46 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING
Limbert Side Chair
all operations with the tenoning jig.
When the angled end of the rail is
fl at against the table saw, you have
the correct orientation. If there’s a
gap where the workpiece meets the
table saw, you have the wedge or
workpiece fl ipped the wrong way.
The only quirky thing about cut-
ting the shoulders with a dado blade
is the potential for visible scoring
lines on the workpiece. To prevent
this issue, I simply used painter’s
tape as a spacer to slightly elevate
the rail. Two layers of tape are
enough to do the trick. There will be
a smidge of material on the shoul-
ders to clean up, but don’t even
bother reaching for your shoulder
plane, a sanding block takes care of
it in short order. If you happen to
have a box-joint blade set, with teeth
that are ground fl at, you can skip the
tape trick entirely.
Rest Your Back
With the lower part of the chair
nicely underway, it’s time to think
7 The crest rail and belt rail are made from 8/4 stock and
feature offset tenons. As always, do the joinery before
the curves.
8 Sand the crest rail and belt rail smooth with an oscil-
lating edge sander. Starting with a course #50-grit belt
makes the process go more quickly.
9 Save the offcuts from the curved backrest rails as they
are useful for positioning the rails in the mortiser. The
crest rail and belt rail mortises are^1 / 2 " deep.7
8
9