Table of Contents
How do you make a mortise and tenon joint?
Step 1: Mark the Tenon Shoulder Line. Step 2: Mark the Tenon Cheeks and the Mortise Walls. Step 3: Saw the Tenon Cheeks. Step 4: Remove the Tenon Cheeks and Cut the Shoulders. Step 5: Cut the Tenon Sides. Step 6: Layout the Mortise. Step 7: Chop the Mortise & Fit the Joint.
What tools do I need to make a mortise and tenon joint?
If you’re doing woodworking on a shoestring budget, you’ll be happy to know that the only tools you need to cut tight-fitting mortise and tenon joints are a square, knife and marking gauge, a fine-toothed saw, and a couple of sharp chisels and mallet.
Is a mortise and tenon joint easy to make?
Making a mortise and tenon joint may be a daunting prospect to the novice woodworker, but with the proper tools, shaping the parts is a quite straightforward process. Laying Out the Joint. As any experienced cabinetmaker will tell you, proper layout is just as important as the cutting and shaping to follow.
What is the weakest wood joint?
The Butt Joint is an easy woodworking joint. It joins two pieces of wood by merely butting them together. The butt joint is the simplest joint to make. It is also the weakest wood joint unless you use some form of reinforcement.
Should you cut the mortise or tenon first?
The mortise and tenon is probably the most used and trusted joint in traditional woodworking. For me, making the two parts of the joint always follows a specific order — the mortise comes first, followed by a tenon to fit.
Can you cut a tenon with a router?
Mortise-and-tenon joints are usually cut on a table saw, but they can be made using a router as well. The joints are rounded when using a router, but they are just as strong as squared-off mortises and tenons. Cut the mortise with a plunge router.
Do you need to clamp a mortise and tenon joint?
When assembling a mortise and tenon, the fit of the joint and how you apply the glue are foremost. A clamp will close the joint for the best appearance, but doesn’t really apply force across the gluing surfaces. To end up with a thin, strong glue line, the tenon has to fit snugly, but not too tightly, in the mortise.
What does the PVA stand for in PVA glue?
Here’s what it says about PVA: Polyvinyl acetate is a component of a widely used glue type, commonly referred to as wood glue, white glue, carpenter’s glue, school glue, Elmer’s glue (in the US), or PVA glue.”Mar 4, 2014.
How tight should a mortise and tenon joint be?
Tenons too tight in their mortises can cause splits, as shown. A good mortise-and-tenon joint should go together easily by hand, but not be loose enough to fall apart. Avoid too-thin mortise walls, which split easily, by never making them less than 1⁄ 4 ” thick.
What is the hardest joint to make?
The dovetail is one of the strongest of all wood joints. It’s also one of the most challenging to make, requiring careful layout and the investment of considerable cutting and fitting time. Its shape is a reversed wedge, cut into the end grain of one piece, that fits into a corresponding mortise on a second workpiece.
What is a rabbet joint?
A rabbet (American English) or rebate (British English) is a recess or groove cut into the edge of a piece of machinable material, usually wood. A rabbet can be used to form a joint with another piece of wood (often containing a dado). Rabbet joints are easy to construct and have good appeal to them.
What is the toughest wood in the world?
Australian Buloke – 5,060 IBF An ironwood tree that is native to Australia, this wood comes from a species of tree occurring across most of Eastern and Southern Australia. Known as the hardest wood in the world, this particular type has a Janka hardness of 5,060 lbf.
Which chisel is useful to produce mortise and tenon joint?
Use a corner chisel to finish off and square up the corners. Tenons can be cut on a radial arm saw, table saw or even with a router in a router table. A dado head fitted to a radial arm saw makes quick work of cutting tenons.
How do you make a tenon by hand?
How to Cut Tenons by Hand A step-by-step guide. Begin by marking the tenon shoulders. Use a cutting gauge for clean, deep lines. Pick up the mortise width. Mark the tenon thickness. Mark the haunch. Secret to a clean shoulder. Cut the shoulders using a backsaw with crosscut teeth. Cut the cheeks with a ripsaw.
How do you cut a fence post into a mortise?
How to Cut a Mortise in a Fence Post Lay out the desired location of the mortise opening on the side of the fence post. Cut the perimeter line of the mortise using a wood chisel. Chip out the interior area of the mortise outline, cutting toward the inside and pivoting the chisel to remove the wood chips.
How does a mortise gauge work?
A mortise gauge or mortice gauge is a woodworking tool used by a carpenter or joiner to scribe mortise and tenon joints on wood prior to cutting. For complex joints, some mortise gauges have a double-beam design which allows the gauge to be wrapped around a tool such as a chisel for extra accuracy.
What are the advantages of a mortise and tenon joint?
When a deeper, fully enclosed mortise is cut to accept a longer tenon, you end up with a much stronger joint (drawing above). Since the sides of the mortise are supported by the wood on either end, the chance of splitting is much less likely. Greater gluing surface is another benefit.
