Here is a shot of the finished detail on the legs, ready for final planing and refinement. I’ll do that after the mortises are cut for the stretchers. I changed things up a bit and decided to taper the inside of the legs at the front and back but left the sides square. Well, go to something different and it complicates things a little. I made the jig somewhat like shown in Darrell Pearts book. For the straight side of the legs it was pretty simple.
Rather than mess with a collar I simply used a 1/2” bit with a bearing mounted on top. My jig is 1/2” MDF which I cut to create a 1” wide space to set the router. A fence was attached to clamp against the leg and a 1/8” thick piece of masonite was stapled to the underside of the jig to raise the back end. The depth of cut was determined through trial and error and the two straight sides of each leg was routed. The tapered side of the legs required a little more planning.
To make this I first cut a 3 degree angle in the center of the MDF. Next step was to remove the 1” space in the center. For both jigs I left an opening of about 8” for the router to travel in. To re-assemble the pieces I used a couple of 0 size biscuits and glue. The trick with the taper jig is that the taper goes one way on the front of the legs and the opposite way on the backs of them. When I attached the plywood fence to the jig I drilled the holes and countersunk both sides. The critical part of the jig is how it references to the straight edge. In this case, the leg is 1 5/8” wide and with the detail being an inch wide that leaves 5/16” on either side. If you use this jig that’s the important measurement. Here I’m re-attaching the fence to cut the opposite sides of the taper.
I’ll continue to post as I build this bench, enjoy!