Dave H Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 i've been building a roubo style workbench all the legs have a double through tennon the face tennon is dove tailed like the roubo christopher schwarz built. my question is now that i've faired the tennons to the mortises there are some minor discrepancies and gaps these are some massive joints after i've glued them should i just jam some feather wedges into the cracks or just use wood filler? any thoughts would be helpful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usacomp2k3 Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 That said, how big are the gaps that you are talking about? If it's less than 1/16, you might have to just use filler. Do you have any sawdust/shavings from the piece to make your own filler from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted April 19, 2011 Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Depending on the species and the size of the gap, a ball pien hammer can be used to "expand" end grain. You need to have made the joint pretty proud to be able to plane off the bruised part, though. That's what I've heard anyway. I've NEVER had to use that trick.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted April 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2011 Depending on the species and the size of the gap, a ball pien hammer can be used to "expand" end grain. You need to have made the joint pretty proud to be able to plane off the bruised part, though. That's what I've heard anyway. I've NEVER had to use that trick.... the legs are sitting 1/16 proud ,and the worst gap is maybe an 1/8 i'll bet your idea will work darnell. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 the legs are sitting 1/16 proud ,and the worst gap is maybe an 1/8 i'll bet your idea will work darnell. thanks i've been having second thoughts about the ball pean hammer trick. i dug out the august 2010 issue of popular ww and reread schwarz's article on the roubo he used wedges to tighten up his joints. i have the cut offs from my legs i'll make wedges out of that. thanks for the advise i'll save the ball pean hammer trick for some other time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darnell Hagen Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I would skip the hammer trick too, 1/8" is too much. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 the legs are sitting 1/16 proud Are you saying there's a 1/16" gap between the leg and the bottom of the workbench top? If so, you need to keep working on the joint until the shoulders of the leg tenons seat firmly on the bottom of the workbench top. Otherwise, you'll have problems with the workbench racking over the long haul. If the tenons are 1/16" proud of the top, that's easy. Just plane them off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Are you saying there's a 1/16" gap between the leg and the bottom of the workbench top? If so, you need to keep working on the joint until the shoulders of the leg tenons seat firmly on the bottom of the workbench top. Otherwise, you'll have problems with the workbench racking over the long haul. If the tenons are 1/16" proud of the top, that's easy. Just plane them off. thanks wibur everythings seated properly, and yes the legs are siting proud of the top 1/16". my problem was where the tennons penitrated the top which is 4" thick there are some gaps around the tennons, one of which is 1/8". i've been working on the jointery for several days and was a little disapointed. it's a new day and i'm just going to glue it up and jam feather wedges made out of the leg cut offs into the offending gaps and plane everything flush. thanks dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilburpan Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 thanks wibur everythings seated properly, and yes the legs are siting proud of the top 1/16". my problem was where the tennons penitrated the top which is 4" thick there are some gaps around the tennons, one of which is 1/8". i've been working on the jointery for several days and was a little disapointed. it's a new day and i'm just going to glue it up and jam feather wedges made out of the leg cut offs into the offending gaps and plane everything flush. thanks dave Doing accurate through tenons in a benchtop that thick is hard. If you are off by less than 1 degree from square on your tenon and less than 1 degree from square on your mortise, that could easily lead to a 1/8" gap on the other side. On my Roubo workbench, I took the easy way out and used double blind mortise and tenon joints to join the legs to the top. I'm sure there are gaps that big at the ends of my tenons, but no one will see them. Besides wedges, you could make this into an inlay exercise. It could look really cool if you outlined your tenons with a contrasting wood. No one will even know you had a gap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave H Posted April 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 Besides wedges, you could make this into an inlay exercise. It could look really cool if you outlined your tenons with a contrasting wood. No one will even know you had a gap. i like the inlay idea that would look sweet. thanks wilbur Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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