This question having been decided, take the glued-up top from clamps and dress down to size. The under side should be trued up enough to fit neatly over tops of legs and rails, and the upper side should be planed, scraped, and sand-papered.
The final assembling should be done in this order:
Assemble the two ends separately. Each end consists of two legs, a top and a bottom rail. The mortise and tenon joints should be glued, and a clamp used at top and bottom. Test for squareness. When dry, remove clamps, insert shelf tenons and those of top rails in their mortises, and clamp lengthwise. Drive a wire brad through each tenon, from the side of leg least conspicuous, and set with nail punch.
Put on the top, and level bottom of legs where necessary. Remove all traces of glue, and fill brad holes with putty, coloured same as stain to be used.
Place wedges in mortises provided, and fasten each one with a small brad driven through the side of shelf tenons. Stain and polish.
THE TEA TABLE
This table is made low purposely, the legs being exactly two feet in length. The construction consists of four legs, two sets of cross rails, and a circular top two feet in diameter. As this top is too wide to be cut from one board, joint two pieces of 7⁄8-inch stock, glue together, and place in clamp. The joint may be strengthened with dowels, as in previous cases. ([Fig. 197].)
Fig. 197. A mission tea table