work bench leg mortise help

[Trevor Wentzel]

Hi, I was looking for some help/advise on my best fix option... I was feeling great after compleating all 8 leg mortises chopped till I noticed my error.
The bench plan calls for the top rails to be flushed with the top edge of the legs to get the width for the tennon. Then the hunch is also measured one inch down from the top of the leg.
On one leg I measured the one inch hunch first and then measure off that line for the mortise creating a mortise that is one inch too big for the rail.
Is my best option to rip some new rail at the new width?
Will it matter if the top rails on the left are bigger then the right?

thanks

[Pat Barry]

Just fit in a patch to fix the mortice. No problem.

[Christopher Charles]

what Pat said.

[Jim Koepke]

+1 on the above.

An old saying is, "the difference between an amateur and a professional is how they handle their mistakes."

jtk

[Trevor Wentzel]

Just fit in a patch to fix the mortice. No problem.

Thanks, however I'm a little unclear what this means.
could you provide a few more details?

[ken hatch]

Hi, I was looking for some help/advise on my best fix option... I was feeling great after compleating all 8 leg mortises chopped till I noticed my error.
The bench plan calls for the top rails to be flushed with the top edge of the legs to get the width for the tennon. Then the hunch is also measured one inch down from the top of the leg.
On one leg I measured the one inch hunch first and then measure off that line for the mortise creating a mortise that is one inch too big for the rail.
Is my best option to rip some new rail at the new width?
Will it matter if the top rails on the left are bigger then the right?

thanks



Trevor,

First answer is: "It's a work bench" who cares if one rail is wider than the other. You can always say it was planned to give room to hold your holdfasts :). The other posters have a good suggestion if you wish to keep the rails the same size and should be less work than making a new rail. Remember, it is a work bench.

If you draw bore the joints the fit isn't as important as it is without draw boring, so a patch/plug to fill the hole left by the too narrow rail isn't a big deal. It wouldn't be without draw boring but if you are a belts and suspenders kind of guy it should make you happy.

ken

[Noah Magnuson]

Thanks, however I'm a little unclear what this means.
could you provide a few more details?
Without pictures, I can only assume you now have a bigger hole in the wood than you like. You can either:

cut a piece of wood that will fill the entire hole, glue and press it in there, then recut your whole mortise
cut a piece that will fill the space that your current tenon cannot, and glue/press it in there
Or, glue a piece on your rail to make a fatter tenon at the end.

In any case, the "patch" is just a chunk of glue in wood filling the leftover space.

[Trevor Wentzel]

Without pictures, I can only assume you now have a bigger hole in the wood than you like. You can either:

cut a piece of wood that will fill the entire hole, glue and press it in there, then recut your whole mortise
cut a piece that will fill the space that your current tenon cannot, and glue/press it in there
Or, glue a piece on your rail to make a fatter tenon at the end.

In any case, the "patch" is just a chunk of glue in wood filling the leftover space.

thanks, this is helpful everyone, i appreciate it. Laminating a piece to the end of the rail to fit seems like the easiest to me...
it should be on the bottom so solid wood creates the hunch?
alternatively, I could re cut a rail 1 inch wider to fit perfectly,
the left rail will be beefier, but the vise will be on the left so perhaps I can call it a design feature!


Also, as an aside. I have restored and sharpened my first saw for this project. ( which felt awesome ) On the pull stroke, the toe wiggles like a fish tail and I cant seem to bend it out?

[Jim Koepke]

Also, as an aside. I have restored and sharpened my first saw for this project. ( which felt awesome ) On the pull stroke, the toe wiggles like a fish tail and I cant seem to bend it out?

This could indicate the saw has more set than is needed for the piece being cut.

Dry hardwood tends to need less set than moist softwoods.

jtk