The seat slats have their top edges rounded
using a round-over bit in a router table.
tenon cutter or dado head. You
can also cut these quite simply
with a radial arm saw and dado
head, such as the Freud model.
Simply position a 1/2-inch stop
block to hold the slats against.
The simplest way to do most of the
counterboring is with a forstner bit
in a drill press.
Anchor the stop-block to the radial
arm saw table with a clamp. Hold
the slat in place and run the dado
across each face on each end.
Lightly sand the cut ends to
remove any splinters. With 15
slats needed, it’s not a bad idea
to do each step on each slat, and
then move to the next step.
The slat tenons in the porch
swing fit into mortises cut in the
upper and lower back supports.
This takes a bit of work and some
fairly precise cutting. A simpler
method would be to run a dado
on the top edge of the bottom
back support and the bottom
edge of the upper back support.
Then cut the slats so they com-
pletely fill the dadoes without any
spacing between. My original
design was this, and then I decid-
ed the back needed a more open
appearance so I went with the
more difficult method.
Rough cut the mortises with a
forstner bit and a shop-made fence
on a drill press.
Construct the seat assembly
first and make sure it is square.
The back slats are held in place
with mortise and tenon joints. Lay
out the mortise joints.
True-up the mortise ends and
edges with a sharp bevel chisel
and mallet.
