TABL ES & C HAIRSTABLES & CHAIRS^113737
Don’t throw that away. The offcuts from tapering the upper rails are taped
b ac k in place t o ke e p t h e c lam p s f r om slid in g d u r in g as s e m b l y.Only if you have to. Because the lower end of the vertical slats are angled, they
only fi t in one place. They can be adjusted with a tap or two.Control the glue goo. Start the through-tenon in the mortise before brush-
ing on the glue to keep the end of the tenon clean.Stress management. With the sides glued into units, the last stage of the
base assembly is a simple matter.tion of the slats.
I let that dry in the clamps overnight, and glued the legs to
each end of the rail assemblies the following morning. To keep
glue from going everywhere around the through-mortises,
I started the tenons in the holes, then brushed glue on the
cheeks before assembling and clamping the joints.
After letting the rail-to-leg joints dry overnight, I marked
and drilled a^5 ⁄ 8 "-diameter hole 1^3 ⁄ 8 " deep on the inside of
each of the back legs. I then connected the two side assem-
blies with the front and back rails. This assembly was also left
in the clamps overnight.
The arms complete the side assemblies, and are cut from
a piece of 1^5 ⁄ 16 " x 5^3 ⁄ 8 " stock. I started with a piece several
inches longer than the finished length to get the angle of the
bend and the tenon locations right first. Before making the
arm, I made sure that the top edges of the top rails were in
line with the shoulders on the tops of the legs.
I placed the stock of an adjustable bevel on the shoulder of
the front leg, and set the blade to the slope of the rail. I trans-
ferred this angle to the edge of the arm. The bend is actually
a tapered slice cut from the top of the leg, then glued to the
bottom edge.
After making the cut on the band saw, I glued the wedge
to the bottom of the arm. This leaves the sawn edges exposed
on the top and bottom surfaces of the arm, and the previously
surfaced faces glued together. I removed the saw marks with
my plane.
Location, Location, Location
The through-mortises on the arms are the most visible joints
in the chair, and there aren’t any magic tricks or shortcuts to
the process. The mortises need to be just right, and in just the
right place. I fl ipped the assembled base of the chair on its
side so I could locate the joints in each arm directly from the
tenons.
I placed the arm on top of the tenons in the legs, lining up the
angle in the arm with the angle in the top rail behind the front leg.
With a square I carried the edges of the tenon around both the top
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