How to remove this material? help...

[Mike Olson]

I have been making a bench on an off for 2 weeks now 10 min here, 15 min there, and plans on the legs changed a bit.

I decided to use a lap joint and glue/peg the joint where the 2x10 leg meets the 2x10 front apron. I have the lap joint cut out on the leg using a saw, chisel, plane to smooth it down but I can't seem to figure out the best way to cut out the material on the front Apron since it's already glued to the top...

Here is a picture of what I'm dealing with, the area with the pencil marks is the area to remove. I used a circular saw to cut as deep as I could on the top portion to define the depth but I still have a lot to go. Plus how to cut the vertical edge?

234151

Any ideas???


Thanks,
Mike

[Joe Fabbri]

Hi Mike,

Just a question, are you making the leg a single 2x10? I know this is in retrospect, but you could have made the leg a lap joint by laminating two 2x's together and not have to make the notch cut in the front apron. Two 2x10's might have been a bit overkill, though. I suppose a 2x6 or 8 might have made more sense with a lamination.

Anyway, an alternative at this point might be still to laminate two together. Just cut the notch in the apron to the depth of the circular saw (I think you can fit the saw in there to cut it sideways), and half lap the first laminated 2x10 only to this depth. Then the second 2x10 would extend all the way up to the bottom of the top. So if you look at it from the side, you would have two steps, one where the bottom of the skirt sits, and another formed by the top of the first laminated 2x10 (at the depth to where your circular saw cut is).


But if you want to clear out the lap to your original design, it might be best to cut as deep as you can on a 45 degree angle to the bottom with a hand saw (which, since you started the cut with the circular saw might be hard a little hard to track straight now), then maybe chop away as if it were a mortise, a big mortise. Maybe if you bore out some of the waste from the side and pare down, that might work as well. Maybe someone else here sees an easier solution, though, I don't know.

In the end, still it might be easier to cut down and make shorter the lap you already cut on the legs, and laminate an extra 2x10 to the back. It will probably be overkill, but benches can usually take it, and it would be less work I think.

Joe

[Mike Olson]

The legs are actually made up of 2 - 2x4's and 1 - 2x10. I was originally going to do a but joint with the 2x10 and attaching the 2x4's to the apron but because there will not be a stretcher across the bottom of the front legs i wanted as much strength as possible to prevent racking while planing. Thus the change to Lap joints.

The boring is an interesting idea. I might be able to drill down with my brace & bits to remove the majority of the waste but then again I'm not too good with drilling straight that far yet...

[James Owen]

If I understand correctly what you are trying to do.....try splitting off the waste with a chisel down to where you have cut with the saw, then use an azibiki to cut further to the depth you need, and repeat with the chisel. You can then smooth with a rasp/file, and then a (bull nose) plane and scrapers.

[Joe Fabbri]

Hi Mike,

I would recommend addding a stretcher to the bottom anyway; I think boxing in the bottom is probably key to avoiding racking, unless you have a large apron with a shoulder cut in it (like a traditional Nicholson style bench).

But anyway, in terms of boring out the waste, I was actually thinking of boring it from the side to the desired depth, using a spade or forstner bit. You can add a block of wood behind the bit head to prevent drilling too deeply, or you can go by eye and stop before the depth. Then just pare down the waste. This in combination with the 45 cut I mentioned in the beginning should help you get rid of the waste fairly quickly. At the very bottom, you'll have trouble since you probably can't fit the drill too well, but at this point, you could simple bore straight down as you mentioned. The distance won't be much so you should be able to keep it straight. The boring from the side will also help you define the vertical line cut, since you can drill to the line and then use a chisel at the line.

[Jeff Heath]

Hand saw your lines as deep as you can go, and chisel out the waste. Should go pretty quickly.

Jeff

[Maurice Ungaro]

If I understand correctly what you are trying to do.....try splitting off the waste with a chisel down to where you have cut with the saw, then use an azibiki to cut further to the depth you need, and repeat with the chisel. You can then smooth with a rasp/file, and then a (bull nose) plane and scrapers.

After splitting the waste with a chisel, it would be a great time to use a router plane.