Reply by adamclyde

Gary, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. Great idea. No sure why I hadn’t thought of it… the mortise is easy, since I’ll cut out the mortise before it’s tapered. Then I’ll practice on scrap for the stretcher and tenon and use that as a template. Perfect. I like that a little better than starting the taper below the stretcher as that would significantly change the look of the desk.

richardwootton – the tapers are only on two sides, but they will be facing inward, so the square edges will be outside, hence the difficulty in laying out the tenons properly. Having the legs taper outside in would give it a different look than I’m going for, I think.

Folks, thanks for all the help and advice!