I would like to make a shaker style table with two fixed shelves. I would like to use traditional tapered legs with the shelves sitting atop (and afixed to) the stretchers. Can I just cut deeper mortices before I taper the legs? Is there a down side to having some space at the bottom o f the mortice? I could also use the domino after the taper, but my chances of getting the angles right are limited.
How to domino stretchers between two tapered legs??
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jonny round boy
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There's no particular issue with having a few mm gap in the bottom of the mortice.
There's no issue with angling the domino - it doesn't matter what angle the taper is, the domino will always go in at 90 degrees to the face of the leg, and 90 degrees to the end of the stretcher.
Maik said:
There's no issue with angling the domino - it doesn't matter what angle the taper is, the domino will always go in at 90 degrees to the face of the leg, and 90 degrees to the end of the stretcher.
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Never tried it, but another option you could try is to keep the off cuts of the taper. Then clamp them or pin nail them back to the piece to Domino your mortise. This would give you the right angle. You could slide the off cut to a position to get the depth right by using the thinnest part of the off cut piece.
Like Jonny said, no issue with a gap in the bottom of the mortise though.
Like Jonny said, no issue with a gap in the bottom of the mortise though.
mouppe
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I am currently building a pair of tables with tapered legs that fix to the aprons and sides of the tables. It is a very complicated joint as the joints are i) tapered, ii) offset and iii) angled.
There are two ways of overcoming the angled joint issue. One is to cut the end of the apron at an angle, and the second is to insert the domino at an angle. I used both and one is no harder than the other. Using a bevel gauge and a couple of test pieces was how I got it right.
Because the apron in my case is curved, I had to offset the domino so that it did not blow out. In the end I used 6x40mm dominoes cut down to 30mm and mortised 15mm each side.
Perhaps the photos explain it better. You can see the aprons meeting the legs at an angle and the offset- about 10mm. I referenced off the top and made all my mortises on the narrowest setting. The photos are of a dry fit which is why you see some gaps in the joints.
PM me if you need more details.
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There are two ways of overcoming the angled joint issue. One is to cut the end of the apron at an angle, and the second is to insert the domino at an angle. I used both and one is no harder than the other. Using a bevel gauge and a couple of test pieces was how I got it right.
Because the apron in my case is curved, I had to offset the domino so that it did not blow out. In the end I used 6x40mm dominoes cut down to 30mm and mortised 15mm each side.
Perhaps the photos explain it better. You can see the aprons meeting the legs at an angle and the offset- about 10mm. I referenced off the top and made all my mortises on the narrowest setting. The photos are of a dry fit which is why you see some gaps in the joints.
PM me if you need more details.
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mouppe
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Tim, you got me. [embarassed]
Once I started building the tables, I had to change the proportions depending on what looked better to the eye. So the legs became more slender, the aprons more curved, the sides flared out etc. I think most projects take on a life of their own once you start them at least mine do.
Once I started building the tables, I had to change the proportions depending on what looked better to the eye. So the legs became more slender, the aprons more curved, the sides flared out etc. I think most projects take on a life of their own once you start them at least mine do.
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Another option would be to cut the mortises after tapering using the middle width setting. The Domino will provide front-to-back alignment but not up-and-down alignment.
Jesse Cloud
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Beautiful table! How did you get the curves in the aprons? Laminations? Steam bending?
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Flair Woodworks said:
Not sure what you mean...I need to make the mortices parallel to the table top while the leg sides will not be perpendicular.
Another question....any idea as to how deep I can go with the D5 cutter? If the Domino will let me go deeper, say as if I were using a 5X40 domino, I will then be able to use a 5X30 and be sure the joint will be plenty strong. I would prefer to not cut down the 5X30....and a 6x40 is larger than I would like.
mouppe
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Jesse Cloud said:
Jesse,
Thanks! I'm doing it the old school way. You cut a thick pine board into strips, cut them to rough shape on the bandsaw, shape them using a template, stack them and glue them, then hand sand to a final dimension. Next comes the sapele veneer. It's a laborious process but the results can be excellent.
With curves, you can only do so much with power tools, and then you have to reach for the hand tools. I think it's one reason why so much modern furniture is linear in design.
Here is the apron before I cut it to length. You can see the pieces stacked one on top of the other.
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Maik,
You could have a 20mm mortise at one end, and a 12mm mortise at the other, and use a 30mm domino.
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Maik,
I suppose before I posted my last response, I should have asked if the legs are tapered on all sides or just the insides. The extra width of the mortise allows the stretcher to be aligned flush with the leg. Make sense now?
I suppose before I posted my last response, I should have asked if the legs are tapered on all sides or just the insides. The extra width of the mortise allows the stretcher to be aligned flush with the leg. Make sense now?
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Richard Leon said:
Good catch, Richard. I forgot to mention that part.
Jesse Cloud
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Maik,
I think it would be helpful to all of us if you could give us more detail about the size and shape of the legs and the stretchers and what you intend to put on the shelves. Ideally, a drawing would be best.
This is a challenging joint due to angles, small sized pieces, wood movement, and shear against the joint caused by the weight placed on the shelf span. Might be appropriate to step back and think of all the options for doing this.
I think it would be helpful to all of us if you could give us more detail about the size and shape of the legs and the stretchers and what you intend to put on the shelves. Ideally, a drawing would be best.
This is a challenging joint due to angles, small sized pieces, wood movement, and shear against the joint caused by the weight placed on the shelf span. Might be appropriate to step back and think of all the options for doing this.
Jesse Cloud said:
I am not good at drawings...but the table will be 26 inches high. The legs will be 1.5 inches square at the top, and the taper will start 3 inches down from the top to accomodate a 2.5 inch apron. To make the process simple, I will taper the two inside faces to about 1.15 inches at the bottom. I would like one shelf to be approx 4 inches from the bottom of the legs and the second shelf approx 14 inches from the bottom. The stretchers will likely be 3/4 inch material approx 1 inch wide. The shelves will extend from side to side (inside the legs with ample clearance to allow for expansion) and be made from solid hardwood.
The first one will be made from QS red oak and if it works out, subsequent ones will be made from cherry. It is intended to be a small TV stand that will hold a flat panel TV and a couple of components.
Jesse Cloud
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Not sure the Domino would be the best joint for this, given you would have to do a short grain glue surface in the leg. You might consider some steel rod to connect the legs, anchored into cross dowels. The shelves could sit on top of the steel rod.
