Step 8 - Making Arms
All thumbnail pictures can be enlarged by clicking them.
As in most of our steps, the first thing to do is to lay out the shape of the arms and location of the tenon onto our part blanks using the template. This template also shows the location of the mortise in the bottom of the arm, but minor variances can move that joint around a bit, so I'll address that later on.
To start our tenoning process I use the chop saw to cut the tenon end of the arm blank to 12½° then set up the table saw with the miter fence set to 12½° and cut the shoulders on one side of each arm, then I have to re-set the fence to 12½° the other way and cut the tenon shoulders on the opposite side of the arms.
Now I can use the band saw to trim away the excess wood at the cheeks of the tenons, bringing the tenon thickness to just a hair over the 3/4" finished dimension. As I get close to the end of the cut I have to tip the arm up to 12½° and use the wedge to support the arm as I make the last part of the cut.
With the tenons complete I turn the arms on their sides and use the band saw cut the curvy shape in the front and top of the arms that make them so much more comfortable than a flat arm. These arms are 3" thick, so I take my time and let the blade cut, if I rush it the blade will start to wander inside the wood and produce unpleasant surprises. I cut about 1/16" outside the line so I have some wood to use in removing saw marks.
Then I drag out the legs, spreader and seat support for each end frame set and lap them together with each part on position on top of the legs. These parts have not yet been fitted together so the tenons won't go into their mortises yet. Then I can lay the arm in position and mark exactly where the mortise for the tenon atop the front leg will need to be.
I saved one of the cut-off pieces from the band sawing process to use as a cradle that supports the arm and keeps it level as I cut the mortise into the bottom of the arms.
The final tasks are to use the stationary belt sander to smooth away the band saw marks then use a large round-over bit in the router table to round off the upper edges of the arms. I change to a smaller bit to round over the lower edges.
Some hand work with some 100 grit sand paper to pretty things up a bit completes this step.
|