Popular Woodworking 2000-06 № 115, страница 56

Cut the top off the leg about 23" up from the bottom, and for a ⁵/8" round tenon about 1V2" long with a beveled shoulder. Chamfer the end, but don't flatten the sides.

Take the back legs out of their jig, adjust the bends to match if necessary, then trim their bottoms. On the insides of the legs measure up from the bottom and put a mark at 11" for the seat spoke. The bottom spoke goes at 3¹/8" up from the bottom. The bottom spoke of the back panel goes 5V2" above the seat at 16^^/2" up from the bottom. Don't mark for the top of the back panel. The center of the mortise for the top slat is at 42" up from the bottom. Here I chop out the 2"-long mortise for the top slat with a ¹/4" mortise chisel, cleaning up the sides with a 1" flat chisel. Make the mortise deep and square and straight, without going through the side of the leg.

To determine the proper drilling depth for the spokes in the legs, I use an adhesive bandage wrapped around the base of the drill bit as a depth stop. I use a drilling shelf to keep things straight, (see photo below), though I still use my eyeballs to find the center of the leg. Drill ⁵/8" holes as deep as you can for all the spokes. To determine where to drill for the top spoke

While drilling the mortises, holding the legs firmly in place is all important. I use a 6" wooden shelf where the legs are held against a back-stop by driving a wedge between the leg and a large wooden peg placed in a 1" hole drilled in the shelf. Scribing a perpendicular line on the shelf keeps the drill bit square with the leg. Keeping the drill bit level with the shelf keeps the holes in line with each other.

of the back panel, assemble it without glue and snug the bottom spoke into its hole. I even drill the top spoke hole just a hair low to get a squeezing effect on the back panel assembly.

When all the holes for the front and back spokes have been drilled (we haven't done anything for the side spokes yet) round off all four legs with the spokeshave, trim the valley of the vase turning with the carving knife, then rub the legs down with wood shavings.

Shape the top slat and fashion tenons on its ends to fit the mortises chiseled in the back legs. Make sure the slat is good and smooth and that all corners are rounded.

Glue and assemble the back, taking a second to look it over for squareness. Put glue in the mortises, but not on the tenons. Likewise, glue and assemble the front and the back of the chair, making sure to keep the flats of the spoke tenons running parallel to the length of the legs. The tenons should fit tight. A heavy neoprene mallet knocks the pieces together quickly.

Now it's time to drill the holes for the side spokes. The centers for all but two of these holes are drilled ⁹/16" above the centers for the back and front spokes. The back holes for the two bottom side spokes go ^9/16" below the bottom back spoke. I do it this way so that I'll have more wood for the rear rocker joint.

These side holes will not be at right angles to the front or rear spokes. Being that the seat is a trapezoid, the front angle will be less than 90 and the rear angle will be greater. A template of the seat makes a good drilling guide. I drill the side holes the same way I do the front and back holes. The only difference is that this time when I put the leg on the drilling shelf, the leg on the other side is sticking up in the air in front of my face. If this is the front leg, I move it towards me 2" before securing the bottom leg. If it is the back leg I push it away from me 2".

When drilling the side holes, also drill ⁵/8" holes 1" up from the bottom of each leg for the beginning of the rocker joint. The back holes

Profile of back leg

Arm mortise location

V,

Centers for back spokes

5 1/2"

7 ⁷/8"

C.

3 ¹/8"

³/4"

8 ⁷/16"

4 1/2"

Offset centers for side spokes

^CL

4 1/2" ^CL

2 ⁹/16"

1 ⁵/16" notch

>-J

1 5/8"

for the rocker joint need to be drilled at an angle to match the top of the rocker pattern. Drill the rocker joint holes all the way through the legs. Also, this is when to drill the holes in the back legs where the back end of the arm will go.

Glue and assemble, and there you have the basic frame. Eye-ball the frame and if it's out of whack, you can usually improve the situation by pushing on the frame or using a rope and turn buckle.

Completing the Frame

The sides of the rocker joints are cut with a hand saw. The corners are then squared with the ¹/4" mortising chisel, and the sides are trimmed with a carving knife. Use a scrap piece of ⁵/8" board to check the fit and alignment front to back. The fit should be snug without splitting the joint.

Next square up the mortises in the back legs for the arms with a V4" mortising chis-