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I finished all the M&T joinery today. I still need to do some grooves for panels. Since the top rails are dovetailed, and the bottom rails have a 1 1/4" x 1/2" x 3/4" deep tenon I think that the two of them together will allow me to only have a 1/4" x 3/8" deep tenon on the center rails. As they are all curves and fixed to the legs at angles this will greatly simplify construction by allowing me to fit them to the same groove used to hold the panels.

Tomorrow I'll begin profiling the legs.

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Blacker leg details - Part 1

Two details set the G&G Blacker legs apart from all others - the ramped indent and the knuckle. When dong these you would normally do the indent first but, since I had to make a new jig (and I had the presence of mind to take pictures) I'm going to describe them in reverse.

The "Book" (G&G Detail for the shop by Darrell Peart) has a full sized template and instructions on how to make the knuckle. In short, you trace the template on the leg with a sharp pencil then go to your handy edge sander and sand to the line - except for the 4th side, you do that by eye. Well, I have neither an edge sander or a good eye, and with 32 of these to do, I needed a faster, fool proof, consistent way of accomplishing this. I may not have the sander but I do have a flush trim bit with a 1 1/2" cutting height so a router template seemed the best solution.

I first got hold of a scrap piece of 1/2" ply and taped the template to one edge. I then took that to the disk sander and sanded to the line.

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Then I sliced off the edge at about 2" wide and a second strip that will act as alignment and clamping surface.

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Next up - I clamped the template to a workpiece on a flat surface (to keep the edges in alignment) and added a few dots of CA glue to hold it in place till I could get some screws in it.

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Then its off to the router table. The bit height is set so the bottom of the cutting edge is even with the table top.

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Clamping the template to a test leg and run it over the bit. As I will always be cutting 'down hill' there is no chance for chipping or tear out.

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All four sides done smooth and consistent. I found taking 3 or 4 light cuts left me with a very smooth, burn free cut needing only light sanding.
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Now for step one.

The ramped indent is an easy thing to do but adds a lot to the overall look of the table legs. The jig I built is right out of the book. The 1/4" spacer at one end holds the workpiece at just the right angle for the cut. The only finicky part is adjusting the bit depth so your deep end cut is just a hair over 1/16" deep.

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Getting your stock milled correctly is key. You wants a snug fit in the jig so when you clamp it up in the bench vice you get it locked in tight.

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The bit I use is a 1/2" straight bit made with an extra cutter in the center for plunging. I think it gives a much smoother cut and there is no burning. It's paired with a 1" OD collar.

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Nice clean and consistent!

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After the knuckle is added the true beauty and uniqueness of these details begins to shine. The last step will be to add a 1/8" radius to the edges of the legs and sanding all the transitions in the leg detail. "The book" shows this being done by hand - I'm going to try some flapper wheels to get the bulk of it done and then switch over to hand sanding.

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To me, the arched batten doesn't fit with all the straight lines in the piece. Perhaps if the end rails were also arched, but not as a 'stand alone.' To my eye, the 'extra' ornamentation shown in your drawing makes the whole thing too busy.
 
Jim DeLaney said:
To me, the arched batten doesn't fit with all the straight lines in the piece. Perhaps if the end rails were also arched, but not as a 'stand alone.' To my eye, the 'extra' ornamentation shown in your drawing makes the whole thing too busy.
Click to expand...
General answer - its what the customer wants. Specific answers, I think the arch makes more sense if you look at the entire table. The front has a long arch. Initially the ends had a cloud lift/arch but the addition of the 'Gamble" trim on the ends made that both impractical and way busy.
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So, I glued up some less dramatic panels.

First, here is the original panel with a paper mock up of the trim to be added.
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Here it is with the less dramatic panel
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I'm kind of liking the 'less' panels.
 

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