Knock Down or No?

[rmac]

I know! Put some 4" thick legs on the 6" wide barstool. That way you won't need to mess around with the stretchers at all.

-- Russ

[peter_bernhardt]

As I approach the base portion of the workbench build, I find myself wondering if I should bother with the knock-down joinery. For me personally, being able to remove the top is mobility enough for if/when I move the bench to a different location. Flat-packing it just isn't necessary. So I'm thinking I will just use glue and drawbore the joints.

My question for those who are building this bench is, do you see a real need for the knock-down joinery? I might just cover the drilling technique using sample pieces so you can see how it is done. But I am trying to gauge just how many folks actually plan on using this method.

I don't need a knockdown and would prefer to use the big mortise and tenon joints for the strength and craftsmanship involved.

[AdamAronson]

Working on this today actually (the permanent long stretcher draw bores). Any thoughts about where the pegs should go? Also, is it me ( ) or are there no clear dimensions for the location of the bottom (short) stretcher draw bore holes? According to SketchUp I've got the bottom one centered at 6 3/16" from the bottom. For aesthetics I'm thinking both lower stretcher draw bores should be in the same position. Should this matter given the differing widths of the long and short stretcher tenons?

[TFPtrader]

I ran into the same thing looking for the peg hole locations. There are no clear dimensions related to the lower peg hole elevations. I used the center of the mortises (which are all the same) 7-1/8" from the bottom of the legs and went 15/16" on either side of that center line to layout the peg hole centers.I don't think the 1/4" difference in the tenons is all that critical for the pegs. In reality, it's only an 1/8" difference to the edge of the tenon. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's a major concern. Of course I did the knock down version, but I say - go for the aesthetics - go team go.

Art K.

[thewoodwhisperer]

When it comes to the pegs, you don't really want to look at total distances from the end of the workpiece. The real important dimension is related specifically to then mortise and tenon joint itself. So I recommend doing exactly as Art suggested, measure out in both directions from the center of your mortises. The lower side stretcher pegs are labeled as 1 7/8" from each other on center. So just take half of that and measure out in each direction from the center of your mortise. The same rule applies for the front stretcher pegs if you choose to use them. But instead of 1 7/8", I spaced mine 1 5/8" on center, compensating for the 1/4" narrower tenon. I like the idea of having that 5/8" buffer between the peg and the end of the tenon.

[AMarshall]

Whoops - did I miss a dimension in the plans? I'll review and see if I can fix it.

[TFPtrader]

Not a big deal on the lower rail peg hole locations. As Marc said, you really want to keep the peg locations tied to the tenon locations. There was enough info available in the plan sheets to back out the numbers and do the actual layout. For anyone not using the barrel nut and bolt assembly, a notation for peg hole locations would be useful, as in Adams case. Other than that, there is nothing short of excellence with these plans. Great job Aaron!!!

Art K.