Tapered Leg

 Using our story stick we can lay out this back tapered leg.

First the legs should be crosscut to equal and final length according to plan

be sure they are square!

Daniel shaped his story stick to use it as a pattern.

Starting with some 5/8" MDF  and a length of 1 1/4" X 1 1/4" poplar a taper jig is set up.

 the MDF must be parallel, in this case it is 6" wide

the Taper on the Leg pattern is traced onto the MDF

 Aligning the tapered side to the edge of the MDF

now the poplar can be screwed to the mdf along the traced out line representing the non tapered side

add the screws from underneath the jig and be sure they are well countersunk

 Then a stop block is added as well as two hold-downs

The pattern is being used to position the stop block. it is also screwed from underneath

 Ready to go :)

As you can see, building this jig with our pattern was a sinch.

All that is left to do is adjust the hold-downs to secure the leg properly

The jig rides along the rip fence with the leg secured at a slight angle on the jig.

 Whoops! 

it's ok. we have everything under control.  The riving knife is crucial for safety. 

Also the hold-downs or toggle clams a great handles.

Daniel verifies the taper with his pattern

 We realized after the first cut that if we had done the other one first, the leg would have been sitting on the non-tapered side. The problem here is the pressure from the Toggle clams counter each other because the surface is not flat.  not to worry. we simply shimmed one side with the offcut from the first cut.

 Second Taper with shim. 

We have a lot more practice with this jig now.

except what was holding the the jig for the split second Dan reached for a push stick?

 And there we have it :)  

Four (5) tapered legs.

 Alex and Kho decided to taper all four sides of their legs

 This requires tapering two sides and then setting up for the other two

Add caption

It can be done with the table saw jig, but Alex insisted we try the planer. So here is a jig we built also on MDF.

 

 

 The leg will be held on both sides by 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" poplar with a stop block in the back.

A pin or nail wad added to keep the leg from rising up when the infeed/outfeed roller and pressure bar force down the other side

a shim is placed at the other end. it is the thickness of the taper, 5 / 16"

 Because it is a taper, the stock can be sent through removing 5 /16" from the bottom of the leg at once. it will quickly taper off to 0

Now that two sides are done, another shim is added in top to do the second round

 Yes what is that profile all about. Alex also used the dado set on the table saw to create this design.

Bravo!

Leg and Rail Mortises

Mortises on the Leg are easily done on one of the two the Horizontal Mortising Machines

we will be using a 1/4" end mill bit to cut a 3/8" wide mortise

 A 1/4" piece of MDF is is held to the table with double sided tape.
It is not obligatory to add MDF to the table, but it sure is useful when layout lines are needed.

The center is marked on the MDF before beginning to lay out lines for x axis

Then we laid out the length of our mortise equal on each side of our center line

Because we laid out our 4 legs and test piece, the mortise can be lined up with the lines on the MDF then clamped in place

the y axis can now be set by raising or lowering the table. Because the bit is 1/4" and the mortise is 3/8", you can choose to line up the top of the bit with the top line, or the bottom of the bit with the bottom line.

oops. This blackened layout is incorrect. only the 3/8" haunch  will be cut.

First set the Z axis (the depth of the haunch) at 3/8"

Lock the mortiser|s  depth 

After the bit is lined up with one side of the x axis, set the stop on the opposite side of the table.

Then do the same for the other x axis. (inside the end of the Haunch)

Here is the first cut. Notice the entire width of the mortise is not done yet.

 

Then flip the leg over and place it back on the layout lines.

Clamp it down and cut out the remaining part.

Note the feed direction. In the video above the table jerked because the cutter was fed the same direction as its rotation. this may result in imperfect machining.

Since the mortise was cut twice (once from each edge) it guarantees a centred mortise

Don't fret is the mortise is not exactly 3/8". Remember we have to make the tenon fit the mortise.
Yes I know. The top of the haunch is not completely machined. A bit of chiselling will be required.
don't forget to cut all 4 legs on two sides.

The height of the rest of the mortise is 2 1/4"

Now a new set of layout lines must be drawn on the MDF. 1 1/8" both sides of centre to total 2 1/4"

reset the depth (z axis) to 1 1/6"

Reset the x axis to below the bottom of the haunch.....

......and the bottom of the mortise with the stops

Now repeat the same steps by flipping the leg over and machining each mortise twice.

And there you have it. Verify your mortises are correctly machined according to plan.

Do you see how well this joint is engineered according to the properties of solid wood?

Of course there would be a way to set this up and have the mortiser cut clean through the haunch.

If you have figured it out I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Leg and Rail Lay out

Laying out the mortise for the leg

The Haunched Mortise and Tenon may seem like an unorthodox joint, but it is superior to just a regular mortise and tenon because of it's ability to prevent cupping on the rail.

Be sure to have the top of your legs square before starting layout.

The mortise detail in the plans is 1:1 so lines can be checked and transferred right off the plan

 First lay out the bottom of the haunch at 5/8'' and mortise at 2 7/8" from the top of the leg.

 do so on two sides, this will be the corner of your leg that faces in

 Next find the center and lay out 3/16" on either side. This will center the 3/8" mortise. You can also transfer these line right off the plans

 Use the proper tools to lay out. this combo square in your toolbox is also a marking gauge. Lines should be paralleled off the edge and never drawn perpendicular from the end.

 Do so on both sides.As a matter of fact do so on all four legs

 Now layout the depth of the haunch. it is 3/8"

 The shaded part represents the visible portion to be mortised out on the top of the legs

 AKA: the Haunch

The rest of the mortise is not visible from the end grain. 

 the portion left on the top of the leg and not machined out solidifies the joint. Not only does it prevent rail cupping but it will also prevent the leg from splitting along the grain due to racking pressure.