Popular Woodworking – October 2019

POPULARWOODWORKING.COM ■ 37

8 A chisel helps square up the cor-

ners for a perfect fi t.

9 Set the tiles in place using simple

construction adhesive on the

plywood.

10 Pay attention to the numbering

on your tiles, and don’t hesitate

to use your spacers again to keep

things even.

8

9

10

date the plywood sub-top. To get the
exact depth, fl ip the table over and
use a tile for exact measurement.
This is the correct depth to aim for.
Install a rabbeting bit with bearing
into the table router. Take multiple
light passes as the porous white oak
is prone to chipping and tear-out.
This leaves a perfect rabbet with
rounded corners.
Flip the top assembly over, extend
the straight lines to defi ne the 90°
corner, and chisel out the waste.
Once the rabbet is set, cut the ply-
wood sub-table for the tile and set it
in place. Apply construction adhesive
thickly only underneath the tiles and
set the tiles using the spacers. Don’t
allow construction adhesive to get on
the spacers.

Make the Legs
The legs are the simplest part. Lay
out the mortises on the legs. Each
leg will have two mortises on top
for the aprons, and one mortise

midway down for the stretcher

which will hold the shelf in place.

To simplify the design, all of the

mortises are in the center of the

legs. Using the same technique as

the top frame, use a drill press to

excavate most of the material and

clean up the mortises with chisels.

The Angled Stretchers

The legs angle out at 3° in each

direction. All of the leg joinery is

cut at 90°, but all of the tenons

are angled at 3°. The fi rst step is

to attach a sacrifi cial fence to the

miter gauge and set a 3° angle. Cut

each part to the overall length with

an angle on each side. Next, set a

3° angle on a sliding angle fi nder,

and then mark a^1 / 2 " long tenon on

each stretcher. Set the blade to^1 / 4 "

above the table top surface, and use

one of the marked pieces to set the

correct depth of the tenon. Clamp a