We’ve had a busy week, so I only got a few hours in after work all week. Once Sunday came along I was able to get most of the day down there.
First off, I got the holes drilled in the base for the through bolt. By doing this, the table will be ‘knock-down’ to help in moving / storage. In the end the base will break down into two sections, the top will be a single piece and then the glass will also come out. Once I drilled the holes in both pieces, I then layed out the mortise for the nut to sit in. I cut the mortise with a chisel and tweaked the fit so it would be sung so when the bolt is tightened, it will not spin. The mortise will ultimately get a plug to hold the nut in place.
Next I got into cleaning up the pillars and table supports with hand tools. It was a combination of my low angle jack plane, spokeshaves and card scrapers. The pillars were particularly tough to tame because of the heavy curl those pieces have. So for those I would fair the curve with my new Lie Nielsen Boggs Spokeshaves then get a final finish with the card scraper to control the figure. On all of the flat surfaces I used the No. 62 low angle jack plane sharpened at a steeper angle because of the heavy curl. The table supports were quite a bit easier because they were more straight grained. The same operation was used; spokeshaves on the curves and No. 62 on the flats, no need for the card scrapers here.
With everything cleaned up, it was time to begin the pegs for the mortise and tenon joints. I first laid out the three holes on one of the pillars and set up the drill press to keep all 4 sets of holes located properly. I then filled each mortise with a scrap to prevent tearout from the drill bit and drilled the 12 holes in the pillars. Then I drilled the holes in the tenons which are offset by approximately 1/32″. This processes called ‘draw boring’, is used to pull joints together with a mechanical connection that doesn’t require glue. With the holes offset and drilled, I then began to make the dowels out of some cocobolo stock that I have had for a while. I first cut the cocobolo into 3/8″x3/8″x6″ sticks, then in a ‘v-block’ turned the square into an ocotgon. By knocking off the corners it makes driving the dowel through the dowel plate much easier and produces a clean result.
Last night it was getting late but I wanted to see how these glue ups were going to work, so I tried one. Glue on the mortise, tenon and in the holes for the dowel. I then get some glue on the dowels and drive ‘em home. The other GREAT thing about draw boring a mortise and tenon joint is that clamps are not needed for the glue up. The tension created by the dowels is plenty of pressure while the glue cures. This tension also helps combat seasonal movement and gaps that are associated with it for the life of the piece.
It is always exciting when the first glue up of a project goes as well as this one! I’m quite happy with my progress, and can’t wait to eat my first meal at it! I have the three pillar/table support glue ups left, then its onto the base/pillar joints of which I will use the same process of draw boring. Until next time….thanks for reading!
-NWB
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- Through bolt hoding base together
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- Bolt coming through and mortise for the nut
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- Cleaning up the pillars with a card scraper
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- Pillars; all clean
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- Pillars cleaned up; with a dry fit. Look at that curl!
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- Cleaning up table supports with the good 'ol Lie Nielsen No. 62
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- Drilled the holes for the dowels in pillars
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- Holes drilled in pillars; dry fit to locate holes in supports
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- V-block used to prep dowels
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- Making a dowel!
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- Lie Nielsen dowel plate & some cocobolo
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- Cocobolo plugs on the first glue up
