So I have been patiently waiting for a tapered tenon cutter that is backordered due to supply chain issues. This is no fault of the company I ordered it from, so this is not a post bashing them. But, I decided to try something tonight to see if I can move forward with my chair project.
I took a scrap 4x4 and cut of a roughly 12" piece. I then bored a 5/8" hole.
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I then used my Veritas tapered reamer to team the hole. I went all the way flush to the face of the board.
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I then cut away a 90 degree chunk so there is an opening in the reamed hole. I then clamped an extra iron from a junk no 5 to the block and set the depth very very light.
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I didn't want to drill holes and attach the iron with carriage bolts and washers right away as I want to experiment with different depths and settings. But we're I to find a winning combination I would definitely use carriage bolts and fender washers for a Rick solid attachment.
I couldn't find any dowel cut offs in the shop, but I did have a piece of maple to play with. I used a hatchet, drawknife, and spokeshave to get it to a rough size. I then took light cuts while turning and slowly advancing the stock into the cutter. There were times I had to stop and adjust the rough size because it was taking too big of a bite, but in the end I did end up with a serviceable tenon.
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While it certainly won't win any beauty contests, for something that gets stuck in a chair seat and never seen I would say it's good enough. And it's tight.