Doweling the Seat Boards and Cutting Seat Joints

Yesterday I finished the day beginning to bore the holes for the dowel joints joining the boards that make up the seat. The front four holes are 3/8 in. 1/2 in. up from the bottom and 3 in. in from the front of the seat. These holes are lower because they lie in an area of the seat that will be scooped out. The holes in the back are in the unscooped area and are located in the center of the boards 7/8 in. up from the bottom. The back holes are 1/2 in. in diameter.

Boring the holes is a bit of a challenge, because of the 3 degree bevels on the boards. The number two and four boards have cancelling bevels so when I set them on edge the top face is 90 degrees to the drill, so this makes them easier to drill. When I drilled two of the 3/8 in. holes I found it difficult to locate the holes and hold the boards in place. I am looking for a better approach today. I will have to tilt the drill press table three degrees for boards one and five. For board three, the center board, I will have to tilt the table six degrees, because the bevels compound each other.

I am thinking of using sandpaper to help hold the boards in place while I drill them. I also may use wood scraps to clamp each side of the boards and then clamp the assembly to the drill press table. We'll see how this works.

After I get the holes drilled for the dowel joints I will cut the joint area on each corner of the seat where the four legs attach.