Chopping a MortiseFirst thing is to establish the perimeter and I do this with some crisp knife lines. In this first shot you can see where Ive marked the overall size of the stretcher and then in the middle you can see my scribe lines...notice I marked off the center? This would have given me somewhere to register my auger bit but as mentioned, it didnt quite work out that choice.





This being a workbench I could have easily left them square- not like anyone will be looking at them ~ ;) but Ive alchoices liked the look of rounded feet on workbenches. I find it gives the bench a traditional look and there will be much less chance of me tripping on them while I stumble around the shop. My own workbench has square feet but I think that taking the extra 30 minutes or so to round them over adds a nice touch.
Shaping the Feet

id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5411378097469889490" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoeJHzXoJGUfurDg89DIC4UI3Ax0raruiZPSdwXzIfVrFlgDHyd01YILv3mOH6YjONXMnw9yFWIOCF6WF9syZCKacxNPGuCpe7g3J7dbTaDm_gblawuSVAo4uiI6CfkyAvVye6W2sqbSbi/s400/bench+11.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;">Next, I make an angled cut to remove most of the waste and with some rasps and files I fair out the curve.
As you know, my work shop is in my basement and the floor down there is far from flat! With that in mind I decide to remove the middle, underside of the feet to create four contact points where they meet the floor instead of the bench sitting on the entire length of the foot stock. This will make for a more stable bench.
To remove the material I make a series of cross cuts down to my desired depth which in this case is 1/4".
Then I grab my biggest, meanest Japanese chisel and start chopping the waste out between the saw kerfs. I take my time doing this part so I dont blow out any of the wood grain. Working from the inside of the foot I chop down a little over half choice and then flip the board over and now working from the outside, show-side of each foot to complete the cut.
A quick going over with a sharp card scraper and its done. When I have the first foot shaped Ill use it as a pattern and trace the rest of the feet off of it. This will insure theyre all the same without having to measure every time. A bit of sanding and theyre good to go!
With the feet shaped and the joinery cut Ill do another dry fit and well call it a day. I begin by laying out the left front and back legs and insert the cross stretcher and foot. Ill mirror this assembly on my bench top with the right hand side as well.
Leaving the frames flat on the bench top Ill insert the cross stretchers.
Finally, Ill peg the right hand frame onto the end of the stretchers and stand the whole unit upright. Im happy with the results and my joints are looking pretty descent. In this final shot you can see how the work surface will slide down into the front slip joints and sit on the rear stub tenons. When I glue up the frame Ill drill and peg all of these joints for a bench thatll probably be around a lot longer than I will...My mortising is done for today but Ill add another cross stretcher at the top, rear of the frame that will serve dual pupose- itll have a dado running along its length to peg the drawer holders into as well as another pick-up point for the surface to sit on. This final cross stretcher will be made of oak because I want it to be at least 2" wide and as you know, the Ipe came pre-dimensioned at 1 1/2".
In the next post Ill cut the giant hole in the work surface top for the granite insert (the horror-the horror!) as well as make the final stretcher and some last minute details before I glue up the frame assembly and build the under carriage that will hold the granite in place...stay tuned.

To remove the material I make a series of cross cuts down to my desired depth which in this case is 1/4".






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