Workbench: Making the legs
Jon Pritchard · Thursday, Mar 12, 2020 · 2 minute read

workbench After rough dimensioning on the table saw and thicknesser. I then cut the two 6x3” ash pieces to length and halved them for the legs.
I also cut one of the 6x3 off-cuts into four pieces for the rails.

workbench I then chopped all the mortices, almost entirely with an old oak handled 1” firmer chisel. It held up really well, better than I did at least-my carpal tunnel syndrome returned in full force after completing these.

workbench I strayed a bit from the Moravian bench by only going for 2 rails and switching up the joinery a bit.
Each leg has one angled through mortice for the stretcher then one straight through mortice and one inverse dovetail (dovetailed bridle joint?) for the rails. My logic was that I could make more efficient use of materials if I canted the top rail over by the same angle as the leg splay I wouldn’t have to plane down the top flush.

workbench I drawbored the mortice and tenons, but stopped short of doing the same for the dovetailed bridle joint. (In the end I didn’t even glue it. . . hopefully that won’t be an issue down the line)

I also radiused all the edges, mainly free hand with a spokeshave and rasp, so it looks a little softer, but mainly because the ash I’d used was really splintery.

The final step was boring the holdfast holes, as you can see I was lucky with the size of my largest brace.

About Me

Since 2008 I’ve been working on various handmade speaker designs, from monstrous surround sound setups, to mixing monitors, to battery powered portables and as many in between as I could think of.

With a Masters Degree in Product Design Engineering from the Glasgow School of Art and The University of Glasgow, I had a good foundation in design and engineering. Along the way I built up my woodworking skills, moving back home to Dorset and learning traditional woodworking skills at The Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis.

Jonathan Pritchard

JCP Design

JCPDesign

My aim is to bring the pasts high quality hand joinery to present day items. The art is not lost quite yet and I believe there is still a place for hand made objects made to be used and made to last. Now more than ever with sustainability becoming more important.

Where to find me

ShopFront

Come visit the shop!

Unit 100
St Michaels Trading Estate
Bridport
Dorset
DT6

Opposite Bridport Bus station.