I am making a replica of a well-known contemporary 4′ slat bench/ table (designer is Nelson for Herman Miller) for my daughter. It is basically maple 12 1x2s on edge for the seat. Its the legs that are my problem. The legs are basically a box section, somewhat like a drawer on its side, without a drawer bottom; 1×4 maple. My dilemma is how to join the four corners of the legs so that they will support the weight of a person, without racking. The original bench is made with finger joints at the corners, which requires special tooling. I also need to add that these are not 90 degree corners, but a trapezoid! Since I am working with end grain, can any of you suggest a way to make a strong joint between boards joined at a roughly 80 degree angle? (A picture is available at Herman Miller site under George Nelson designs).
Edited 7/29/2005 5:57 pm ET by Quartersawn
Replies
QS ,
Maybe you could do a rabitt or a rabitt on each member for more glue surface , if I understand you correctly .
good luck dusty
Quartersawn,
How about an old wooden lobster trap..wouldn't she like that better?
I looked at the table on Herman Miller site and my first thought was isn't that table base metal?
If you cut finger joints on an angle with a tenon jig and double pined the joint with dowel that would be strong....but do nothing to stop diagonal racking. Likewise, if you put a grove and added some plywood in each corner strength would be added...but again, the diagonal racking would still be an issue.... Maybe you could pitch the legs out a bit creating a double trapazoid look...
dear QS,
There's a lot to be said for the finger joints, because it gives an incredible amount of glueing area. It's not that difficult to do if you are willing to put 3-4 hours into building a jig for the table saw. Use the width of one sawkerf as the width of a finger, and make a carriage that will hold all the pieces at once, wrapped into a bundle with tape, and at the angle you need (instead of 90 deg vertical that would be common). You need something to index the next cut at exactly the right spacing, that is, the cut you just made sits on something that spaces it from the next cut, and so on. A final tip - make everything 1/2" wider than you really need, and trim the width after you are finished with the joints. Much easier than getting the starting points exactly right. It's a beautiful joint and unbelievably strong.
DR
Here is a picture...
Thanks for the great picture qnd the comments everyone. I think I am going to finger joint or box joint the corners as suggested. The current American Woodworker has a simple jig for it featured. I also notice that Freud has a box joint blade set available for 1/4 and 1/2 inch joints. I'll just use the outer plates from my dado set.
By the way, those legs are maple on the original, with an ebonized finish. I am experimenting with black Transfast dye and also india ink.
David Marks just did a show on DIY "Woodworks" on which he used metalized dye to ebonize maple. It seemed on TV to be a great finish. The link below is from his website.
Metalized dyes are available through Liberon / Star Wood Finish Supply in Fort Bragg, California. Their phone number is (800) 245-5611 and their website is http://www.finishsupply.com
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