This geometric Baillie Scott build will help you conquer some joinery challenges.
When I first saw Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott’s 1901 occasional table at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, I knew that I had to have one.
Baillie Scott (1865-1945), was an architect who led the Arts & Crafts movement. His diminutive and elegant table is uncharacteristic of the often substantial and earthy furniture of the Arts & Crafts style.
The lightness and movement of the table, which come from a play between positive and negative space, make it a true piece of sculpture that looks different from every perspective.
Layout of Plywood
Despite only seven pieces, this small table poses many challenges. There isn’t a single angle. The legs are joined by curved stretchers that run into the top. They are angled from left to right and splayed. As if all that were not challenging enough, the legs are tapered and hexagonal.
This project is perfect for those who enjoy the problem-solving part of furniture making. Read on to discover how to face each challenge.
The legs are joined to each other by floating tenons. The legs and top are joined with wedged through-tenons. Figuring out where the joints go is the goal of a full-size drawing.
Get Started With Full-size Drawings
Leg Pattern 1 square = 15 cm
Drawings are required for this project to be accurate. These drawings will help you locate joinery and define angles. You can create full-size drawings of the table on a piece plywood. On one face of the plywood, youll draw the plan view of the table. The elevation will be drawn on the opposite side. These two drawings work together to give you the all the angles and part sizes you need.
The other good thing to know off the bat is that you will not need to cut tenons at a compound angle. These three hexagonal legs provide joinery surfaces that are parallel to one another (very clever Mr. Baillie Scot).
Start square. Lay out the top of the table using a piece of plywood, which will make it easy to transfer the lines to the other side of the plywood, which has the elevation drawing.
Begin by drawing the top as a 56 cm x 56 cm square on one face of the plywood. Draw a vertical line through the top. Mark one leg (well call it the back leg) on this centerline that is 3 from the back edge of the top. Then draw lines out at 120 to locate the other two legs (well call these the front legs). These three lines should be marked 6 from the centre. These are the locations of the mortises.
Now were going to pull some of the important lines to the other face of the plywood for the elevation view. Pull the locations of the two front legs to the edge of the plywood and wrap them around the edge. Flip the plywood over. Start by measuring 3 cm from the edge where you have made your marks. Next, mark two horizontal lines in order to create the tabletop. (The additional 3 cm gives you more room to draw reference lines.
One drawing. You only need one drawing to show the elevation because the legs and stretchers are identical.
At a 4.5 splay, draw the centerlines of the front legs. Next, draw the inner faces for the legs. The legs are 3 cm thick at their tops and 1 x 5cm at the floor. In the elevation view on your plywood, the 5 cm width is facing you. So the inner face of the leg should taper from off your centerline at the top of the leg to 3 cm off the centerline at the floor.
Stretcher joinery. The drawing will help you locate the joinery. In this instance, the loose tenons connecting the legs and stretchers.
The top line of the stretcher-blanks should be drawn at 45 degrees from parallel, intersecting the inside surface of the right front leg 8cm below the tabletop. The top line establishes the angles at which the stretchers meet the legs.
Also, draw the bottom line for the 3-inch-wide stretcher with its serpentine edges. Use the gridded drawing to lay out the subtle curves on the stretchers.
The problem is that the mortises to support the legs are drilled into topside. To account for this, draw a line perpendicular to the edge of plywood. This line will connect the centerline of the legs to the line on your plywood drawing. Transfer this line to the drawing of the top on the other side of the plywood.
Arts & Crafts Occasional Table Cut List
No.ItemDimensions (inches)MaterialComments
tw l
3 Legs 1x2x30 Maple overlong
3 Stretchers 2 x 3 4 x 22 Maple
1 Top 8 x 20 dia.Maple
6 Wedges 8 x 4 x
Elevation
Indexed Tapering Jig
Recessed area on frame accommodates dowel so jig can have zero taper if necessary.
To solve the puzzle of how to cut tapered, hexagonal legs, I designed a taper-cutting jig that cuts the facets in six passes on my table saw. It functions in the same way as an indexing head for a lathe. The jig holds the leg on its axis so it can be turned at pre-set angles and adjusted to different tapers and leg lengths. It also holds the leg in place for mortising and sanding.
The jig is a simple frame. The jig has a simple frame with a movable carriage. It has a hole for the mounting bolt and a threaded insert that can be inserted into the top of each leg. At the other end is mounting hole plus a indexing hole that will lock in a particular angle of rotation.
Jig Cartridge
A cartridge made from plywood is used to control the rotation of the leg. The cartridge has a threaded insert in its center thats surrounded by six equidistant holes (one hole for each face of the six-sided leg). Each leg has a cartridge attached to it. To lock in an angle of rotation, youll pass a bolt through the jigs indexing hole and into one of the holes in the cartridge.
There are six sides with three radii. Use a compass to draw a hexagon the old fashioned way by drawing intersecting circles.
Attach the jigs frame to a second fence by attaching a hinge at one end. This allows you to adjust your taper angle. You can lock in a particular taper by securing a dowel between your fence and the frame. The bolt will grab some T-track from the second fence.
For the mounting bolt. For a brass threaded insert, drill a hole of 15 cm.
To cut the tapers, screw the cartridge to the foot of the leg. Attach the top and bottom legs to the jig. Lock the carriage, then insert a bolt in one of six holes. Take the carriage bolt out of the cartridge and make the cut. Pull out the bolt part way, then turn the leg while putting pressure on the bolt. Push the bolt into the hole and tighten the jig until the next cut is made.
– MR
Get The Tapered Legs
The foot is in the jig. The leg is attached by a bolt that goes through the jig and into the threaded insert on the cartridge, which is screwed to the leg.
To define the tenons, make sure the leg blanks are milled to the dimensions in the cutting list. Use a crosscut saw at the tablesaw to cut the shoulders for the Tenons. It is easier to do this if the blanks are still square. The shoulders should be cut 1 inch below the top of each leg.
To mount each leg to the indexed tapering tool jig, drill a hole at the top of each leg.
Attach the cartridge that you made for the tapering joint to the foot of your leg with two #6×3 cm screws. Attach a test leg with two #6 x 3 cm screws to the jig.
Rotate the leg, insert the indexing bolt into the cartridge and through the jig. This will lock the leg at an angle relative to the table saw blade. Tighten the mounting bolt for the cartridge.
The top of the jig. The carriage can be adjusted for legs of different lengths.
The best way to get the right taper is to place the taper on your test leg and then use the layout lines as a guide.
With the jig firmly against the table saws fence, cut one facet of the leg. Loosen the mounting bolt, turn the leg to the next position and tighten the bolt again. The blade was just above the cartridge so I stopped the cutting and then pulled the jig in the opposite direction. Although the waste will remain near the cartridge, it can be easily removed.
Screwed on. Attach the cartridge to your leg, and it’s ready to bolt into the tapering joint.
After tapering all three legs, put them aside without cutting them to length. Youll be putting them back into the jig later for mortising and sanding.
Make The Stretchers
Go time. With the leg blank installed in the jig, cut the tapers in six passes.
Clamp straightedges along the lines for the legs inner faces on the drawing and use a digital protractor to measure the angles where the stretchers meet the legs.
I made a dedicated sled for my table saw to cut these angles, but if youre just making one table, a miter gauge or chop saw will suffice.
Tighten, then cut. Before moving on to the next position, loosen the mounting bolt.
Mark the center of the mortises on the drawing to avoid any short grain in your stretchers. Cut these mortises with a router on the ends of the stretchers, using your drawing as a guide.
Sand as you go. The jig keeps the legs in the right position for mortising and sanding.
The mortises should be wide, 1 long and deep.
Cut the curves on the stretcher using a router table, a plywood pattern and a flush-cutting bit.
More Leg Work
Double duty. I can cut every angle with this sled without making any adjustments.
Make a story stick to transfer the mortise locations from your drawing to the three legs.
The stops are simply screwed in place.
Turn the facet to accept the mortise up by putting a leg back in the tapering jig. Its easy to confuse the upper and lower mortises, so I marked them with blue tape.
To cut these mortises, I made a simple plywood box that encases the leg to give a larger bearing surface for the base of the router. Mark the centers of your mortises using the plywood pattern. The mortises should be cut using the same depth setting as the lateral stops that you used for the stretcher mortises. The locations of the mortises are as follows: Right front leg mortise center is located 5 inches below the underside on the top. The mortise center on the left front leg is 16 inches below the underside of its top. Sand the legs while theyre still in the tapering jig.
Draw, then place the stretcher. Place the cut angles on the drawing and mark the spot for the mortise.
Make the legs with the -diameter circular tenon. Dry-fit the legs and stretchers together with the floating tenons to make sure everything fits well, then cut the legs to length.
Time For The Top
Mortising. There are many ways to cut mortises because they are 90 degrees to the legs’ face. I put the leg back in the jig to hold it in perfect position to cut mortises with a plunge router.
Cut a panel of -thickness and glue it to a 56 cm x 56cm square. Mark the center and draw 120 angles for the lines that will mark the location of the legs. The locations of the legs can be found in the drawing. Make sure to mark the underside of your top. I used a circle-cutting jig with a router to cut the round top at a diameter of 20.
Put It All Together
No lathe? Use a handsaw and files to make round tenons.
Use a scrap piece of plywood with reference lines transferred from the plywood drawing for a test run for drilling the holes for the legs.
Test run. With mortises cut on the stretchers and the legs, dry-fit the table together with its floating tenons.
I used a jig, similar to a circle-cutting or jig, that was crossed with a doweling tool to drill the mortises. Cut a piece of -thick scrap plywood to 8 cm wide and 51 cm long. Mark a line across the face and edge at 25 cm and drill a hole to accommodate the center pin used with a circle cutting jig.
Simple, but very effective. To produce accurate results, a circle-cutting tool jig does not have to be complicated.
You can draw a line along the length of plywood, and then carry it around the edges.
Drilling jig. Here I am testing my drilling setup on a mockup of the tabletop.
To accept the pin, drill a stop hole in the scrap top. Now bore a hole angled at 4.5 in a block of hardwood that measures 5 cm thick, 8 cm wide and 18 cm long. This block will serve as a guide or bushing for the drill bit. At 6 inches from the center hole of the jig, mark a line. Attach the block of wood to the plywood with screws (not glue) so that the centerline of the hole lines up with the centerline on the jig.
Seven difficult pieces. It is important to remember that there are only seven parts, not counting loose tenons or wedges, when things get tough.
Put the jig on the underside of the tabletop with the pin in the hole. Turn the jig so that it aligns with one of three lines on your tabletop. Attach the jig to the tabletop and use a hand drill to bore the hole on the plywood dummy.
Clamp to clamp. Their shape may be funny, but these cauls make the glue-up a lot easier by giving the clamps parallel surfaces.
The cauls are clamped to the stretchers with spring clamps.
You can then clamp the joint with an F-style clamp.
Dry-fit the legs and stretchers into the dummy top. If the dry-fit has gaps, unscrew the block of wood, move it and reattach it. Drill holes on new lines on plywood until you achieve a perfect fit.
Apply clamps to the leg joints, then apply wedges. Apply clamps to the leg joints before tapping in the wedges.
If everything is in place, bear the mortises on the real top. This is where patience pays off. Continue this process until you achieve a perfect fit. To accept wedges, cut slots in the tops and ends of the leg tenons.
The glue-up for this table can be a challenge because of the angles, so I made cauls to give the clamps somewhat parallel surfaces to work with. After glue has dried, wedge the tenons and trim them flush to the top. I used crisscross wedges in homage to the original.
This table was finished with a simple wiping varnish. I sanded between coats to achieve a nice sheen and build.
Plan Download a SketchUp Model of This Project from Our 3D Warehouse.
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