Nicholson, closing in

Once we had all of the holes bored in the side boards we attached them to the legs with glue and screws. Then we fitted the vise nut and guide tube assembly to the bench using the planing stops as spacers. We also installed a block between the planing stops to aid as a guide and we installed the transverse bearers. We are now ready to chop the mortises for the guide bar in the side boards and the planing stops in the top. We laid the top boards in place and I crawled under the bench and marked the location of the planing stops and Dean chopped the holes while I chopped the holes for the guide bar. I made a special tool from a scrap of wood to help me locate the outside of the mortise based on the inside of the tube. I then slid in the guide bar and drilled through the screw hole to access the nut behind the sideboard. I enlarged the hole slightly with gouges to aid in clearance and alignment. I did this to both sides if the bench.