Morris Chair legs AKA "Me and the Lock Miter Joint"

[Raymond McInnis]

forgive me for asking one last question: where do your morris chair plans come from? where are they published?

[George Bregar]

forgive me for asking one last question: where do your morris chair plans come from? where are they published?

The Woodsmith online plans site www.plansnow.com. The exact link is http://plansnow.com/morrischair.html

[Raymond McInnis]

george, this is getting ridiculous. we're having a private conversation in public

am it correct? you changed the shape of the spindles? anyway that is how i interpret it

[George Bregar]

george, this is getting ridiculous. we're having a private conversation in public

am it correct? you changed the shape of the spindles? anyway that is how i interpret it

Yes I did. IIRC the plans call for 5/8" square spindles with a 5/8" space between, and as I said, I changed mine to 1 1/4" wide by 5/8" with a 1" space between. I like the look and proportion better. The other changes I made to the plans was that I pinned my tenons with a 3/8 square peg, rather than 3/8" dowel. And I kep the peg about 1/8" proud with beveled edges (made with a file before inserting) and stained black with India ink. I like the look. Only other deviation was that I did not use a through mortise on the leg to arms connection. The horizontal part of the arms is just made to rest a drink, and a through tenon in the middle of that makes a spill a likely event. Oh, my legs are a 2-3/8 sq, versus 2-1/4".

[Frank Conway]

George,

Thanks so much for taking the time to go over this in your post (and answer my PM's). This will save me (and others I imagine) time (and wood) learning it the hard way.

Frank

[George Bregar]

You're welcome Frank, and to answer the question in the PM (I can't do it there because I can't attach a pic) the advantage of using 3/4" milled stock over the 1-1/16" I used is that you get a wider flat which helps in routing the lock miter joint. This picture shows why

[John Dorough]

George,

Thanks for all the information. I hope to be able to build a chair such as your some day. Your first four posts had to do with preparing the stock used for glue-up to make the four components of each leg. You graciously invited any suggestions to make the process you used easier. This is not really a suggestion, but more of a couple of questions that may unintentioanally sound like a suggestion. I look forward to any help you may provide.

You stated (first post), "I then took the blanks to the bandsaw, set the table at 45, and cut out a notch on each end to reduce the stock that the router would have to handle . . . " By a notch on each end, are you referring to what looks to me in your illustration to be beveled cuts that run the entire length of each piece of wood, ". . . 2 3/8" W by 24" long . . " that made up the components for each leg? If not, I'm not sure where a single "notch on each end" is located.

It appears you also chose to make the first finished bevel cut on each component by making what you call a "horizontal" cut. You then attempted a "vertical" that was made "dicey" because, " . . there [was] very little flat against the fence, and a single point of connection on the table."

My question is this: Why not make the "vertical" in a couple of passes on the router table before you even make the first "notch" (full-length bevel cut shown in your first post)? It seems to me that in this way, you have a much larger ". . . flat [surface] against the fence"; and, the only time you will have, ". . . a single point of connection on the table. . " is when you make the last vertical pass which gives you the finished bevel. After this is done, could you not then do the band saw trim to the unfinished portion and, then, simply lay the piece flat for the horizontal cut necessary to bring the piece to final dimension?

You are far more advanced in woodworking than I will ever be; and, my questions may simply reflect my ignorance of issues involved. If so, I apologize in advance. On the other hand, I suppose if we don't ask questions, we often miss replacing our ignorance with knowledge.

Thanks for your time.

John

[George Bregar]

George,

Thanks for all the information. I hope to be able to build a chair such as your some day. Your first four posts had to do with preparing the stock used for glue-up to make the four components of each leg. You graciously invited any suggestions to make the process you used easier. This is not really a suggestion, but more of a couple of questions that may unintentioanally sound like a suggestion. I look forward to any help you may provide.

You stated (first post), "I then took the blanks to the bandsaw, set the table at 45, and cut out a notch on each end to reduce the stock that the router would have to handle . . . " By a notch on each end, are you referring to what looks to me in your illustration to be beveled cuts that run the entire length of each piece of wood, ". . . 2 3/8" W by 24" long . . " that made up the components for each leg? If not, I'm not sure where a single "notch on each end" is located.

It appears you also chose to make the first finished bevel cut on each component by making what you call a "horizontal" cut. You then attempted a "vertical" that was made "dicey" because, " . . there [was] very little flat against the fence, and a single point of connection on the table."

My question is this: Why not make the "vertical" in a couple of passes on the router table before you even make the first "notch" (full-length bevel cut shown in your first post)? It seems to me that in this way, you have a much larger ". . . flat [surface] against the fence"; and, the only time you will have, ". . . a single point of connection on the table. . " is when you make the last vertical pass which gives you the finished bevel. After this is done, could you not then do the band saw trim to the unfinished portion and, then, simply lay the piece flat for the horizontal cut necessary to bring the piece to final dimension?

You are far more advanced in woodworking than I will ever be; and, my questions may simply reflect my ignorance of issues involved. If so, I apologize in advance. On the other hand, I suppose if we don't ask questions, we often miss replacing our ignorance with knowledge.

Thanks for your time.

John

Thanks for your kind words. I worded it poorly, I didn't cut a 45 on the end, but edge of each piece. This is done to remove as much stock as possible so the router can finish the job in one pass. I suppose you could do this with the router, but it would be too time consuming (it would take multiple passes), and router bits cost a lot more than bandsaw blades. So just knock off the corners with the bandsaw...or table saw. You cannot do what you are suggesting because the fence cannot be moved otherwise the two cuts will not match.

Make sense?

[George Bregar]

george please post a side-profile shot of the morris chair

Hows this?

Edit: See my Morris Cahir done thread...it has the pic. WOn't let me do it here.