Keyed mortise and tenon

The next project has keyed mortise and tenons, but before I ruin perfectly nice cherry pieces, I thought i should work out a few kinks. Here are the first few attempts. I'm trying to get a very slight 5 degree angle to the entry point, as the receiving mortise is a panel type leg for a bench, and has a slight tilt. I have already learned if you over tighten the key you will take a beautiful chunk out of the remaining mortise... So gentle taps only!

Poplar TV stand: 6 - Completed

Stained with Minwax "Red Mahogany", and Minwax Paste Wax.  We were going for a rustic, slightly "worn" look, which works well with my rustic, novice joinery.  The finish came out nicely.  We had read before that the poplar would take up the stain in a "blotchy" fashion, we did not use pre-finish, though we thought about it.  Looking back, it might have evened out the color, but it works nicely.  

The top being smooth-planed to reduce sanding.  We left a lot of the rough plane marks to enhance the desired appearance.   I had not accounted for the visibility of the wire-mess that emanates from my TV, so I might be adding some hideaway features shortly to hide the cables underneath.

Poplar TV Stand: 5

The bottom shelf is done. Somehow I had a bit of an issue with fitting one corner. Lesson here I think is decide on the shelf design first and dry fit instead if trying to wedge it in and size it as you go. At least I learned a little repair work as a bonus. Next: attach top, sand, stain!

Small repair in the back corner, which ended up being the front.  It fit nicely.

Gramercy Tools Holdfasts

I had seen a holdfast used many a time on The Woodwright's Shop and elsewhere, and finally saw a reasonably priced option available from Gramercy Tools. They work as advertised, and I am pleased. It is actually quite amazing how often I find myself reaching for one. As a bonus, my bench seems much more "legit" with dog holes in it ;)
We shall see where this takes us now...

Poplar TV Stand: 4

Laminating the top. Next will be the bottom shelf. I found that just gluing two at a time was far easier though I was initially tempted to try all three at once. I'm glad a went with the former.

Poplar TV Stand: 3

The frame is coming together nicely. I got a crazy idea to test my joinery skills and try a sort of dovetail style joint for the cross piece of the bottom shelf. I'm pleased to report it worked out quite nicely and provided a nice tight fit.

Roubo book stand: poplar

While in the middle of the TV stand project, I got the itch to do one of these book stands. I had a very dark leftover piece of poplar from the TV stand, and thought this would make a nice stand. So I eyeballed the dimensions and made an odd number of hinge points... I am wondering if I have a panel saw up to the task of the final splitting...