Workbench - Stretchers

 In my last blog, I mentioned that I would come to regret forcing the legs into place with a sledge hammer.  For one, the joints didn't fit the way they should in spots and by forcing them, I either split part of the bench or the high spot on the joint pushed the leg off the correct angle.  Also, my intention was only to dry fit the legs because I would still have to remove them to install the stretchers.

I initially flipped the bench upside down and tried knocking the legs upward with a 5lb hammer, but they didn't budge.  Since that didn't work, I flipped the bench back over and then put it up on my tall saw horses so that the legs were dangling up off the ground.  This allowed me to hammer downward and use a lot more force.  In this position I was able to use my sledge and after some good solid blows, I was able to get all four legs out.

Before I knocked the legs out, I used the bench to prepare the stretchers, which will connect the legs down by the floor.  Each stretcher will consist of two 2x6's glued together with one being longer than the other to form a tenon that will go into a leg.  I used standard home center fir 2x6's and after drying in my basement for the last few months they had cupped quite a bit.  To be able to glue them together I had to do a good amount of planing to get them flat and straight.

One 2x6 was a little longer than the other, which when glued together created a natural tenon.

Once again I used the process of using the auger drill bit followed by a mortising chisel to create mortises in the lower part of the legs where the stretchers will be located.  These mortises actually intersect on the inside, allowing the tenons to go as deep into the legs as possible.

Once the mortises were cut, I put a 45 degree cut on the end of the tenons and then trimmed them to match the height of the mortise.

I'm starting to see the daylight at the end of the tunnel on this project and I'm looking forward to actually putting this bench to work.

Workbench - Leg Joinery 2

After cutting the joinery into the ends of the bench legs, I then traced the joints onto the bench top.  Tracing is the only way to do this because each leg ended up being a little bit different.  Next, I used an auger bit to remove as much material from the mortise, which I then cleaned up with a mortise chisel.  Then I flipped the bench top over and repeated this from the other side and cleaned the mortise all the way through.

Next, I flipped the slab up on its side and cut out the dovetails.  I used a miter saw to make the angled cuts and one cut down the middle.  Next, I used my mortise chisel to pop out most of the material and then cleaned up the edges with a paring chisel.

After the joints were cut I tried to dry fit the legs into the bench top.  After a lot more cleaning up with the paring chisel I still had trouble fitting the joints.  Finally got out the sledge hammer and gave the legs a little extra encouragement (A decision I would come to regret).