Untitled - MetosExpo - Free

Above: The leg-side rail assembly is securedin a bench vise while the author roughs theleg to shape with a drawknife. The joints forthe rails and armrests are cut while the legsare still square and easy to align. Right: Oncethe chair is assembled and held together withlight clamps, the author bores dowel holes tojoin the legs to the front and back rails. Theangles of the slanting holes aren't crucia4 sothey're eyeballed to speed the job along.side-rail tenons. The tenons atop the legs are cut on the sametablesaw tenoning setup described earlier. Because router-cutmortises have rounded corners, all tenons must be rounded tomatch. I do this with a rasp and fi le, and I think the roundedtenons look better than square-cornered tenons would with thecurves of my chair.Next, I cut out the side profile of each armrest on the bandsaw,following the side elevation, then I refine it with spokeshaves andsandpaper. I cut the top outline to pattern, leaving the front endsquare to provide a flat clamping surface when I glue the armrestto the back rail. I also leave some extra width on the armrest at theback tenon so I can clamp across the back to pull the bridle jointtight. After smoothing the edges of both armrests, I glue them tothe back rail.Before sawing the side seat rails to shape, the tenons should becut on the ends. I employ the same tablesaw setup I used for theleg tenons, cutting the rail's tenon shoulders square with the endsof the still-square rail blanks. Although the side seat rails arecurved and the tenons join the back legs lower than the front legs,the tenons will still fit squarely into the leg mortises (see figure 1,p. 36). Once all the joints are cut and fitted, you can shape thetenonless front and back seat rails and round their edges. I don'tshape the legs yet, because it's easier to hold them in a vise afterthey've been glued to the side rails.Assembly-Before gluing up the legs and side seat rails, I cut twowedging slots in each tenon and bandsaw a whole coffee can fullof wedges. After gluing and clamping, the wedges are driven in thetenon ends, to tighten the tenon in the mortise. With d1e leg-andrailassembly held in my bench vise, I begin shaping d1e legs usinga spokeshave, rasp and cabinet scraper, as shown in the smallerphoto above. While shaping, I follow d1e plans, using bod1 my eyeand touch to bring d1e shapes to final form. Leave the joint surfacearea unshaped where the front and back rails will join the legs.This area is shaped later, after assembly is completed.To drill the Y2-in. dowel holes in the front and back rails, I dryclampthe rails in place with the right and left sides of the legassemblies, taking care not to put clamps where I'll need to drill.To bore d1e holes, I use a brace fitted with a double-twist auger bitthat's marked at a 2 Y2 -in. depth by a file groove on the flutes. Ieyeball the angle of the holes to approximately 10°, the upper oneslanting down and d1e lower one slanting up into each rail end, asshown in the larger photo above. The dowels are cut about 3 in.long (d1e excess is trimmed off later), chamfered on one end andkerfed on d1e od1er to accept a wedge. If the dowels fit too snuglyin their holes, reduce d1eir diameter by driving them d1rough adowel-sizing plate (available from Woodcraft Supply, 41 AtlanticAve., Box 4000, Woburn, Mass. 01888).Because d1e dowel holes are angled, the chair, less the arms andbackrest, must be assembled in one step. I use four small barclamps for the initial squeeze before wedging d1e dowels and twoheavy bar clamps to snug d1e joints up tight. Moving quickly beforethe glue dries, I spread yellow glue on the ends of each rail andinto the dowel holes with a stick, then butter each leg at d1e joint.A single glue-dipped dowel is then driven into each rail end. Holdingthe rails in a vise while installing these starter dowels with amallet helps keep everything in order. Then, I push the legs ontothe angled dowels in d1e rails, first one side, d1en d1e other. Thesecond dowel for each joint is then driven home. When all d1edowels are in place, I clamp the chair with the bar clamps anddrive the wedges into the kerfed dowel ends. The excess dowel iscut off flush with the leg's surface with a small handsaw. I thenattach the bar clamps directly across the rails, using a softwoodpad under each clamp face to distribute tl1e pressure and avoidJanuary/February 1989 39