Gary, In the June issue of fine woodworking, on pages 40 and 41 Jensen’s bench plan is shown. Note that the tenons on the front and rear rails and on the outside seat rails are shown as 1 1/4 in. long and they are mortised into legs that are 2 1/2 in. square. The seat rails and the front and rear rails intersect in the legs, therefore the tenons cannot both be 1 1/4 inches long. One tenon has to be slightly less than 7/8 in. to eliminate interference. On which rails would you suggest I make the tenons appx. 7/8 in. long. I also could make both tenons 1 1/4 in. and cut a 3/8 by 3/8 rabbit on the end of one tenon. Regards, shebe
Edited 7/23/2008 10:24 am ET by shebe
Replies
Hey Shebe,
Sorry but you can get a 2" long tenon on both rails if you want. It's all a question of where you put them on the rail. I don't believe this is discussed in the article but if you look at the exploded drawing, there is a hint of an offset tenon. If you look at the seat rail tenon, you can see it's not quite centered.
Kick your rail to the outside of the leg instead of centering it and then kick your tenon to the face side of the rail. You can get plenty of penetration without the tenons running into each other. If you don't want the hassle of that construction, there's nothing wrong with a miter relief cut to allow the joints to meet up. Good luck. Gary
Gary, Thanks for the reply. Looking more closely at the photo on page 44, where Jensen is assembling an end to the rails, I notice that the end of the tenon on the rear rail is cut at an angle. That is probably the easiest way to eliminate the interference. Shebe
Hey,
Yeah, mitered ends absolutely are the easiest way. I still think those tenons are offset though and then they're relieved with that miter cut. Good luck to you with the project. Gary
Gary, Thanks for the reply. I have another question about this bench.If you look at the sketches on the bottom of page 41, in the side view the seat rail is shown as 12 1/4 inch from the bottom of the leg. The front view shows the front rail as 12 in. from the bottom of the leg. The seat rail is 2 1/2 in. wide and the front rail is 3 in. wide. So the dimension to the top of the seat rail at the front leg is14 3/4 in. and the dimension to the top of the front rail is 15 in. The seat slat that screws to the top of the front rail will be 1/4 in. higher than the second seat slat that rest on the seat rail. I would think these two seat slats should be flush. The 12 1/4 in. dimension would have to be 12 1/2 in. to make them flush. Can you think of a reason to offset these first two seat slats?
Yeah, it looks to me like he has offset his rail heights because the first slat, the one closest to the outside of the seat is flat. The next rail sits down into the start of the curve of the side rail. To get their edges to line up with one being flat and one at an angle, you have to drop one down or raise one up. This way their top edges come out flush. Try it on a couple pieces of scrap and you'll see. If you don't drop that side rail, when you tip the slat it goes higher than the front rail. Good luck. Gary
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