Yes, I heated the tenons with a torch and upset and formed the heads in that and whatever other position was required to get to a particular tenon. The stack of anvils was to give some support to the backside of the armrest while upsetting the tenon for one arm rest support, as shown in the picture. On others, the opposite end was bucked with a sledge hammer or other heavy mass. The piece was rotated on the rotisserie as necessary to get each joint into a convenient postition for the tenoning and backup. Most of the tenons were 3/4" diameter or a bit more and took some serious whacking to get upset.
As I mentioned, the biggest challenge was to keep from lighting the wood on fire while heating some of the tenons that were close to the wood. It all worked out fine, though. There is a BIG advantage to making a large piece so you can manipulate it reasonably easily, and I recommend you keep an open mind when faced with such a project. The rotisserie idea was just something that my twisted mind tossed up and was almost ignored at first, but it really saved my day.
Tenoning
Rick,
Yes, I heated the tenons with a torch and upset and formed the heads in that and whatever other position was required to get to a particular tenon. The stack of anvils was to give some support to the backside of the armrest while upsetting the tenon for one arm rest support, as shown in the picture. On others, the opposite end was bucked with a sledge hammer or other heavy mass. The piece was rotated on the rotisserie as necessary to get each joint into a convenient postition for the tenoning and backup. Most of the tenons were 3/4" diameter or a bit more and took some serious whacking to get upset.
As I mentioned, the biggest challenge was to keep from lighting the wood on fire while heating some of the tenons that were close to the wood. It all worked out fine, though. There is a BIG advantage to making a large piece so you can manipulate it reasonably easily, and I recommend you keep an open mind when faced with such a project. The rotisserie idea was just something that my twisted mind tossed up and was almost ignored at first, but it really saved my day.