Mini Moravian Bench Build Process

Return to main project page

Yesterday evening, while I was sipping gently at a small glass of some wonderful stuff from Campbeltown, it finally clicked: it is definitely a compound angle issue.

The leg frames sit at 15° off vertical. The stretchers are horizontal and hence the angle between the top of a stretcher and the leg is 85°. If you were to gradually decrease that 85° angle, the stretchers would eventually become parallel to the leg frames. At that point, the stretchers would be leaning in towards each other at 8° (16° included angle) just as the legs are.

Thinking of it like that, it's inevitable that with a bit of lean angle (15°) there would be a proportion of that 8° angle present in the stretchers and that's what I should have compensated for (by angling the mortices).

Today I'll try to adjust that angle (by opening up one side and then making a wedge to glue in on the other side).

I am a hobbyist metalworker and woodworker. I work as an electronic design engineer and spend most of my working days in front of a computer so I enjoy having the opportunity to use my hands and make things in my spare time. I particularly enjoy making tools as I can then use them on other projects. This website showcases some of the things I've made.

This website is free and ad-free, but costs me money to run. If you'd like to support this site, please consider making a small donation or sending me a message to let me know what you liked or found useful.

Please do get in touch if you notice any issues on the site or can think of anything that would be a helpful addition or improvement.