orepass

Today we begin work on the end table. Looking at the example near my bench it is clear that Paul has carefully thought through the lesson plans and has provided us with the skills needed to advance to this new project. The one joint that we will now practice in earnest is the mortise and Tenon and we have an aid to help us with the task.

The small jig in the picture is a guide, when placed in a vise adjacent to the mortise being cut it helps guide the chisel at a ninety degree angle and insure that the outside wall is straight.

After carefully looking at the wood grain and choosing the best faces we proceeded to lay out mortises on all four legs. I had a lot of trouble with the mortise gage we had, but eventually completed the task and began chopping mortises. This provided plenty of practice and once I hit a rhythm I completed all eight in a short period of time. Only one minor problem which was easily fixed with a clamp and glue as the wood split. These were then extended into haunched mortises and tenons cut into the aprons to fit.

Paul Sellers took a little time at this point to demonstrate saw sharpening and fortunately he sharpened the saw I was using with a progressive pitch. Saw sharpening has always been a mystery but with very clear instruction I now feel confident to do the job myself. The sharpened saw was amazing and the subtle change made a large difference in ease of starting a cut. The method can be found on You Tube under Paul Sellers saw sharpening.