Maloof Rocker - Seat Mockup Part 4, Routing & Glue-up

Well the router bit arrived today so it’s out to the shop to pick up where I left off routing the leg joints in the seat. 

The three router bits shown here (L to R) are the new straight bit and the two angled bits for top and bottom cuts.

First is to chuck up the (new) straight router bit and set the depth for 7/16”.  A couple of test cuts and minor tweaking of depth had it set up.  The front leg joint uses just this bit as the joint is square to the seat.

Dado Ready to Route

Completed Joint

Next was to use the same bit for one side of the back leg joint where it is square to the seat.

For the side of the joint that is cut at 5 degrees the two angled bits come into play.  One to cut the top and one to cut the bottom.  Process for each of the angled router bits is to chuck it up and set depth to match straight bit.  It is important that the bottom of the straight cut and angled cut match dead on.  If they don’t I run the risk of the dados that get cut in the legs not matching up with the width of the tenon.  Minor tweaking and a couple of test cuts had it dialed in.  Clamping the pieces in place and making the cut was straightforward completing the joint.

Finished Joint

What I did not realize until I was cutting with the angled router bits was that there is a slight difference in the geometry where the angle bits and the straight bit cuts come together in the corner of the joint.  If you look carefully in the corner where the two cuts meet you can see that the edges do not flow smoothly together.   This happened because I did not stop the straight bit at or just short of the corner but took it down the angled face just slightly.   This shows up in the photo below.  Well, that’s what the test piece is for, to find and correct any problems before the real piece is done.

Problem in Corner

Once all the cuts are made the seat pieces are ready to glue together.

  

Gluing up all the pieces was pretty easy since the dowels assure accurate alignment and prevented slipping when clamping.  I left the assembly set in the clamps overnight to allow the glue to cure.

Next up – Seat Mockup Part 5, Bandsaw & Hollowing Seat