WHY NOT USE FOUR BOLTS?

That is, do the same thing on the stretcher that you did on the leg? Use a
threaded rod two washers and two nuts. Wait a minute, why not use one
machine bolt through the leg (from the outside) into the stretcher and have
the perpendicular hole drilled into the stretcher to hold the nut.


"graham" wrote in message
...
I've got my neander bench base almost built, hurrah!, just need to bolt
the stretchers to the legs. (Common knock-down construction: 10mm hole
through leg into stretcher end grain, with a perpendicular hole in the
stretcher to take a nut (tapped pieces of 8x18x35mm steel)).

Anyway, how do I make sure I drill this long leg-and-stretcher hole
straight?

The only way I've thought of is (1) drill the holes into the legs first.
Don't know how I'm going to ensure it's perpendicular to the leg - trestle
legs too big to put on a pillar drill;
(2) use the holes in the legs as a guide to drill into the stretcher end
grain. What sort of drill bit do I need to use here? Is there any danger
of it wandering off course in the end grain?

Or is this simpler than I'm making it and that actually judging it by eye
and using a long twist drill straight through from the leg in one go is
sufficient?

Insights gratefully received

graham.