Continuing on the bedside table

Today, I'll pick up where I left off with the last post.  Having successfully executed the dovetail sockets on the top of all four legs, it's time to turn my attention to to the mortises and grooves for the stretchers and drawer box on this +Tom Fidgen design.

Joinery rough cut on the legs.

I started by laying out all of the mortises.  That went quickly and without incident.  I then sharpened my 1/4" mortising chisel and went to town on the upper stretcher mortises.  Again, being pleased with the results, I began on the lower stretchers.  I could have cut the groove the full length of the joint first, and then come back to the deeper mortises.  Instead, I cut the mortises first, thinking that i might then cut the groove between them with the Stanley 45 set up as a plough plane.  The mortises went very smoothly, but, by the time I was ready for the groove, I settled for scoring with a bench chisel and cutting to depth with a router plane.  I think the whole deal turned out fairly well.

Having finished the mortises, I turned my attention to the stretchers themselves, uppers first.  I ripped them to width and crosscut them to rough length.  Planing followed, adjusting the width to finished dimensions and removing all of the saw marks.  I laid out the finished length and tenons with a marking knife.  I then established the shoulders with a two inch bench chisel, relieving a small v-groove on the waste side of the piece and moved in with the back saw to cut the tenons to rough dimensions.  I will tailor each to its mortise later.  Finally, I cut a side bead, top and bottom on each, using the Stanley 45.

Upper stretchers:cut, planed, and beaded.

Same deal with the lower stretchers.  These are wider though, so two tenons connected by a tongue.  And we will forego the beads as these will be dovetailed to the top and bottom of the drawer box.

Lower stretcher:cut to rough dimensions and ready for layout.

Same procedure here as top stretchers: one side finished.

I was able to nearly complete one of the stretchers before I had to shut down for the night.  Today we are expecting snow and/or a mix with freezing rain.  Sounds to me like the perfect day to sequester myself in the shop and hopefully make some major progress on the table.  We will see if my plans stand up to reality.  Wish me luck, and as always, thank you for taking the time to visit, I hope to see you again soon.