Arts and Craft Side Table – Mortises
After all the lumber was milled and cut to size I spent time carefully laying out the mortises. The plans call for through mortises at the bottom of each leg, so I took my time to ensure I didn’t cause any damage to surrounding areas. Additionally the legs are visible on three side since the top will be circular.
A couple of hours and the mortises are in place with no real problems. It was very relaxing to chop away and I could feel my stress fall away. Took a couple of sharpenings of the chisel but each mortise on took a pass from each side. The first pass was about an inch deep then I flipped the piece and chopped the remaining half inch from the other side.
Before cleaning up for the day I laid out the tenons on the lower rail and the center bridal joint. Haven’t cut one of those in a while so I’ll have to think about the best approach this evening. The upper rail is dovetailed into the top of the leg which is also a technique that I’ve done infrequently. One of the reasons for this table was the couple of joints that will make it fun.
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What is the design you’re building? The mortises look great, by the way!
Hi Joe, forgot to add the article in my blog. May June 2006 issue of Fine Woodworking. I thought very seriously about some of the tables you have built recently but I have most of the lumber on hand and can knock this out fairly quick.