Woodworker's Journal 2009-33-2, страница 33

Tapered legs and fiddleback maple lumber impart a graceful elegance to this project.

Expanding its usefulness is the drawer detailed below. The author allows for several joinery options.

conservation and keeping with a Shaker tradition of simplicity, I chose some leftover plainsawn ash and cherry from a previous project for the drawer sides and back.

After coming up with a comprehensive cutting list, I started making my rough cuts before straightening, planing and gluing up all the necessary components. The luck I had in finding wide planks then presented a challenge: how would I keep those table leaves reasonably flat for ihe distant future? My solution was to try another old-school technique, dovetailed slot wedges (more on this modification later).

Prepping the Stock

After busting the clamps loose, I set the top aside and went to work on the legs, scraping glue before planing them straight and square. I (hen set up for mortising, using

a 3hp plunge router with a 3/8" straight bit chucked in place. These are not deep mortises, so this method worked out nicely. After routing the mortises, I chopped the tops and bottoms square with a sharp chisel. Some folks like to round the tenons to match the holes, bul I find it to be much faster the other way around, as my 3/8" mortising chisel has a "take no prisoners" approach to this task. I then made a simple tapered leg template in 1/4" MDF, using it to transfer marks to the wood for cutting on the band saw. After I made the cuts on one face of each leg, I re-attached the scrap with carpet tape before turning the stock over to make the second cut, similar to an approach used on cabriole legs.

I'd planned on forming the tenons on Ihe table saw using a dado head, but the thought of making a blade insert and an ever-looming deadline helped dissuade me, sending me instead to the band saw. After cutting the tenon shoulders nice and square with the miter gauge on the table saw, I decided I could use my (rusty little shoulder plane to clean things up during the final fit.

Making the Undername Joinery

The framework on the drawer end of Ihe table requires two different joints. The bottom stretcher attaches to the legs using a simple stubby fork-tenon arrangement, executed in roughly the same manner as all the other mortise and tenons. The upper member is dovetailed into place. I cut ihe stretcher first and then chopped out the dovetail mortises to match.

Moving on to the aprons, I first plowed the grooves all around the

Woodworker's Journal April 2009 1 5

The rule-jointed drop-down leaves (below) add a degree of functionality and practicality to this table, hearkening back to its Shaker influences.