I thought I might post this here to see if anyone has some input. I have glued up my legs and have my stretchers ready on my bench.

My base posts are 3 3/4" thick and 5" wide.

The stretchers are 2 7/8" thick and 6" wide.

So here is my dillema. I want to make a tusk tenon. With a total thickness of 3 3/4" I need to create the shoulder and through piece.

In rules of thirds this would mean the shoulder would be 1 1/4".

So that being the case I would have to again split this in thirds to determine the tusk size which in turn would be close to about 1/2".

Does this seem right? I am worried I do not have enough material to make a viable and strong joint.