Remember Lincoln Logs? When I was a kid, my friends and I spent hours building cabins and forts with them. Lincoln Logs locked together, one on top of another, just like the real deal. They were my first introduction to wood joinery. While playing with them, I must have learned something that stuck with me years later, when I became a cabinetmaker.
Three identical frames are shaped like an F and have arms with angled noches that lock together like puzzle pieces.
This table locks together without glue or fasteners, but in an unusual way. The table is triangular, and all of the Lincoln Log-style notches are set at a compound angle. The table is composed of three identical frames shaped like an F. Theyre very easy to build. Once you cut out the pieces, youll make all the joints on the tablesaw.
The table can be taken apart and broken down into three pieces. Each piece is made up of two legs and an arm.
One small warning: Follow the directions closely. It is easy to mix up pieces and make mistakes. Ive figured out a system that should be foolproof (famous last words! However, it is recommended that you start with some inexpensive wood to learn the ropes.
Fig. 01. Exploded View
Fig. 02. Four Cuts Tablesaw Setup
Fig. 03. End Cuts
Fig. 04. Frame Details
Fig. 05. Notch Details
Cutting List
Cut All The Parts
Start by cutting the wood for the top, bottom and legs. All of these pieces are 3/10 cm thick, so you could use boards from a lumberyard or home center that have already been planed down to this size. (Face-frame material is ideal.) Cut all of the pieces about 3 cm extra-long, then joint and rip them to the finished width (see Cutting List).
Photo 1. Your miter gauge should be adjusted to 4. To get this angle exactly, use a ruler and a framingsquare.
All arms slope at 4 (Fig. 01), an angle that will come up a number of times while youre building the table. For the next step, fasten a fence thats about 76 cm long to your tablesaws miter gauge, then use a framing square and a ruler to set the miter gauge at 4 (Photo 1 and Fig. 02). The miter gauge will need to be reset to 30 and then returned to 4.
Photo 2. Cut the legs and arms at the ends. When trimming the pieces to final length, use a stop block that is also cut at 4. This will ensure that the pieces are correctly oriented.
At 4., cut one end from the top arms, bottom arm and legs. To minimize sanding, use a fine-toothed blade with crosscut to cut the ends of the top arms, bottom arms and legs at 4. Cut 4 ends from two stop blocks measuring 3/10cm x 5cm x 10cm and one measuring 1-3/10cm x 1-3/10cm x 10cm. Use the large stop block to trim the top and bottom arms to final length (Photo 2 and Fig. 03). Pay close attention to which way the angles go-the arms should look like a parallelogram when youre done. Adjust the miter gauge to 90 degrees and trim the legs to the desired length.
Photo 3. Install a dado set in your saw and tilt it to 4. Raise it to make a cut
Next, youll cut the notches that enable the three parts of the table to lock together. For ease of assembly, these notches must be 1/41 cm wider than the thickness of the arms (3/10 cm). Assemble a 13/41 cm dado set on your saws arbor. If you don’t have a 1/41c chipper, add shims to the set that measure 1/41 cm. Tilt the dado set to 4 and raise it to cut Photo 3 and Fig. 05). Adjust your miter gauge to 30 (Photo 4). I am using a left-tilt see; if your saw tilts towards the right, adjust your miter gauge accordingly.
Photo 4. Adjust the miter gauge to 30. This angle is easy to establish with a 30-60-90 drafting triangle.
Photo 5. Mark the forward-leaning ends of all the arms. Track which direction these marks point in the next steps.
It is a good idea at this point to mark your pieces ( Photo 5).
Photo 6. Saw two notches in the top arms. Place the arm between two stop blocks. After cutting one notch, flip the arm around to cut the second notch.
Draw a notch on one of the top arms (Fig. 04). It doesnt matter which end of the arm you mark, because both of the notches on the top arm are the same distance from each end. Place the arm on the miter gauge and clamp the angled stopblocks at each end of the arm to trap it. Saw the notch. Flip the arm around so it fits between the stop blocks again and saw a second notch (Photo 6). Theres only one way the arm will fit between the blocks, so you cant make a mistake.
Photo 7. Photo 7. The stop blocks should remain in the same place. Cut the first notch with the arm butted up against the front block; cut the second notch with the arm butted up against the rear block.
The procedure for the lower arm is a bit different. The stop blocks can be left where they are. Butt one end of the arm against the forward stop block and make a cut. Flip the piece around, butt the same end against the rear stop block and make the second cut (Photo 7). This ensures that the distance between notches on the top and bottom arms is equal, even though they are of different lengths.
Make Half-Lap Joints
Photo 8. Photo 8. Here, the dado blades are reset to 90; the miter gauge is reset to 4.
The dado set should be returned to 90. Reduce its height to 3/20cm. Use the square-and-ruler method to adjust the miter gauge back to 4. To make a dado, clamp the large angled stopblock to the fence. Cut half-laps in the ends of all the arms (Photo 8).
Using a test piece, fine-tune the height of the dado set so that the half-lap joints will come out perfectly flush. Cut half-laps at the top of the legs without moving the stopblock or adjusting the miter gauge. Once youre done with these cuts, remove the stop block.
Photo 9. Photo 9. Use two stop blocks to determine the width of the lower joint.
Mark the location of the lower half-lap on one of the legs (Fig.
04). Set up two stop blocks to make this cut. Place the large angled block against the top of the leg and a square block against the bottom of the leg ( Photo 9 ). Adjust the blocks to make a cut thats about 1/35 cm too narrow. Cut a half-lap in one of the legs, then adjust one of the stop blocks to widen the cut until its just right. All three legs should be cut.
Photo 10. Saw a 4 bevel on the ends of the arms. This creates flat spots to support the glass top and shelf.
Youre just about done on the tablesaw. Theres only one more operation-sawing a 4 taper on the top ends of the arms, where they support the glass. This is easiest to do with your dado set ( Foto 10). Tilt the dado set to 4 and adjust the miter gauge to 90. Lower the dado set so it will cut a flat spot about 13/41 cm wide-the exact dimension isnt important. Saw the ends of all the top and bottom arms.
Assembly
Photo 11. Attach the arms to your legs. You must ensure that the pieces are aligned correctly. The F’s arms should be pointing up.
Glue the arms to the legs (Photo 11). Once the glue has dried, trace pencil lines along both sides of each half-lap joint. Sand each assembly until all the pencil lines disappear (Photo 12). Plane or file the end grain of the half-lap joints flush with the surrounding wood.
Photo 12. Sand the joints. Draw pencil lines across the joints and sand until all the marks are gone-this ensures that the surfaces are flush.
Use a 1/20 cm roundover tool to soften the edges of your arms and legs ( Foto 13). Do not route into the notches. Instead, soften the edges manually with a file or sandpaper.
Photo 13. Round over all edges with a trim router. Thats about it-the table is ready to assemble!
If your table will have to brave the elements, finish it with an exterior polyurethane. I bought glass tops for my table at a local Pier 1 store; you can order them online from Pier 1 or have a local glass supplier make them up for you.
First, lock the two frames together to assemble the table. At this point, there will be plenty of play in the joints, so the pieces can swing like a hinge. Insert the third piece, but keep it swung open. Finally, lock the last pairs of notches together, one at a time. As the pieces snap together, this will take some force. But it’s okay. The tension youll feel turns the assembly into a rigid unit.
Bio
Redge Estell has been a woodworker since the early seventies in various cabinet shops, fixture, and exhibit companies in New Mexico, Colorado and Minnesota. He now designs and builds furniture and art in his home studio in Corrales, New Mexico
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