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Blackbutt Scrap

ByBruce Sharp

Sometimes a piece of wood is too good to throw away. Here is the end result of pushing a piece of blackbutt from one end of the wood rack to the other for about three years. It coincided with the acquisition of a long plug cutter.

A cheap but long plug cutter.

These tools can cut plugs over 100mm long, that is complicated when the drill’s quill only travels 75mm but it still expands opportunities to explore long round tenons.

With a makeshift jig, and timber that has been converted to consistent sizes, it is possible to make a small batch of identical components.
Having carefully judged the relative sizes of timber and plug cutter there was not a lot of waste to be cut away. In this case it was almost complete with a few strokes on the table saw. The block in the centre required a bandsaw and sharp chisel.
Careful technique with measurement made the drilling of mortises a quick job.
Wedging the tenons in place goes at 90 degrees to the grain to avoid splitting.
By cutting the wedges roughly with a coarse bandsaw blade you can avoide the clinical lines that come with surgical mass production.
It has become a habit to reinforce joints with corner blocks. The mortise and tenon is so strong that I don’t think it was necessary in this case. After looking at it, I wish I’d broken the habit this time.
It is at the finishing stage when the work comes alive! Three coats on the recycled timber legs and seven coats with black epoxy filling on the blackbutt top.

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