Chapter XV

Making a Table

In Fig. 101 is shown the perspective of a table which contains a glue joint, closed mortise-and-tenon, and a pinned mortise-and-tenon joint. By means of the working drawing, Fig. 102, make out a stock bill and order the necessary lumber. The lumber for the top is to be cut in several pieces.

The top may be built up first and the glue allowed to dry while the other parts are being made. If the boards are rough, one side should be planed up for a face side. Before jointing the edges, take a look at the ends of the pieces as well as the surfaces. Lay out the pieces the way they are to be fitted to one another and mark them so that this order can be maintained hereafter. The annual rings should be fitted as in Fig. 103. If this is done, any warpage in one piece will tend to equalize that of its neighbor so that the general surface of the top will be level. Again, so plan the fitted parts that the surface grain may all run in the same direction. If this is not done, it will not be possible to plane the surfaces over the joints with­out roughing up the wood from one direction or the other.

Place two pieces in the vise (Fig. 104), face sides together, and plane the edges until you think they are straight and level, no try-square test is necessary. Use a jointer and make sure the plane iron is ground straight across.

Separate the pieces and, keeping one in the vise, set the other on this, both face sides on the same side of the work. Look at the joint to see whether any light can be seen through it. Also slide the top board endwise to feel for suction. Tap the lower board lightly to see if the upper will rock. Finally test as shown in Fig. 105 to see whether the face sides lie in the same plane or not. Plane until you get a good joint, for a poor glue joint is no joint at all.

When a surface of contact has been obtained that extends the whole length of the edges, and the face sides lie in the same plane, the clamps are to be gotten ready and the glue heated preparatory to gluing the joints. Figure 106 shows the manner of applying the glue to the edges. Figure 107 shows the boards in the clamps. Before applying the glue, have every­thing in readiness, the wood warmed, if possible, so that it: will not chill the glue, in order that no time may be lost between applying the glue and the clamp­ing.

When the glue has hardened, which usually takes 24 hours, the clamps are to be removed and the pieces surfaced and treated as one. Sometimes dowels are used between glue joints. Many mill-men, however, do not consider them necessary.

The mortises and their tenons may be made next. The tenons on the upper stretchers are to be 1 in. long, so that the full length of each piece will be 27½ in. They are to be shouldered on three sides. Ten­ons may be shouldered on one, two, three or four sides. The reason for shouldering these on three sides and making one of these shoulders so large is to prevent any danger of splitting out the ends of the legs.

The important thing in laying out mortises and tenons is to keep the head of the gauge always against the face side or the face edge and to make as much use of the tool you hold in your hand as is possible before laying it down to take up another. As an illustration, the tenons of the upper stretchers are 1/2 in. thick. This leaves 1/4 in. on either side. The am­ateur always wants to gauge both of these sides with the same setting of the gauge, 1/4 in. This is con­trary to trade practice, for, while it saves resetting the gauge, it makes the thickness of the tenons de pendent upon the thickness of the stock. The correct way is to set the gauge to1/4 in. and gauge all the tenons for this setting, holding the head of the gauge against the face side, then reset to 1/4 in., plus the thickness of the tenon, 1/2 in., which makes 3/4 in. Again hold the head of the gauge against the face side. In this way all the tenons will be 1/2 in. thick, no matter how much the pieces may vary in thickness. This same principle applies to gauging the mortises.

Fig. 105 —Testing: for Flat Surface

In laying off the shoulders and tenon lengths, place the pieces in the vise or clamp them together on the bench with the face edges up. The face edge of the upper stretchers is to be the lower edge of the piece and on the lower stretchers, the upper edge. Meas­ure from the centers of the stretchers toward the ends one-half the distance called for. Measure on out to­ward the ends from these lines the length of the tenon. Mark these places with a knife and with try-square place knife lines across the edges of all the pieces. Separate the pieces and with knife and try-square carry these lines entirely around the pieces, observing the rule about keeping the beam of the try-square against only the face side or face edge.
Observing the cautions given above, gauge the pieces on the surfaces and edges as far back as the shoulder lines just made and across the ends.

Using the tenon saw or backsaw, first rip carefully to the gauge lines, keeping the kerf on the waste but leaving no wood between it and the line. Second, crosscut to the knife lines that indicate the shoulders, Fig. 108.

Fig. 106 — Applying Glue to the Edges

The mortises are to be made next. Place the legs on the bench, face sides up, and measure off the loca­tions of the ends of the mortises. The face sides are to be turned in and the mortises are to be worked in them, because they are more likely to be accurate than are the other sides, the shoulders are more likely to fit up snugly against them. Separate the legs and carry the lower lines entirely around. It will be well to use a sharp pointed lead pencil in marking around the legs for the lower mortises.

Fig. 107 —Boards in Clamps

These mortises extend entirely through the legs so that the lines have to be carried all around the legs and were knife lines used, they would show badly on the finished piece. Keeping the gauge head against the faces, gauge the sides of the mortises. Gauge all the mortises first at 7/8 in., then at 1⅜ in. The ends of the mortises which were penciled may now be knifed between the gauge lines to facilitate setting the chisel. Use the try-square with the knife.

In laying off for gauge settings, instead of meas­uring directly for them, the rule is placed as in Fig. 97 of Chapter XIV. The measuring is done from the center of the piece each way. Afterward, the spur is set in these knife-point marks and the head pushed up against the face and the screw set.

There are two ways of cutting a mortise that are common. One way, which is especially advanta­geous in large mortises, is to bore a series of con­nected holes very nearly the entire length of the mortise. If the mortise is closed, as are the upper mortises in the legs of this table, the holes must be of uniform depth and correct. Figure 109 shows a sim­ple device for obtaining uniform and correct depth. The block is to be sawed off to the length required by the depth of the mortise and the length of the bit. This can be determined by turning in the spur until the lips are ready to cut, then measuring the length of the bit up to the jaw. Subtract from this the depth of the hole and the length of the block is known. Be­ginning at the center, pare off thin slices of wood until the gauge and knife lines are reached. The sides of the mortise must be cut down plumb or the tenon cannot fit. In the through tenon and mortise the holes must be bored from each side of the leg and likewise chiseled.

The second method consists in only chiseling the mortise. Use a chisel that is the same width as that of the mortise. Stand so as to be able to look along the length of the mortise and cut out a V-shaped open­ing the depth of the mortise, Fig. 110. If the mortise is to extend through, cut a little over half way. Next, begin in the center and, with the bevel side of the chisel toward you, take vertical cuts and work grad­ually toward the other or far end. Cut the full depth of the mortise each time and pull the chisel toward you after each cut before removing it to break the waste from the sides of the mortise. Cut to within 1/8 in. of the end and then reverse the piece and cut out toward the second end. Pry out the chips occasion­ally. Finally finish the two ends out to the knife line but do not pry on them after these cuts. If the mor­tise is a through one, cut one side of the leg then re­verse and cut from the second side, being careful that the cutting from the second side shall be plumb. Otherwise there will be danger of the chisel splintering the arrises of the first side. Never allow the chisel edge to be forced beyond two-thirds of the way through.

There remains the boring of the holes for the pins. Lay these out very carefully on the legs with rule, try-square and gauge. Instead of inserting the ten­ons and boring both mortise sides and tenons at once, lay out the holes on the tenons separately, very care­fully. Use the same measurements as for the mortises, except that the center is to be drawn toward the shoulders about 1/32 in., strong. This is to insure the pins pulling the shoulders up snugly to the leg and is called draw-boring. Too much draw-bore would split the tenon, therefore care must be taken to have everything just right.

Fig. 110 —Cutting a Mortise

Use 3/8-in. doweling for pins. Cut them off longer than the leg is wide and point the end so that it can find the way through without splitting off the arrises of the hole at the far side. Use glue and clamps on the upper joints.

The top is to be fastened from the under side of the top stretchers by means of screws.

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