Takeyourbracebitwitha1”augerbit
and drill all the holes. Here’s a hint to
keep the drill bit from tearing out the
wood as it breaks through the other
side. First, you can place a scrap piece
of wood underneath if you’re drilling
on a flat surface (which you should do
anywaytoprotectthetipofthebit).
The scrap piece underneath will help
support the wood fibers keeping them
from tearing away. Second, if you’re
drilling your holes like Katie’s doing in
the picture with it clamped in a vise
you can drill just far enough so the tip
of the bit just pokes through. Take the
bit out of the hole, turn the piece
around and finish drilling your hole from the other side. This also
prevents the wood fibers from being torn away.
Step 6
To help us line up the nails so that they
go into the center of the bottom piece
we need to draw a line on the outside of
both end pieces. The bottom piece, if
you’ll remember, was placed 6 ¾” from
the top. To place the nails into the
center of the bottom we need to subtract
half the thickness of the board or 3/8”
from the 6 ¾”. This gives us a
measurement of 6 3/8”. Use your
combination square set to this
measurement and as before, slide it
along with your pencil to mark a line to
show where to nail.