Cut the copper butterfly keys and polished them up. I decided to leave the engraving. This solid copper slab was the embossing plate for the cover of a little book we published years ago. I like seeing the remnants of the etching. The book was a collection of works by local writers, called Riverbanks to Mountaintops.
Next is cutting the mortise insets with a palm router, finished with a chisel. T got some nice shots of that process.
The keys are driven in and glued tight across the split in the slab. This is mostly decorative, but will keep the split from growing.
Finally, the tenons of the legs are inserted in their eye-shaped mortises with glue, and wedges driven in to fasten snug. In a few days, I’ll trim these flush with the top. That leaves the backsplash to attach, then fill the cracks and wormholes, and add a finish coat.
