Popular Woodworking – August 2019

44 ■ POPULAR WOODWORKING

Limbert Side Chair

The legs are roughed out at the
band saw then pattern routed to fi nal
shape. The template is slightly longer
than the leg part to safely guide the
cut. You won’t be routing any end
grain here, which is a tricky proposi-
tion I like to avoid. Before removing
the leg from the template, mark the
cut lines at the top and bottom. Then
trim the legs to fi nal length and head
to the mortise.

Mortising
This chair, inspired by an uncata-
logued Charles Limbert design, calls
for slightly angled side rails, but we’ll
address that when it comes time to
cut the tenons. There are no angles
to contend with since the mortises

2 For consistency, reference

the outside edge of each leg

against the mortise fence. The

angled rear legs are elevated

on a scrap to keep the mor-

tises running straight and true.

3 Position a wedge on a

crosscut sled, and cut one

end of all four side rails. Then

set a stop block, and trim

each rail to fi nal length.

3

2 4

are all straight and square. Study the

materials list carefully, as the lower

rails aren’t all the same dimensions.

The rear lower rail is 2" wide, while

the others are 2^1 / 4 " wide. Lay out and

cut^1 / 2 "-wide mortises for the seat

rails and lower rails. All of the lower

framework tenons feature^1 / 4 " shoul-

ders. Next switch to a^3 / 8 "-hollow

mortising chisel, and cut the mortis-

es for the crest rail and belt rail. Cut

these mortises referencing the front

side of the rear legs. Just like the^1 / 2 "

mortises, these are 1^1 / 8 " deep.

Angled Tenons

With all of the leg mortises estab-

lished we can start thinking about

tenons. The side seat rails and side

lower rails angle outward a modest

2°. While that may not sound like

much, it results in the front legs

standing nearly 1^5 / 16 " wider apart

than the rear legs. Especially with

armchairs, I fi nd angled rails help

with accessibility and comfort. The

usual knock against angled tenons

(as opposed to angled mortises)

is that it weakens the tenon. With

Craftsman style furniture, the angles

are slight and won’t compromise

strength in any meaningful way.

If you’ve never tackled a chair with

angled joinery it can seem complicat-

ed. The method I use to cut angled

tenons is stone simple, and if you

have a dado set and a few scraps of

plywood you’re nearly ready to start.