Shaker table aprons, dry fit, tapered legs...

Quick update on the weekend's progress.  I finished all mortise and tenons for the legs and aprons and conducted a dry fit.  Some of the mortises were a little loose, but I think they'll still work.  In all I am proud of the way the table is coming together so far.

Once I knew everything was looking ok, I decided it was time to taper the legs.  To do that easily I needed to build a tapering jig.  So I did.  I leveraged the idea from The Woodwhisperer's Guild tapering jig video.  The difference is that Marc used a rail to guide his jig, where I just used the fence.  It worked well for me. In all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture of the tapered legs.  Hopefully, I'll have the glue up done soon, and I'll post a pic then.

Mortise & Tenons & Craftsmanship...

I have been practicing my craftsmanship. I am not saying that I am at the craftsman level, just stating the fact that I am making an effort.I took my time today milling the rails and cutting the mortise & tenons. I was rewarded with a decent fit, and only one goof. The wood for the aprons and rails seems to be sap wood, where the wood for the legs was heartwood. I am curious as to the affect this will have when it comes time for finishing. If any of my 4 readers have had experience with heartwood/sapwood differences with staining Ash, feel free to comment. Hey, comment even if you don't have experience. The grain on the aprons was also wilder than the legs, which led to some pretty bad tearout when jointing. I was able to hide the tearout on the inside of the rails, so it is not an issue.

The time I spent paring out the mortises and tenons flew by. My mind was clear and focused on the job at hand. I wonder, if I were persuing woodworking as a professional craft and not a hobby, would have a similar experience? I can "zone out" when developing software, that is if it is fun, interesting or new. I guess when you are woodworking for a living, it has the danger of ending up like any other profession. Some tasks you look forward to tackling, and the others are just tasks. I wonder which tasks fall into which category. I have a ways to go before I am a "craftsman". I consider myself an "apprentice".  As an apprentice, one of my duties is sharpening tools.  That's a good thing, because the Ash has been brutal on my chisels.