Floor Lamp Corbel Fastening

[cpowell]

I'm building a floor lamp roughly along the lines of the Popular Mechanics plan link shown below.

I've cut and sanded and am now ready for assembly. The plans call for the corbels along each side to be anchored with a 4D finish nail near the bottom. I don't want any nail holes to deal with. Shouldn't I be okay with just glue since the corbels and post are both walnut and they are not cross grain? If not, any ideas for hidden fasteners? I thought about a hidden biscuit/dowel but feel precise alignment would be difficult since the post is tapered...in other words, I'll screw it up! :lol:

I considered a countersunk screw with a tapered plug but don't know if that would look ok. I will admit that it would be much simpler and faster to glue up if I align the corbels with the post using some type of fastener.

I will pre-drill and screw through the base into the bottom of the corbels to anchor the bottom side.


http://www.popularmechanics.com/home_improvement/furniture/1273236.html?page=1&c=y

Chuck

 

[Monty]

You're referring to this step?

I think you'd be fine with just glue and clamps. Only trick would be keeping the piece aligned properly while the glue sets. You might consider driving in a small finish nail or brad almost all the way into the post, then cut the head off with a wire cutter - as close to the surface as possible. The tiny little sharp point left behind will sink into the corbel as you're applying clamp pressure, to help keep it from sliding off to one side on the slippery glue layer. Make sense? If you feel you must use a fastener, you might consider miller dowels, which come in walnut.

 

[4yanks]

I'm with insomniac on using cut off finish nails to prevent slipping during glue up. I think glue will hold just fine. If your looking for some thing more substantial you could use dowels. Then use dowel centers to insure precise alignment.

 

[cpowell]

Thanks for the majority opinions.

I went with glue on the first corbel and will see how it works. A little bit aggravating getting everything centered with the glue on it but it's pretty close. Will let it dry overnight and see how it looks.

It's a PITA to get the fit perfect with the taper angle. The first one looked close till I glued and clamped...Grrrrrrr...very small gap at the bottom! :eusa_doh:

I'll be more patient tomorrow and fit and dry clamp until it's right.

Chuck

 

[Big Mike]

I have successfully used small biscuits to locate corbels like that on various projects.