Lovely sunny Sunday, however temps below freezing and a biting wind. Good to be in the shop, and looks like things are finally going to warm up in the coming week. Seems hard to believe.
The other one, before finish planing:
With those gippers out of the way, I checked the fit of the flanking post and 8 dovetail keys:
Then the post could be turned and I could get at the large remaining patching task:
A bit reminiscent of a coffin, which isn’t too far, I suppose, from the literal meaning of the word ‘mortise’. Ah, the hidden symbolism in this piece! Just kidding.
It occurred to me that I should also tackle the fitting of the copper feet on the main posts, as that affects the fit of the planking posts as well. The steps to fit these involved rebating the bottom of the post for the single layer copper sheet return, and then grooving the post faces for the upper doubled return of the foot:
I installed some temporary plugs to keep the keys in position so I could slide the parts together and make sure everything interfaced correctly:
It went together fine:
A closer look at the rebate on the lower face of the flanking post to clear the copper foot’s folded return:
The opening will be caulked after final installation.
The fit was as I had hoped all around:
A check of the top end, to make sure the upper end grain surface was flush to the lower mortise wall on the main post:
The process was repeated on the left hand post:
Also had a good fit all around, and alignment of end grain faces:
The MFA is about education as well as edification. It would be nice if a few sample joints were available to view inside for those interested. Thanks as always for your effort on this blog.
Bruce Mack
Bruce,
interesting idea. I'd certainly be interested in making some samples. Thanks for the comment.
~C