The 4 pieces fit together very well. By dry fitting them, you can see if there is any adjustment that needs to be made before glue up.          I also found that if you assemble them in order, the last joint is difficult to bring together. A better way is to assemble two sets of two sections...and then put those together to make the completed leg.       I used polyurethane glue for this leg. There is a great deal of gluing surface. I carefully brushed the glue into every surface on one piece.     On the mating piece, I moisten the surfaces with a brush dipped in water. The water activates the polyurethane glue and makes for a tighter bond.      When the two pairs of sections are glued, I then apply glue to them and position them together.  I do not want to over clamp the assembly so I use a series of spring clamps to hold the pieces while the glue cures.          Once dry, the squeeze out is easily chipped away.    I use a rounding over plane to shape the four corners just slightly.  Notice the slight gap at the far right. That is the result of the sniping at the end of the cut. I planned to trim that but found that it really was still quite tight, even with the small gap.    The finished leg is perfect in fit and is very strong—in fact, it should be stronger than a leg cut from one piece (at left). It certainly looks good with all four sides having edge grain. I did add a bit of wood putty to where the fit wasn't exact near the end of the piece.    This joining method is great for square legs.    What do you think? Add your comments in the box below. I would love to hear from you on this or anything we do here at Woodshopdemos.com. Main Menu           Previous Page          To CMT Site