After reviewing tye excellent advice I recieved from David and Sylvain, I decided to scrap my overly complicated idea to trace the profile of the top onto a 2×4 rail and just chop out the space required to fit the rail into the top. Genius.
First things first, I made the measurements and drew lines to show me where to cut and which planks needed trimming. Only 6 or so of the planks needed to be cut. I pulled out the crosscut saw and went to town.
Nice and easy now…
Since I was only cutting a few planks and only going about 5/8″ deep it only took a minute or two to get the paralell cuts I needed. Next I took my 1″ chisel and rubber mallet and just hacked out the waste.
The chisel really chopped out the waste fast!
Easy! So much faster than carving the profile in the rail. Thanks again guys!
A nice snug fit that had to be persuaded with the mallet to find it’s home. Tight enough for my likes but not so tight it will never come out. Perfect!
Then I shifted sides and moved on to the other side. I followed the same formula and within 10 minutes or the the other rail’s bed (is that the right phrase for this?) was chopped out and ready.
Bring on the base!
Since I had a little more time (thanks to my wonderful wife, for taking the kids!) in the shop I went ahead and figured the height I needed for each of the legs (taking into account how kuch each side was bowed and assuming I have to remove 1/8″ at most to level the top) and measured and cut the legs to length. This was actually pretty easy. These cuts were easily the most accurate of the whole project. I didn’t take any pictures because, well, they just look like a piece of wood with a straight edge… Slow and steady pulls, light pressure on the saw and keep it level…the saw did all the work. Nice.
I think I’m getting close to being ready for assembling the base…feels like only another day or two away…
