A woodworking community of learning and craftsmanship.

Staked Furniture and Tapered Tenons

Join us this Saturday at 10.00 am to take a look at Staked furniture and the art of drilling holes in two directions at once.

One of the most durable and ancient methods of table, benches, stools and chairs is known as staked furniture.

Carpenter at work. 15th-century artwork of a carpenter measuring and drawing in his workshop. Artwork from ‘Questio de septem artibus mechanicis' (Questions on the Seven Mechanical Arts)

The form’s strength and simplicity derive from the legs being directly mortised into the top without the use of aprons and stretchers and often at non perpendicular angles. The form also eliminates the need to allow for wood movement between the base and top. For millennia, benches and tables of many types were made this way.

While the shape of the mortise and tenon are variable, one of the common types is tapered. A tapered hole is drilled at the correct combination of angles and a cone shaped tenon is fitted snugly into this mortise.

Drilling a hole that is perpendicular to your piece is easy on a drill press, but when you are drilling at two different angles through the bottom of a stool seat it can rapidly become an exercise in frustration. When you accidentally drill in the wrong direction from the bottom of the seat, it is often ruined the only thing to do start again with fresh wood.

A staked chair with wedged, tapered tenons.

This Saturday we will demonstrate a stress free way to design and to set out and drill these angled mortises. I will show you how we use a mock-up to determine the hole drilling angles and how to translate those angles into a tapered mortise on the full size piece, followed by drilling and tapering the mortise.

A few simple tools and and a little peace and quiet is all you need.

For me, drilling these holes is now a pleasure and I wonder why I ever did it on a drill press!

See you on Saturday.

Craftsman Referral Terms

BACKGROUND
The San Diego Fine Woodworkers Association (SDFWA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to the education, promotion, and execution of the principles of fine woodworking.
The SDFWA frequently receives requests from people seeking the service of a woodworker. Therefore, although custom woodworking for hire is not the purpose of our organization, we offer this referral service to the public so that they might connect with a woodworker.

SCOPE
SDFWA does not screen or warrant the skills or work of any craftsman. The public should use their own discretion and due diligence before hiring any craftsman, from any source, including this one.
The sole role of SDFWA in this referral service is limited to providing our member woodworkers with your completed form. It is up to each craftsman to initiate a contact with the requester.

PROCEDURE
After a requester submits a project, the form will be emailed to our list of participating craftsmen. If a craftsman is interested in the project, they will contact the client directly, and a two-way conversation can begin.

As the craftsmen themselves choose which projects to respond to, this means that it is probable that some project requests will receive no response. If you do not receive a response in a reasonable time, please submit your request again, using the provided referral form.
Note that contacting SDFWA directly will not achieve the desired results.

DISCLAIMER
By agreeing to these Terms, and by continuing to submit this Referral Form, and by utilizing one or more of the services of any of these craftsmen, you are agreeing to contract exclusively with that individual craftsman and to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the SDFWA Organization, its officers, officials, employees and volunteers from any and all claims, injuries, damages, losses or suits including attorney fees, arising out of or in connection with the performance of this agreement, and any and all failures, damages, or otherwise negative outcomes caused directly or indirectly by the craftsmen you employ to do any project initiated by this Form. This does not preclude you from pursuing legal remedies from the individual craftsman that you employ. But any remedy you pursue is restricted to that individual craftsman, and does not include the SDFWA organization or any of its volunteer members.