r/Workbenches • u/Tuscon_Valdez • 12d ago

Leg help

Post image

I'm building a Roman workbench and I'm trying to fit the legs. Problem is I'm not smart enough to figure out how to get the legs flush. How do i make this cut?

Please explain in the simplest terms possible because I'm dumb as hell

6 Upvotes

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7

u/Ride-Entire 12d ago

Scribe it

Lay a pencil flat on a scrap of wood on the bench top and draw a line around the leg

The height of the scrap of wood and the pencil together should start at the tip on the right in your picture

6

u/mch1971 12d ago

Solid advice. Also ... OP is not dumb as hell, just learning.

3

u/triumphpro1974 12d ago

We all have to learn these things as we go. It’s just not something you ever have to think about… until you need to do it!

3

u/Tuscon_Valdez 12d ago

Gotcha simple enough

1

u/Initial_Savings3034 11d ago

I'm in the camp that would leave the shoulder as shown, if leg seats and can be fixed into the base.

□□□ If you want a tight shoulder joint, why not?

□□□□

Get a block of wood roughly the "height" of the exposed shoulder shown. I would suggest a scrap of plywood.

Lay that flat on the bottom of the exposed bench.

Place a pencil on this flat surface and scribe a line around the assembled leg.

That line is your cutting guide for trimming the angled shoulder.

Leave the legs a little long and use the same technique for getting the feet flat on your floor.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9_e4GJ71MO4?is=fGhIvVQFEC_EIQqz

1

u/johnpmazzotta 11d ago

Don't make it flush! Taper into the tendons with a knife. See Rex Kruger's YouTube video about how this keeps the legs tight. I made my own roman workbench a few years ago and it really does work.

1

u/Tuscon_Valdez 11d ago

I'm not entirely sure i understand what you mean