Now that all the parts have been shaped, it's time to start putting the chair together. I start with the undercarriage. The legs and stretchers need angled mortises drilled, and the stretchers need also to be cut to the required length for each particular chair.
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| Measuring the angle to drill the mortise in each leg |
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| Make a reference line on each leg |
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| Each leg gets drilled at an angle specific to that leg |
Without going into the gory details, the board with the angle on it represents the leg. By aligning the mark on the leg with the top of the bench, and then drilling at the angle on the board, you can drill the correct angle to align with the other leg. For me, keeping the hole centered on the leg is the hardest part.
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| One set of legs drilled |
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| Measuring stretcher angles and lengths |
The stretchers now have their angled mortises measured and drilled. Two side stretchers and one center. This process seems complex, but like most of the chair, following a clear step by step process makes things simpler. Peter's brilliant techniques, contained in his
book, make this job much easier than it seems.
