With my left shoulder on the mend (keeping fingers crossed…), and not having to lift above shoulder height, I decided to use the Leigh FMT to make the joinery for the end stretchers. These will connect the front legs to the back legs on the stand-up desk. Later, I will use a medial stretcher to connect the end stretchers.
I normally make at least five legs for a large piece like this desk. As usual, I use this extra leg, and a “spare” stretcher, to fine tune my setup with the FMT. I suggest you do the same with all joinery, as it will save many headaches. All dimensions on the spares are identical to those of the actual work pieces.
The photo below shows the twin tenons allowed by the 2-inch thick stretcher, just as I finished machining them – the tenons are 3/8-inch thick, 1-1/2 inch wide, and 1-1/4 inch long:
The tenons aligned on the mortises:
And, finally, the first dry fit:
The fit was a little snug; but that is not a problem, as I can tweak the fit in 0.001″ increments. Now I can move to making the joinery on the real legs and end stretchers. Late in the day, I decided to wait until morning to do the real thing.
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