The bench frame components were cut to length, excluding the angled rear legs which would be cut to length when the tenons at the top are cut.
I was checking the components before marking out mortices and noticed I'd rotated the angled rear foot cut through 90 degrees... Oops!
This would change the orientation of all the 70 x 90 mm components so that they measure 70 mm viewed from the front of the bench.
This wasn't a problem as the legs were still over-length so I could simply recut the rear feet but I decided that I prefer the idea of having the side frames with components measuring 70 mm at the front.
So it back to the drawing board to redraw the side frames.
I took this opportunity to include a detail a student who started after me will use on his bench which involves notching the bottom of the stretcher tenon so they sit lower over the bottom side rail joint.
I'm using 70 x 150 mm deep bottom side rails and stretchers and chose to notch both the top of the side rail tenon and the bottom of the stretcher tenon to keep both joints as strong as possible.
This whole area wasn't easy to visualize when I was redrawing the joints and I had a few nervous moments cutting these mortices.
One of the good things with the course is that there are students at different stages working alongside you which lets you discuss plans and incorporate ideas you might not have come up with working alone.
The redesign means I've increased the size of the opening between the legs and the underside of the bench top and the top of the stretcher.
Students have used this space to house a set of drawers similar to an auto mechanic's tool chest. I'm not planning a tool chest of this type but by increasing the size of the opening I've kept my options open.
I'll be discussing cutting mortices next...
