I am going to use my JET Mortising machine to make the mortise joints.

I have set it up with a 10mm chisel and bit. I have set the depth slightly lower than my tenon will be. This allows for a good fit, and will allow a place for any excess glue to go.

 

The mortising machine make's really neat and easy work of cutting the mortise's in this project.

Once the mortise's had been cut, I then chose to remove the material at the bottom of the feet...

I removed a part freehand on my band saw.

I then used the fence to neatly and accurately guide for the rest of the timber. This will give me the best results, and will minimize sanding or un-evenness.

I cheated a bit, I haven't actually got the photo's of how I made the tenon's at this point. I got carried away and made them all!

However I will be describing later how to cut them.

If all else fails, there is a tenon cutting guide here....

Yes, looks like the tenons fit!

*cough* well sorry!

I am sanding all the parts prior to assembly, getting rid of all those pencil marks.

It proves easier now than later.

I like to do a dry fit before applying any glue to my project. This helps ensure basically, its all going to fit!

I then mark the orientation when I am happy all parts fit. So I put it back in the order I dry assembly to prevent an unexpected surprises during glue up.

I am using a polyurethane based glue, this is good for outdoor use as it is weather resistant. I have also found it to be stronger than standard PVA outdoor glue.

One thing about this glue, is that is expands in the joint, this helps it to fill all of the crevice's and irregularity's in the joint for a good bond.

Foam will ooze out of the join, and I will remove this with a chisel once it has hardened.

I left the glue to cure over night, using clamps to hold it together. In the morning I removed the clamps and took to it with my random orbit sander. This removes any residue and generally will tidy the 2 frames up.

It is starting to look more like a table now!

You may have noticed on Charley's version, he had a stopped chamfer running down the lengths of the legs.

This is a detail I really like, it softens the appearance of the table and it can be really easily done with a router!

I am measuring and marking where I want the chamfers to stop. The chamfers will be on all 4 corners of each leg, so I am marking right the way around.

If you take care with marking, the results will be much more professional.

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