are
> in the rails and legs.  Cut them to that size and round over the Masonite
> on a belt sander to match the curve at the end of your mortises.
> 	Now take all your rails, Masonite tenons, and legs and start assembly
> without glue.  I use 2 -24" Bessey clamps for the short sides and 2 -36"
> Bessey clamps for the long rails.  Make sure that all the rails are flush
> with the top of the legs and that all joints are going to pull together. 
> Hopefully it all pulls together and all four legs reach the floor with no
> wobble.  It should also be square. If so, glue it up, keeping the parts
in
> the same place as when you just clamped it together. I leave mine clamped
> for 48 hours. I usually turn the whole thing upside down just after
> clamping so any glue run-out doesn't run down the legs.
> 	If you choose to have round legs, tapered or other wise you should turn
> the legs on your lathe to your own design.  
> 	( Do not have the hanger bolts in your leg when you are turning them! ) 
> 	I have a copy attachment for my lathe but I find I can match 4 legs
better
> just by matching measurements as I go.  At the top of the leg where you
> want it square (the top 2 &3/4") I make a small kerf cut with a miter saw
> to mark where my turning stops.  At the corners I saw in slightly deeper
to
> make sure the corners will not get fuzzed up with my turning tool blade. 
> After turning each leg to your design sand the leg as it is turning with
> 240 sandpaper followed by synthetic steel wool (ScotchBright Pads).
> James Grebe 
> RPT from St. Louis
> pianoman@inlink.com