Leg and Stretcher Assembly

[allencrane]

I now have the leg and stretcher tenons and stretcher mortises made, and I'm wanting to make some progress before the next video is published, but I also don't want to get ahead of myself with the sequencing. I too am wanting to go with the non-knock-down/permanent set up, which means I plan to drawbore all leg/stretcher joints and the leg tenons into the top.

Fortunately, my tenons and mortises are very smooth and tight - just backing them out after a dry fit is a workout. My question is about the sequence: I could drawbore the legs/stretchers to create the complete base, then mortise the underside of the top and attach the base via drawboring as well. However, these joints are already extremely tight and as I said above, backing out just one of them is a workout, so backing out all four at one time (and not having any racking because of the stretchers) will be a trick. I am between two options:

1. Assemble the base with drawbored joints and install into top. Pro: top mortise locations should be exact, base already assembled, etc. Con: may not be able to back out massive leg tenons from mortises, and therefore not drawbore. While tight today, this will likely loosen over time and is unacceptable to me for a multi-generation use bench.

2. Assemble the base (dry fit only) to mark/chop top mortises and drawbore later. Pro: Ability to individually set each leg into top and back out each one for drawboring, plus I can still make some progress until the next video. Also, the additional time before assembly will allow me to bore the front left leg for vise and parallel guide while the leg is still free, and not have to do it when already assembled. For example, the Benchcrafted leg vise plans show the leg already installed, and the chop being marked first, with measurements for the leg to come from the chop (but then p.11 of the Benchcrafted plans say to use a drill press if working with a free leg) Con: Though I'm not sure about this, creating all parts separately and doing the final assembly all at once might (?) introduce more give in the joints, since this is essentially using non-permanent joints as the reference for other joints. Or am I overthinking this?

Any advance help with the sequence would be terrific. Chalk it up to actually being able to finally envision what the bench is going to look like, and the boost of encouragement from those that have already completed their bench (not to mention being able to get on to the projects that have piled up in the last 2 months!) - very cool!

[thewoodwhisperer]

Well how about I tell you what I did? I fully assembled the base, drawbores and all. Then I flipped the slabs upside down and located the base on the slabs. Then I transferred the tenon locations, cut the mortises, and used a drill bit to transfer the hole locations through the rails and into the top. I then pre-drilled into the underside of the top for the Spax screws. Next, I flipped everything right side up and connected the top to the base with the Spax screws. That's it. No need for drawbores on the top. The screws plus the weight of the slabs means that top is going nowhere.

[allencrane]

Thanks Marc. That makes perfect sense, especially with +200lb coming down on those tenons. I may end up drawboring the top just for the experience, and as an engineer, I love these mechanical joints. As the bench sits upside down tonight in my small shop with the base assembled on the top, I am really surprised at how well this is all coming together, thanks to your videos and commentary, Aaron's plans, and the guild community. Here's to the home stretch!

[AMarshall]

Whichever way you go on the base, try to do as much work on the front left leg as possible while it is still loose. There is a lot of detail for the leg vise, and many of the holes are best drilled on the drill press before the base is assembled.

[allencrane]

Thanks Aaron. Will do. I decided to go ahead and drawbore the huge leg/top mortises, which means that I will chop and fit each mortise and leg separately. The extra time on each leg will allow me to focus one leg at a time (and keep me from rushing to bring the base together), so I can do the chop and left front leg together, then assemble, then install the vise hardware. Thanks again.