Well, its time for the final glue up. I have decided to use glue and dowels to fix the aprons to the leg assemblies, which will be a two stage operation.
First I glues the aprons to the assemblies and clamped them good and tight, removing as much excess glue as possible with a damp cloth. I did this first thing yesterday, before the school run, and left it to go off for a few hours.
Once the glue was dry, I removed the clamps and started boring for the dowels. There are three dowels where each leg joins the top boards, and three more where the aprons join each leg, so that’s 24 in all. I am again using the stepped walnut dowels for contrast, and there are two different sizes here. I used the smaller size previously for the leg/stretcher half laps, and I am using the larger ones for the leg/top board joints. For the aprons, I am using a combination of the two. This is mainly because of accessibility. My Brace is too big for me to use the larger bit for all three holes – the top board gets away with the chuck – and the larger bit is two big for my egg-whisk drills. This means that I am using my ratchet brace with the larger bit for the centre hole, and my egg-whisk drill with the smaller bit for the other two. I wouldn’t have chosen to do it this way, but it actually looks quite good I think.
Well, with all the dowels in place, and planed flush, it’s time for a final rub down with fine grit sandpaper, and we’re done…
…well almost done. The reason for the sandpaper is so the bench can take a finish, but that’s for another day.
goatboys woodshop 
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