Challenge Table: Plug Jig

The original version of the Thorsen House table, and the version published in Popular Woodworking magazine (which was the inspiration for the challenge) both include square plugs on the legs, breadboard ends, and stretchers. I had intended to include plugs on my table but time got the best of me and the plugs did not happen.

I did, however, cut the plugs. (Now I've got a pile of plugs in my shop. I'll have to find another use for them.) To ensure that the plugs were equal in size I made the jig pictured above. This jig isn't perfect, I'll get to that in a minute. First a description of this jig.

The plugs for the table are square. So I needed a way to hold the small (1/4" square) rod while accurately cutting 3/8" long plugs. I decided the safest way to cut them would be with my Nobex miter saw, which is human powered. There are two pieces which support the stock - one on each side of the saw blade, a sliding stop which runs in dadoes in side extensions, and a base.

To ensure that the holes in the support blocks were aligned I used double-sided tape to join them. Then a 1/4" hole was drilled through both. The hole was squared up with a chisel. Then the support blocks were screwed to the base, and the extension wings were screwed to one block.

To use the jig the stock is pushed through the two support blocks with the stop in the closed position (it's in the open position in the picture above). Then the plug is cut. Once the cut is complete the stop is raised and the plug is pushed out.

What I'll do differently next time:

• the jig is much taller than necessary - the next one will be shorter
• there isn't enough size in the base to easily clamp it to the saw - the base needs to be longer and deeper side extensions wouldn't hurt either
• aligning the two support blocks for screwing to the base was tricky - next time I'll make a shorter support block from a single piece of wood and cut it in two after the jig is assembled.
• chiseling the square hole accurately was difficult - next time I'll cut a 1/4" x 1/4" dado in the bottom of the support block before the support block is attached to the base, and before it's cut in two. This will also provide better support for the plug stock and limit vibration.

The bottom line is that the jig worked but could have been better.

Challenge Table: Pictures

Well, here it is my take on the Thorsen House side table for the LumberJocks challenge.

The top, shelf, inlay and drawer handle are walnut. The breadboards, aprons, stretchers and legs are cherry. The walnut was stained using a gel stain to even out the color. Then the entire table was covered with two coats of amber shellac.

The drawer is aspen, and the drawer runners are maple.

The aprons and stretchers join the legs with mortise and tenon joints. The top and breadboard ends are also joined with motise and tenons. The stretchers have dadoes into which fits tenons on the shelf.


The table is 22" tall and the top is 17" square.

The just stained top.

To see the other challenge entries click here.

Challenge Table: Complete

I'll be posting more about the construction of the table when I get some time, and more than 2 brain cells to rub together (I had vicious insomnia last night and didn't get much sleep). In the meantime head on over to my LumberJocks project post to see pictures of the completed table and a description of it.

Mortises, Mortises, Mortises

I'm working on cutting the mortises for the challenge table. There are three in each of the breadboard ends, two each in the front legs, and three each in the back legs. For those keeping count that's 16 mortises.

I started cutting these on the dedicated mortiser at class. This is a large free-standing, foot operated machine. Like most of the equipment at the school it has been used and abused for years. (I can't find a picture of anything similar on the web. I'll try to get one on Thursday night.) Even with all of my careful setup, the mortises ended up off center - some worse than others. After careful examination of the mortises I decided that I wasn't happy with them. This left me with two choices - fill the mortises and recut the mortises or recut the legs. Since I'm trying to make this table as perfect as possible I decided to recut the legs, which I did at class on Thursday night. I'd only cut two of the mortises in the breadboards ends and those were acceptable so I didn't cut new breadboards ends.

I decided to finish the mortises on my router table. First up was the purchase of a new 3/8" straight router bit which I did a few weeks ago. I hadn't realized how dull my router bits are until I loaded this one up in my router and made a test cut. So I've added finding a service to sharpen my router bits to my to-do list.

With the new bit in the router, I set the fence. I'm using Norm's method of cutting each twice - running each face of the wood against the fence to ensure that the mortise is centered. This is possible because I haven't yet cut the tenons, so I'll be able to create those based on the thickness of the mortises. Last night I milled the remaining mortises on the breadboard ends. Tonight I finished marking the mortises on the legs, and began the cutting. I decided to start by drilling out most of the waste out with my drill. I chucked a drill bit which is slightly smaller than the final width of the mortise into my drill and started drilling.

I thought I'd carefully measured the depth I needed, but clearly I should have triple-checked it. The drill went completely through the leg! This wouldn't have been that bad except that it chipped out the face which was intended to be left solid. After creating a plug to fill the errant hole, and readjusting which leg is which and which face is the intended outer face I got back to the job at hand. First up - remarking the drill bit, then after cutting a whole lot of holes - one mortise on each leg is 4 1/2" long.

Finally, after checking the router fence using a piece of scrap leg stock, I started working the mortises on the router table. It's going quickly since I've already removed the bulk of the waste. I've got 3 more passes to make on this face of the legs.

On the back legs there are two mortises which intersect - one faces the other back leg, the other faces the front legs. This leaves a very small section of wood on the inner corner of the leg and requires very careful cutting. In preparation for this I've milled a board to fill the mortise that's already been cut and support that small section of wood (come back later for a picture). That wood is a little too thick so I'll need to do some planing/sanding before I start on the other two mortises.

When the router work is done, I'll clean up the corners with chisels. After that I'll be ready to start working on the tenons that will fit into those mortises. 30 days left....

Update 5/3 - Added pictures.

Lumberjocks Thorsen Table Challenge

Pictured above is the table that is the basis for the Lumberjocks challenge mentioned here. I decided to jump in and take the challenge.

The second picture is the actual Greene & Greene table which was the inspiration for the table in Popular Woodworking magazine.

The table I'm making will be closer to the first than the second. I'm adding a full shelf, though and making one more change which I'm keeping up my sleeve until I'm further along.
So far I've planned my version of the table and milled the parts. I've glued up the blanks for the top and the shelf. This week in class I'll cut the aprons to length, and cut the mortises in the legs and breadboard ends. I also need to create a jig to create the detail on the edges of the aprons. Mine'll be cherry and walnut another departure from both of the pictured tables.