Steam bent apron problem

[Tom Gattiker]

I recently bought 2 steam-bent maple table aprons (each a half circle about 4 inches deep X 3/4 inches thick, 18 inch radius). When I screw them to the table they are not at 90 degrees to the table underside--at least not at the points in the arcs where I plan to attach the legs. At these 4 attachment points, the apron is 1/16 to 1/8 inch out of square along the 4 inches depth.

How should I address this:?
1. Plane/rasp/sand the faces to 90 degrees in the areas where the legs attach. This will reduce the apron thickness a bit, but not a big deal as I have not cut any joints yet.
2. Try to plane the edge in certain spots so that the apron is 90 degrees where the apron will attach.
3. Not worry about it and just trim the legs to compensate after attachment.
4. Other

Legs will be attached with a bridle joint.

This is actually a second set of legs from the vendor, as the problem was worse with the first set. However as I think about it maybe it is not realistic to expect steam bent material to be 100% precise (a perfect 90 to a perpendicular surface in this case).



Thanks


Tom

[Steve Jenkins]

Tom, there are a couple ways to square them up. One is to run them on the jointer just like you would square up the edge on a straight board. If your planer has rubber infeed and outfeed rollers you can then run them through the planer to dimension. Make sure that with the radius it will clear all parts of the planer. The other way is to run them on the table saw. You can either joint one edge first or saw twice,(once each edge). Be careful on the saw because your hands will be fairly close to the blade.Steve