Making pocket holes
Use a commercial pocket hole cutter like the one shown on page 82 or a shop-built jig like the one shown above to make the pocket holes. This jig consists of two pieces of 3 4-inch plywood joined to form an L-shaped cradle and two support brackets that angle the cradle at 15 from the vertical. Seat the workpiece in the cradle, and align the stock so the clearance hole will exit in the middle of the board edge. Install a Forstner bit and drill a hole just deep enough to recess the screw head...
Anatomy Of A Porch Swing
Cross dowels are commonly used in knockdown furniture, but their strength and durability make them ideal for outdoor furniture that is not designed to be taken apart. A cross-dowel connector is used to join an arm to an arm post in the chair shown above, providing a much stronger connection than screws could, and saving the task of fashioning a more elaborate joint. The back seat rail is beveled to a 15 to 25 angle, so as to provide a comfortable angle for the seat back. The back is screwed and...
Joinery And Hardware
Joinery presents unique challenges to the outdoor furniture maker. Many of the standard joints used for indoor furniture are incapable of withstanding the abuses wrought by weather. The blind mortise-and-tenon joint, for example, is normally an excellent choice for joining chair rails and legs, but it does not fare well outdoors. Water can become trapped in the mortise, causing the joint to swell and leading to wood decay. A variation on the same joint, the through mortise-and-tenon page 19 ,...
Installing the stretchers
Install the lower stretcher first. To prepare the tenon for the tusk pin, bore a 1-inch-diameter hole centered 2Yt inches from the tenon end. Then insert the stretcher in the leg above . Do not press down on the outside edges of the legs to force them over the tenon this is liable to split them. Instead, knock the leg on both sides of the tenons with the the heel of your hand. When the stretcher is in place, the tenon should reveal a 2-inch semicircle to hold the tusk. Whittle and sand the tusk...
A Tenoning Jig For The Table Saw
You can use the jig shown at right to cut tenons on the table saw. Adapt the dimensions suggested in the illustration to customize the jig for your saw, if necessary. Cut the jig fence and back from 3 i-inch plywood and saw a 45 bevel at one end of each board the pieces should be wider than the height of your saw's rip fence. Fasten two pieces together face to face to fashion the back, then use countersunk screws to attach the fence and back in an L shape. Make sure the fasteners will not be in...
Calculating Board Feet
' x 72 x 72 1 standard board foot The board foot is a unit of measurement used to calculate the volume of a given amount of stock. As shown in the illustration below, the standard board foot is equivalent to a piece that is 1 inch thick, 12 inches wide, and 12 inches long. To calculate the number of board feet in a piece of wood, multiply its three dimensions together. Then, divide the result by 144 if all the dimensions are in inches, or by 12 if just one dimension is in feet. 1 x 12 x 12 h-...
Anatomy Of A Garden Bench
The garden bench is a sophisticated piece of furniture. Building it demands as much precision and attention to detail as any indoor project. It also incorporates features that give it the needed strength and durability to face the elements. The bottom ends of the arm support and back slats, for example, are housed in dadoes that extend right through the rails, allowing any moisture to drain out. To make the bench, start by assembling the legs and rails, then add the arms and their slats,...
Attaching the arm with cross dowels
Cut out the arms on a band saw, referring to the anatomy for their shape. There is both a right and left arm, so be sure not to mix them up. Round over the edges of the arms with a router fitted with a round-over bit. Then use a bevel gauge to transfer the angle of the chair back to the back edge of the arm and make the cut on your table saw. This will allow the arm, which is horizontal, to fit flush against the chair back. Then drill a hole the same diameter as the cross-dowel bolt through the...
Attaching the remaining seat slats
The second and third rows of the seat slats are installed in much the same way as the first. To mark each slat, set it on the seat supports and butt it edge to edge against the first slat, placing a -inch-thick spacer stick between the slats. Then use a pencil and a rule to mark lines across the face of the slat that align with the ends of the first slat above . Miter the slat and fasten it to the seat supports, maintaining the lA-inch gap between the ends and a -inch space between edges.
Building A Garden Bench
A dado head on a table saw cuts a dado in the front leg of a garden bench. Each front leg needs three dadoes two on the outside face that match rabbets sawn into the end and stretcher rails, and one on the front edge for a rabbet in the front seat rail. In the setup shown at right, stop blocks clamped to a miter gauge extension ensure that the dadoes in the two legs will be in exactly the same locations. A dado head on a table saw cuts a dado in the front leg of a garden bench. Each front leg...