fi rst hole or two will knock the corners off, and the fi nal hole
will scrape the entire edge of the dowel.
With a brad-point drill, I drill through the front edge and
about 1" into the tenon. I put a dab of glue in the hole, and
drive the dowel in place. After the glue dries, I trim it fl ush
with a saw, then pare it down fl ush with a chisel. A few
swipes with a block plane and it’s fi nished.
That’s the how to do it part. But why go to that much trouble
to reinforce a joint like that – where is it going to go?
I confess that I don’t have a good answer, except that I was
copying an original detail that does make a statement about
building for forever. But here’s how I usually explain it, "It’s
just in case there’s a disturbance in the earth’s magnetic fi eld
that yanks us out of orbit and sends us toward the sun. On
the way to oblivion it might get hot enough for all the glue
to melt and for the wood to shrink enough to pull out. Other
than that, I don’t think you need to do it."
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