Nicholson bench... more progress

Today, I had to redo the top braces that go horizontally between the tops of each end/leg assembly because I mistakenly made them the wrong dimensions (1/4" short) based on the original design before we made a few minor modifications (changing it to be a split-top bench).

After doing that, I milled the "under-aprons" which beef up the thickness of both aprons. Each got planed on the face that was crowning, then straight-lined and ripped. I clamped one apron in place onto the legs and marked the under-apron to fit between the legs.

Next, we glued up each of the two under-aprons to its corresponding apron using PVA glue (Titebond original). We had to work fast. I spread the glue onto the planed side of the under-apron, flipped it into place, put two clamps on, adjusted it to be flush on what will be the top edge, & drove two screws in to hold the alignment. Then I repeated the process on the other pair.

After gluing and screwing both sets, we stacked them up and began putting clamps on. While that was setting up, I glued and screwed the new top braces into the leg assemblies with Little Brown glue.

Next will be getting the top pieces planed, ripped, and cut to length, then glued up to their "under-top" pieces like I did with the under-aprons.

Clamping apron to legs to check fit and to use for marking under-aprons

Clamping apron to legs to check fit and to use for marking under-aprons

Clamping glued aprons and under-aprons

Leg assemblies with top brace installed

Nicholson Bench Leg Assembly

We did last-minute tune-up work on the legs today, like cleaning up the notches in the legs where the lower cross braces attach. I had to power plane the cross braces a bit more to make them fit flush, and one of the leg ledges where the apron sits required a little chisel work to trim a little more. Then we "sized the joint" by smearing some glue (in this case, warmed hide glue... specifically Little Brown Glue) on the joints and letting it sit for several minutes. This helps to seal the areas of end grain so they won't absorb all the glue and "starve" the joint. After it partially dried, we applied additional glue to all those surfaces, then assembled and clamped the parts. In this case, screws were added where called for.

I also finished drilling the 19 dog holes in the remaining apron. We made good progress today.