Preparing Legs for Glue-up
2009.11.17
There were a few things I needed to do to the leg pieces before gluing the legs and short stretchers together.
Dado for Vise Screw Nut
The main vise screw will pass through a hole in one of the front legs, and then into a wooden nut on the back. I decided to make a large dado on the back side of the leg for the nut to sit in. This will help resist the turning forces of the screw going in and out, as well as give me a little more capacity in the vise opening.
I marked out the dado, using the wooden nut as a guide for the size, and then bringing the lines down about an inch for the depth. I defined the edges with a small crosscut saw. Then I used a chisel and mallet to split out most of the wood in the middle.
A little cleanup with sandpaper and the dado was ready to go. The bottom is not machine-smooth, but flat enough for this purpose.
Drawbore Holes
2009.11.18
Next I drilled all the drawbore holes through the mortises, using a hand brace and 3/8″ auger bit.
Chamfers with Block Plane
Douglas-fir has a bad tendency to split along the edges and corners, so I wanted to chamfer the bottom of the legs, to reduce the risk as the legs get moved around on the floor. They are already chewed up in places from damage as I’ve been working on them. In some cases I’ve had to carefully pry open a long split, apply some glue, and then hold it in place with tape to dry.
Veritas makes a chamfering guide for their block plane that replaces the moveable toe. You can adjust the width of the guide to make up to 1/2″ chamfers. It works well, and produces a pretty consistent chamfer, depending on your technique. Unfortunately it does tend to leave a mark across the face. On a piece of furniture I would want to use it carefully, and do final smooth planing of the faces afterwards.
Drawbore Pegs