I'll do my best to word my question so it can be understood... I'm loosely following the plans from Nov. '01 Popular Mechanics on building an Arts & Crafts style dining room chair. This will be my first chair project. My problem occurs when it comes to the curved back rest pieces. The article instructs to use 1 3/4" thick stock and bandsaw out the curved shape and the tenons which fit in the mortises in the back legs. I don't have a band saw so I was considering doing a lamination of 1/4" thick pieces and bending them in a jig to form a
3/4" curved piece. I was then thinking of mitering this piece so that the ends are flush with the back legs, i.e. no tenons on the back rest pieces. To join the curved back rest pieces to the rear legs I was thinking of using loose tenons for which I would cut mortises on my router table (first choice) or possibly a double biscuit arrangement. Since a lot of stress is put on a chair when someone leans back in it I'm thinking the biscuits may not be strong enough. Any advice or tips for how to cut a mortise in the flat end of a curved piece of stock on a router table? Thanks for any tips you can pass along.Dale