@@ -130,8 +130,8 @@ Budget-conformance props. Not examples. Conventions: [`showcase/README.md`](show
   <a href="showcase/signpost/"><img src="showcase/signpost/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Signpost: a timber post with two painted fingerboards, iron straps, and a pyramidal cap on a dark studio floor" /></a>
   <a href="showcase/chopping-block/"><img src="showcase/chopping-block/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Chopping block: a bark-sided log round with growth rings and drying checks on its sawn top, a riveted iron hoop, and a felling axe buried in the top, on a dark studio floor" /></a>
   <a href="showcase/wooden-bucket/"><img src="showcase/wooden-bucket/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Wooden bucket: a coopered pail with a three-strand rope bail through iron ear rings and chord-lofted iron hoops on a dark studio floor" /></a>
-  <a href="showcase/wall-torch/"><img src="showcase/wall-torch/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Wall torch: a dressed stone plaque with an iron sconce, wooden haft, and flame on a dark studio floor" /></a>
-  <a href="showcase/tavern-stool/"><img src="showcase/tavern-stool/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Tavern stool: a round wooden seat on turned splayed legs with stretchers and iron ferrules on a dark studio floor" /></a>
+  <a href="showcase/wall-torch/"><img src="showcase/wall-torch/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Wall torch: a dressed stone plaque with an iron plate and arm holding a cup, a leaning wooden torch with a pitch-wrapped head and a bright flame, on a dark studio floor" /></a>
+  <a href="showcase/tavern-stool/"><img src="showcase/tavern-stool/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Tavern stool: a round wooden seat on turned splayed legs with stretchers at two heights and iron ferrules on flat treads, on a dark studio floor" /></a>
   <a href="showcase/iron-cauldron/"><img src="showcase/iron-cauldron/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Iron cauldron: a round-bellied cast-iron pot hanging by its bail from a timber tripod on a dark studio floor" /></a>
   <a href="showcase/wooden-ladder/"><img src="showcase/wooden-ladder/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Wooden ladder: a raked timber ladder with six evenly spaced rungs and iron shoes, leaning against a dark wall section" /></a>
   <a href="showcase/hay-bale/"><img src="showcase/hay-bale/preview.webp" width="24%" alt="Hay bale: a bound straw bale with two sisal twine belts on a dark studio floor" /></a>
 
@@ -1135,23 +1135,23 @@ <h2><a href="wooden-bucket/">wooden-bucket</a></h2>
       </article>
       <article class="card" data-tags="mesh export showcase">
         <a class="card-media" href="wall-torch/" tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true">
-          <img src="assets/wall-torch-hero.webp" alt="A wall torch: a stone-block plaque with an iron bracket holding a bowl with a flame, casting warm light on the floor." loading="lazy" decoding="async" />
+          <img src="assets/wall-torch-hero.webp" alt="A wall torch: a dark-jointed stone plaque with a round iron plate and level arm holding a cup, from which a leaning wooden torch with a pitch-wrapped head burns above the cornice." loading="lazy" decoding="async" />
         </a>
         <div class="card-body">
           <h2><a href="wall-torch/">wall-torch</a></h2>
-          <p class="teaches">A procedural wall-mounted torch sconce with a dressed stone plaque, iron bracket, wooden haft, and emissive flame through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.</p>
-          <p class="witnesses"><span class="tag">witnesses</span> Recomputed: 1528 tris, four materials with 540 stone, 228 metal and 78 flame faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.304×0.293×0.424 m at zmin 0, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 60 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero. Arm-to-cup gap 0.87 mm, plate-to-plaque gap 4 mm, plaque width 0.280 m. --skip-decimate exits 9; --stray-vert 15; --lift-z 16; --float-arm 17; --float-plate 18; --skinny-plaque 19.</p>
+          <p class="teaches">A procedural wall-mounted torch sconce: an iron plate bolted to the stone face, a level arm, an open cup holding a leaning haft with a pitch wrap and upright flames, through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.</p>
+          <p class="witnesses"><span class="tag">witnesses</span> Recomputed: 2004 tris, five materials with 540 stone, 318 metal, 50 wood, 180 flame and 60 pitch faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.304×0.322×0.485 m at zmin 0, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 116 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero. Arm level 0.000°, plate 13 mm proud of the stones and 3 mm into them, arm-to-cup gap 0.07 mm, plaque width 0.280 m, bake 27.7 texels per UV cell. --skip-decimate exits 9; --stray-vert 15; --lift-z 16; --float-arm 17; --float-plate 18; --skinny-plaque 19; --droop-arm 20; --sink-plate 21; --low-bake 22.</p>
           <a class="card-link" href="wall-torch/">View showcase piece<span class="sr-only"> wall-torch</span> <span aria-hidden="true">&rarr;</span></a>
         </div>
       </article>
       <article class="card" data-tags="mesh export showcase">
         <a class="card-media" href="tavern-stool/" tabindex="-1" aria-hidden="true">
-          <img src="assets/tavern-stool-hero.webp" alt="A wooden tavern stool with a round seat, turned splayed legs and stretcher rungs." loading="lazy" decoding="async" />
+          <img src="assets/tavern-stool-hero.webp" alt="A wooden tavern stool with a grained round seat, turned splayed legs, stretcher rungs at two heights, and dark iron ferrules on flat treads." loading="lazy" decoding="async" />
         </a>
         <div class="card-body">
           <h2><a href="tavern-stool/">tavern-stool</a></h2>
-          <p class="teaches">A procedural tavern stool with a lathed seat, turned splayed legs, tenoned stretchers, and iron ferrule cups through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.</p>
-          <p class="witnesses"><span class="tag">witnesses</span> Recomputed: 2528 tris, two materials with 1168 wood and 256 metal faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.340×0.340×0.470 m, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 396 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero, four ferrule cups at zmin 0, stretcher-leg gap 0, ferrule clearance −1.25 mm. --float-stretchers exits 17 on the stretcher join; --pipe-ferrule exits 18 on the ferrule bite band.</p>
+          <p class="teaches">A procedural tavern stool with a lathed seat, turned splayed legs, staggered stretchers, and iron ferrules gripping each leg on its own axis over a level tread, through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.</p>
+          <p class="witnesses"><span class="tag">witnesses</span> Recomputed: 3040 tris, two materials with 1168 wood and 576 metal faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.341×0.341×0.470 m, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 468 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero, four treads at zmin 0, stretcher-leg gap 0, ferrule grip 1.20 mm on each leg&#x27;s axis, leg ends 1.1 mm above their treads, bake 22.4 texels per UV cell. --float-stretchers exits 17; --pipe-ferrule 18; --sink-legs 20; --low-bake 21.</p>
           <a class="card-link" href="tavern-stool/">View showcase piece<span class="sr-only"> tavern-stool</span> <span aria-hidden="true">&rarr;</span></a>
         </div>
       </article>
 
@@ -552,6 +552,30 @@ entry in `showcase/gallery.json`, and a rendered still.
   by 24 mm, while its README said the width *was* the tile. `--wide-tile`
   restores the old stations. Check it before the AABB gate, or the envelope
   check fires first.
+- **A fixture is bolted to the face it is seen on (file-local code).** A
+  wall plate seated on the backing slab, behind the face of the stones
+  laid over it, is buried: `wall-torch` showed only its four bolt heads.
+  A plate-to-plaque gap budget passed, because the plate still touched the
+  slab. Derive the seat from the proudest face (`stone_face_y()`), and
+  assert two things from the mesh: the fixture stands proud of that face
+  by a named minimum, and its back bites the face within a band.
+  `--sink-plate` restores the old seat.
+- **A ferrule grips the leg on the leg's axis (exit 18/20).** A vertical
+  cup on the floor under a splayed leg can't hold it. The leg either
+  saws through the wall or, as `tavern-stool` shipped, stops above an open
+  ring with air around the foot. Build the sleeve on the leg's own axis,
+  with its inner radius a named grip inside the leg. Bury its raked bottom
+  in a level tread, and end the leg inside the sleeve above the tread.
+  Measure the grip radially about the leg's principal axis, not by
+  nearest-face signed distance: points in an open sleeve's hollow read as
+  inside its wall.
+- **Bake texels per UV cell (file-local code).** One UV cell per face
+  and a 256 px bake gives a 1,700-face piece about 6 px per cell. The
+  render's bilinear lookup then reads the next cell's normals across the
+  border, as dark slivers on the hero (`tavern-stool`). Assert the smallest
+  UV cell's extent in baked texels, from the mesh's UVs and the image's
+  actual size, against a floor (12 px). `--low-bake` bakes at 256 px and
+  is the falsifier.
 - **Level on the stage.** A hero that tilts the piece about X, even by 2°,
   sinks one row of feet into the floor and lifts the other. Turn the piece
   only about Z.
 
@@ -285,9 +285,9 @@
     {
       "name": "wall-torch",
       "dir": "showcase/wall-torch",
-      "teaches": "A procedural wall-mounted torch sconce with a dressed stone plaque, iron bracket, wooden haft, and emissive flame through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.",
-      "alt": "A wall torch: a stone-block plaque with an iron bracket holding a bowl with a flame, casting warm light on the floor.",
-      "witnessesFix": "Recomputed: 1528 tris, four materials with 540 stone, 228 metal and 78 flame faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.304×0.293×0.424 m at zmin 0, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 60 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero. Arm-to-cup gap 0.87 mm, plate-to-plaque gap 4 mm, plaque width 0.280 m. --skip-decimate exits 9; --stray-vert 15; --lift-z 16; --float-arm 17; --float-plate 18; --skinny-plaque 19.",
+      "teaches": "A procedural wall-mounted torch sconce: an iron plate bolted to the stone face, a level arm, an open cup holding a leaning haft with a pitch wrap and upright flames, through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.",
+      "alt": "A wall torch: a dark-jointed stone plaque with a round iron plate and level arm holding a cup, from which a leaning wooden torch with a pitch-wrapped head burns above the cornice.",
+      "witnessesFix": "Recomputed: 2004 tris, five materials with 540 stone, 318 metal, 50 wood, 180 flame and 60 pitch faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.304×0.322×0.485 m at zmin 0, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 116 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero. Arm level 0.000°, plate 13 mm proud of the stones and 3 mm into them, arm-to-cup gap 0.07 mm, plaque width 0.280 m, bake 27.7 texels per UV cell. --skip-decimate exits 9; --stray-vert 15; --lift-z 16; --float-arm 17; --float-plate 18; --skinny-plaque 19; --droop-arm 20; --sink-plate 21; --low-bake 22.",
       "hero": "docs/gallery/assets/wall-torch-hero.webp",
       "preview": "showcase/wall-torch/preview.webp",
       "tags": [
@@ -299,9 +299,9 @@
     {
       "name": "tavern-stool",
       "dir": "showcase/tavern-stool",
-      "teaches": "A procedural tavern stool with a lathed seat, turned splayed legs, tenoned stretchers, and iron ferrule cups through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.",
-      "alt": "A wooden tavern stool with a round seat, turned splayed legs and stretcher rungs.",
-      "witnessesFix": "Recomputed: 2528 tris, two materials with 1168 wood and 256 metal faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.340×0.340×0.470 m, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 396 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero, four ferrule cups at zmin 0, stretcher-leg gap 0, ferrule clearance −1.25 mm. --float-stretchers exits 17 on the stretcher join; --pipe-ferrule exits 18 on the ferrule bite band.",
+      "teaches": "A procedural tavern stool with a lathed seat, turned splayed legs, staggered stretchers, and iron ferrules gripping each leg on its own axis over a level tread, through UVs, bake, LOD, collider, and Unity glTF, asserting recomputed budgets rather than an API contract.",
+      "alt": "A wooden tavern stool with a grained round seat, turned splayed legs, stretcher rungs at two heights, and dark iron ferrules on flat treads.",
+      "witnessesFix": "Recomputed: 3040 tris, two materials with 1168 wood and 576 metal faces, UVs in 0..1 with zero AABB overlap, outer AABB 0.341×0.341×0.470 m, LOD ratios in band, convex collider 468 tris, non-empty glTF. Hygiene all zero, four treads at zmin 0, stretcher-leg gap 0, ferrule grip 1.20 mm on each leg's axis, leg ends 1.1 mm above their treads, bake 22.4 texels per UV cell. --float-stretchers exits 17; --pipe-ferrule 18; --sink-legs 20; --low-bake 21.",
       "hero": "docs/gallery/assets/tavern-stool-hero.webp",
       "preview": "showcase/tavern-stool/preview.webp",
       "tags": [