After the replacement legs were turned on the wood lathe, the next step was to make the rest of the base for this piece. This was a perfect time to use the my Festool Domino, so I set it up and cut the various mortises on the appropriate components.
Because the turned pieces had a square section on them, it was quite easy to cut mortises in them.
Attaching the stretchers was simple - just cut them to length, and mortise the ends.
The pieces go together like Tinker-Toys, once all your joinery is cut.
The Domino even made attaching the new legs a breeze. On the back legs, I used a double tenon, for extra strength.
The little piece of masking tape (with a line drawn on it) shows me where the center of that leg is, as opposed to drawing on the leg with a pencil.
It would be very easy to knock one of the legs off it with a vacuum cleaner, so I wanted to beef the joint up a bit.
Joining the newly turned leg to it's mate proved a little more problematic. But since I knew where the exact center of the leg was, I drilled a hole, installed a 3/8" dowel center,
and marked it's location on the upper piece. Then I drilled a hole into the existing legs, so that the two pieces would mate perfectly.
The dowel is acting both as a alignment feature, and a structural component.
With those double tenons on the back legs, that base isn't going anywhere.
Once the base was assembled, I set the cabinet on top of it, to see how it fit.
Perfect!
So I applied glue to the tenons, and assembled the base. Once it was dry, I slid the base in place, set the piece upright, and let gravity act as my clamp overnight.
Next - matching the finish. Stay tuned!
Because the turned pieces had a square section on them, it was quite easy to cut mortises in them.
Attaching the stretchers was simple - just cut them to length, and mortise the ends.
The pieces go together like Tinker-Toys, once all your joinery is cut.
The Domino even made attaching the new legs a breeze. On the back legs, I used a double tenon, for extra strength.
The little piece of masking tape (with a line drawn on it) shows me where the center of that leg is, as opposed to drawing on the leg with a pencil.
It would be very easy to knock one of the legs off it with a vacuum cleaner, so I wanted to beef the joint up a bit.
Joining the newly turned leg to it's mate proved a little more problematic. But since I knew where the exact center of the leg was, I drilled a hole, installed a 3/8" dowel center,
and marked it's location on the upper piece. Then I drilled a hole into the existing legs, so that the two pieces would mate perfectly.
The dowel is acting both as a alignment feature, and a structural component.
With those double tenons on the back legs, that base isn't going anywhere.
Once the base was assembled, I set the cabinet on top of it, to see how it fit.
Perfect! So I applied glue to the tenons, and assembled the base. Once it was dry, I slid the base in place, set the piece upright, and let gravity act as my clamp overnight.
Next - matching the finish. Stay tuned!
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