Beefy Leg Help

[walnut_weasel]

I am considering making a Stickley Eastwood chair. (Example: http://p2.la-img.com/306/23888/8556082_1_l.jpg ) The legs for this chair are very large (2-1/2" to 2-3/4" square). Also, the tops (end grain) of the rear legs are extremely visible. Due to the top of the rear legs being visible I am concerned that gluing up 2-3 thinner pieces would not look the best. However, finding dry 12/4 stock is proving to be nearly impossible. Does anyone have any ideas that would help me out?

Thanks,

James

[TRBaker]

James, if it were me, I would glue up some samples and see what it looks like. Try something like maple so you don't have a lot of grain to try to blend in. If it doesn't look good, go to a local cabinet shop and ask them if they can order some 12/4 stock from one of their wholesalers. Be aware though that heavier stock is usually heavily priced as well.

[Onboard]

Disclaimer: I am not a woodworker, and probably should not be posting this. So, for what it’s worth (or not).

You could do a quadralinear leg using a lock miter joint. Normally it’s used when creating a 4 sided leg (either chair or table) with quarter sawn oak, and you need the ray flecks to show on all 4 sides. It’s put together with 4 separate pieces of wood. In your case, even if your not using quarter sawn oak, you could still borrow from this idea. Here is a pdf that shows how to put one of these 4 piece legs together using lock miter joints.

That would work for the front legs. As far as the top of the back posts, I see they are rounded down to meet the top edge of the sides of the leg. You could do an insert and shape the insert to also round down to meet the top edge. Possibly bevel the inside of the top of the rear legs, and create the complementary bevel on the underside of the insert. A tenon of sorts could be created on the bottom of the insert which would fit down into the hole created by the four pieces of wood to secure the insert. I don’t know if that would work, but maybe you could assemble a short section of leg and an insert, to see if it gives you what you want.

A note on the embedded link / pdf. When I click on the web link, it wanted to do a separate download of the file and my browser needed me to approve the download. You may not experience that, but as far as I can tell, it’s a safe download (I saved the file).

Update: I found a recent article titled “Groove Center Simplifies Lock Miter Joint” on the Fine Woodworking site. Considering the cost of this jig, I’m not sure how many woodworkers would find it useful. It probably wouldn’t be practical for an occasional use, but if you make enough lock miter joints, it may be a useful tool to have around.

[wdwerker]

If you glue up 4 triangles to make the legs you could have Quarter sawn oak on all 4 faces. I would not use lock miter as the joint will show in your pillowed exposed tops. Glue 2 pieces then joint the face flat and glue again. Make it a bit oversized then shave down to proper size and corner alignment.

[Bob Lang]

Even if you could find 12/4 quartersawn white oak, it wouldn't look right. You want to see the quartersawn figure on all four surfaces of the leg. There are two reasonable ways to approach that, a "quadralinear" leg, where four 4/4 pieces are mitered together, or by laminating several pieces and covering the edges with shop made veneer, 1/8" to 1/4" thick.

With quadralinear legs, each of the four pieces has to be perfectly flat and straight or you won't be able to make a decent bevel cut, or other joint on the long edges. Simple miters are strong enough, but you'll have to prevent the pieces from slipping during glue-up. Easiest way I know is to put the pieces next to each other, face up on the bench with the beveled edges touching. Apply clear packing tape along the length of every joint but one, then flip the pieces over. Apply glue to the edges, fold the bevels together and wrap tape around the assembly to clamp it. You can go to a lot more trouble, adding rabbets, splines or mill the edges with a lock miter bit. Nothing wrong with any of that, but unless you're making many legs it won't be worth the effort, especially the lock-miter router bit. This type of assembly will leave a void in the center, but that can be filled with a small piece of stock.

Laminating legs and veneering the edges is quicker and less demanding, but there is a slight risk of the veneer cracking due to movement on the laminations. Quarter sawn oak will move more in thickness than in width, and many original pieces show cracks in the veneer. However, this is likely due to long-term storage in damp basements or oven-like attics.

Portions of the tops of the legs will be visible where the tenons protrude. In original pieces (Gus Stickley with laminated legs) it appears that they didn't worry about it, you can see the laminations and sometimes they point one way and sometimes the other. If you want to go the original guys one better you can arrange the end grain of the laminations to get a good match, getting a bookmatch in the center of the tenon is pretty simple if you pay attention.

For the sake of everything decent and righteous in the world don't fake the through tenon with a separate piece of wood! It's more work than doing it right in the first place and it never, ever looks right.