Up close with a pew: Joinery

Just a quick blog post to show some of the simple joinery that goes into making a pew.

With the seat removed you can see a stretcher that runs below. This stretcher joins the legs with three half-lap joints. The stretcher prevents racking (the legs rotating on the seat) and strengthens the seat.

The edging is combination of decorative curves and natural edges.

Around 1 cm of material is removed from the leg piece for the back rest to sit in. This is deliberative left short to allow the back rest to run the height of the round over above the leg.

The last few days have been spend filling in checks and cracks with epoxy. After final shaping and sanding the pieces will be connected with glue (titebond III), screws, and ebony plugs.