last mortises and grooves

Today I am doing the last fitting of parts. I cut the mortises in the end stretcher that allow for the bottom shelves to be fitted, then use the the router table to cut grooves that prevent the shelves from twisting as they inevitably expand and contract in place.

This is different from making a table from particle board. The joints are real. No pretense, not excuses, and while they are not hand cut as they would have been anytime between the dawn of man and the 18th century, they are real; they are functional and the making of each joint requires human attention.

The stop blocks on the router table control the movement of the stock, providing stopping and starting points for the operation, making the groove blind, meaning that it can't be seen in the finished joint. So there are a few secrets a craftsman does keep to him or her self. the stop blocks will be repositioned for routing the matching grooves to house the other shelf. You can see the resulting fit in the photo below.