Creative Woodworks & crafts 1998-03, страница 22

Make the leg assembly

Prior to beginning the assembly process, use a doweling jig to drill the 3/8"-Dia. hole in the upper rail of both sets, This dowel pin serves two purposes: first, it joins the two rails together; second, it provides a locating pin that serves to align the two discs that form the top and bottom shelves (see Fig. 5). Once the table is assembled, the hole will be drilled to its finished depth. Starting the hole now will insure a straight hole later on when the table is assembled.

Before assembly, one final operation must be performed on the bottom rails. The tenons were left approximately 1/4" longer than needed. This extra length must now be trimmed off.

Insert the tenons into their respective mortises and mark the overall length on the outside end of the tenon. Add 1/4" to this length and cut the tenon off using a miter box saw with a carbide tipped saw blade. A carbide tipped blade works well for this operation because it produces a finished cut on the end grain that requires little, if any sanding (see Fig, 6).

Next, cut a 45 degree x 1/8" decorative chamfer all the way around the tenon ends using the miter saw.

Begin the assembly process by applying glue to the tenons and to the mortises of the set of legs that contain the lower rails. Clamp the assembly together, making sure everything is square, and allow the glue to set for about an hour.

No matter how careful you are or what you do, if you pin your joints together, the pins will show. Making them a part of the design by using wood of a contrasting color, such as walnut (see Fig. 7), will really let them stand out.

Once the pins are dry, sand them off flush—the random orbit sander works well here.

A standard dowel pin is approximately 1-1/2" in length, too long for the pin needed for this project. Insert the pin into the joint and mark the top edge. Add the depth of the hole in the shelf, less 1/8"—this will be just the right length for the pin.

Glue the pin into the bottom rail and apply glue to the

Make the shelves

While waiting for the leg assemblies to cure, glue up stock for the top shelf. This piece measures 7/8" x 15-1/2"-Dia. Large tops tend to warp easily, so I used six pieces of wood to form mine. When the glue has cured, scrape off any hardened glue and plane the top and bottom shelf down to the finished thickness.

The circular shelves could be cut freehand, but it is both easier and more accurate to use a circle cutting jig on a band saw, Bore a 3/8"-Dia. hole 1/2" deep in the center of the underside of each shelf (these can be used as the locating holes on many circle cutting jigs), Cut the shelves to the proper dimensions (see Fig. 8) and sand the edges smooth. Again, the random orbit sander is just the ticket for this task. Sand the fop and bottom surfaces as well,

Next, use a router to make a 45 degree x 1/4" chamfer around the top surfaces of each shelf

The 3/8"-Dia. hole drilled in the underside of the shelves is now used to center the shelves on the stand. With a 3/8"-Dia. bit in a hand drill, deepen the hole in the rails so that it enters the bottom rail by about 1/4". Be sure that the dowel pin which will be glued into this hole enters the bottom rail as it will also serve to join the two rails together at the half lap joint.

Fig. 6. The lower rail. Decorative chamfers have been cut on the ends of the exposed tenons.

Fig. 4. locating where the bottom of the mating half lap joint will be.

Fig. 5. &oring the locating pin hole in the top half of each set of rails. This hole will be deepened later on, after the stand Is glued together.

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