Corbels, Arc, Mortises & First Dry Fit

Using my Sketchup model as a reference I drew the shape of the corbels onto the prepared stock, and cut it out roughly on the bandsaw.  Then with sandpaper and a card scraper I smoothed them out to their final shape.

I forgot to take a photo of the setup for drawing the arc, but basically I bowed a piece of plywood to the correct vertical distance at the center point of the arc and traced the curve with a pencil.  Cut it out roughly on the bandsaw, and smoothed it out with sandpaper.

The mortises will be done with my benchtop mortiser, but before I drive out to my brother's shop I need to spend some time marking out where the mortises will be.

Step 1: Mark the height of the mortise using the actual tenon as a guide.

Step 2: Use a marking gauge set to the distance of the cheek of the tenon from the face of the tenoned part to mark where the face-side edge of the mortise will be.  This will ensure that the faces of the parts will be flush to one another when you assemble them.

Step 3: Hold the tenon in place and draw the opposite edge.  It's always better to use the actual part for this measurement.  Introducing a ruler at this point is an unnecessary step that can introduce errors.  If the goal is to make a square hole the exact size of the tenon, the use the tenon as your frame of reference.

Step 4: Hold the tenon in place over the mortise-part like so and indicate the depth you'll need the mortise to be.  This mark will come in handy when setting the mortiser depth stop.

Extra Step: If you screwed up one of the tenons by cutting on the wrong side of the line, like I did, and it's a little smaller than the other one, make sure you mark it clearly and keep track of it the entire time.  It's not a mistake if you hide it inside a perfectly fitting mortise.  :)

Step 5: I didn't bring my camera to my brother's shop, but drilling the mortises is pretty straight forward.  It's a square chisel with a drill bit inside of it.  It drills square holes.  For the through-mortises I drilled from both sides to prevent grain from spelching out and ruining the look.

(not bad)

(perfect, my best fitting through-mortise & tenon yet)

I used my brother's router table with a straight bit to make the double-stopped rabbets on the stiles.  I'll chisel out the corners by hand.

And here's the final dry fit.  The tenon shoulders need a little tweaking to remove the gaps and bring everything in nice and tight, and I'll probably relieve some of the tenon cheeks so the fit is a little easier so I don't run into trouble during glue-up.

Joinery Begins

Marking the Tenons

I chose to start with the top rail.  I used my precision double square to set my marking gauge to the correct distance, and scored the shoulders of the tenons, then the cheek cuts.  This particular part is going to have an arc cut into the rabbet in which the mirror and backer board will live, so there's a little extra meat below the tenon.  Ordinarily a tenon wouldn't be cut this small.  I'm not sure if it'll end up being a problem or not, but this is the method I've chosen for this project.

Sawing the Shoulders

To prevent any grain from tearing, I go over my marking gauge lines with my marking knife and square.  Then using a chisel, I cut into the "knife wall" to create a little ramp for my saw to follow.

I think I heard this tip from Christopher Schwarz.  Use the reflection of the wood in the saw plate to make sure your cutting square and plumb.  All you have to do is adjust the saw until the wood continues into its reflection perfectly.  All the more reason to keep your saw shiny!

If you're like me and you lack confidence or skill when sawing shoulders on wider boards, add some training wheels.  In this next photo I've clamped a board along my shoulder line and I'm using it to help guide the saw.

Sawing the Cheeks

I do this on the bandsaw.  My carcass saws aren't always big enough to handle this as I've been doing a lot of through-tenons.  I try to leave the line so I'll have some wood to pare away to get a good fit later.

Finishing up the Tenons

Just mark and trim away the sides of the tenon.  Use a chisel to clean it up if your saw cuts weren't perfectly plumb.

Important Point About Cut Lists

As soon as I cut the shoulders for the top rail (the first part I cut), the cut list goes out the window.  It doesn't do me any good to cut all of my parts according to the measurements on the cut list anymore because once that first cut was made, errors may have been introduced.  

I'll be basing all of my joinery from this point forward on measurements of the work itself.  In this case, after the top rail tenons were finished, I placed it alongside the uncut bottom rail and marked the exact locations of the tenon shoulders for the bottom rail.  Had I not done this, my bottom rail would have been 1/16" longer than my top rail, which might not sound like much, but in a complicated project, little errors like those can sneak up and bite you.  Cut lists are dangerous.  

My mirror might not end up measuring exactly what my cut list or Sketchup model said it should be, but as long as my joints are tight, you're never going to notice that it's 1/16" narrower.

Dovetail Markers

Dovetail Markers and a Saddle Square

Dovetail stuff

In preparation for starting to cut dovetails by hand, I decided to make (instead of buy) dovetail markers. These little doohickies allow you to draw the angle for the pin or tail while also drawing the corresponding plum line without having to switch between a bevel and a square.  Since I wasn't sure which angle I preferred, I decided to make one of each of the popular ones.

In order to determine the angles, I didn't use a protractor. I hate math. I just drew a few points on a piece of scrap wood. From the corner, I marked a point 1" in, and another point 6" up, and 8" up. Then I used my bevel gauge to connect those dots for the 1:6 and 1:8 markers.

For the 14 degree marker (a popular dovetail angle) I had to do a little more work. I don't own a protractor, so I opened up Sketchup and drew a 14 degree angle, then drew a guide 1" over, and figured out how far it was up the point where the guide meets the angle (just over 4"). So I went back to my scrap wood and drew that.

Using the bevel gauge, I transferred the lines onto these little blocks of wood. Then I lined them up with the miter saw blade and cut them. They turned out perfectly. That miter box is awesome.

Because I had extra scrap leftover I decided to make a 90degree saddle square. These are handy for when you need to draw a line that wraps around the edges of a board.