Barnsley Hayrake Table - Part 2 - Stretcher Joinery

There is a link to the plans for the Barnsley hayrake table in the description of part 1.
Part 2 of this mom and son teaching project gets deeper into the stretcher work. The mortises are at a 45-degrees angle, and the length of the stretcher makes it impossible to put on a jig on a drill press - even if we had one to use.
Our mortise chisel was far too narrow to chop the mortises with a single pass. We’ll show you our work-around solution, demonstrating how to cut a deep angled mortise by hand.
We also cut the angled tenons to fit the Y of the rake to the stretcher.
Chapters:
0:20 Stretcher Mortises
3:30 Y-tenons

[@shaweehillsworkshop4226]

Great job! I love hand tool joinery!

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Thanks, Shawnee Hills Workshop! On these angled mortises it was the only way to go. And since I only had the narrow mortise chisel, it had to be completely chopped by hand. No drilling material out. I discovered drilling takes almost as long and tends to make the chisel steer unpredictably. Nothing beats a good sharp chisel. I should have mentioned I home it after each full mortise was complete. Joining only takes a few seconds but is oh so worth it!

[@jasonhammond4640]

Very nice work. Good and tight. What will the size of your table be?

[@SkyValleyStudio]

Thanks, Jason! The finished size of the top is planned at 42-44” wide by 90-93” long. Top thickness will appear as 8/4, but we are working on a budget and have a bit of a trick planned.

[@hekdiesel]

Sorry if i missed it, what wood species are you using in this project?

[@SkyValleyStudio]

No problem, Hector. I only stated it at the start of Part 1. The original Barnsley hayrake was English oak. This one will have an American black walnut top (my son wanted a dark top without any stain so dings from toddlers wouldn’t look as bad) and the base is rock maple, because he wanted a lighter base, and maple goes so well with walnut. The base also has walnut wedges and drawbore pegs.

[@hekdiesel]

@@SkyValleyStudio thanks, i still havent watched through, will do it tonight after the kiddos go to bed, but it is amazing to watch you work, i am enjoying this video and learning a lot