tenon cutting methods? waste side is very thin…
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12 November 2017 at 8:53 pm #364639
Hello, first post, first project, brand new to woodworking, introductions done.
I am following the “how to make a table” series and took Paul’s statement of ‘make your adjustments, this is just a guide to how to make a table’ to heart. probably not a best idea for first project to wing it, but winging it is how we got here.
so I gauge my mortise and tenon to the chisel that I have nearest to Paul’s suggestion. I have a 1/2 inch chisel instead of 3/8. I finished chopping all my mortise, and begin working on cutting tenons … oh no, eyeballing the gauge lines I see we don’t have much landscape to actually cut away maybe 2 or 3 16ths between gauge and edge. “I will take my time” I think to myself. and using a back saw make my way through the cuts and make a tenon. time to see how snug we are… about as snug as a toddler putting on their parents shoes.
so I realize I am now working with training wood instead of what I plan to put on the table, I begin to practice on the other side and instead of taking the saw to the wood I begin chiseling as if the saw cuts have already been made and we have a lot of landscape to take away.
this time using the chisel method I actually have a snug fit, still have work to go to get it cleaned up and properly fitting though taking a short break to ask.
anyone have any tips for my dilemma? how best to cut a tenon when the waste side of the wood is very thin?
well thank you for your guidance, and hopefully my learning opportunity has at least been an entertaining read to those who now know better 🙂
David, as a near beginner myself, my first thought is that you may have jumped in to something too difficult with insufficient practice. Working with hand tools is not like working with power tools. With a table saw, I cut excellent tenons pretty much first time every time. With hand tools, I practiced hundreds of cuts before I could saw (reasonably) straight and (more or less) to a line. Maybe cutting accurately is not as hard a playing a musical instrument, but musicians can spend amazing amounts of time practicing scales, arpeggios, and so on. Some musicians spends huge amounts of time just getting a reasonable single note from their instruments. Right from the start I treated the basic components of tenon or dovetail cutting (cutting to the line) the way I used to treat scales and arpeggios. (Hm . . . may be that is why my tenons and dovetails are sort of mediocre — my scales and arpeggios always were sort of mediocre. Oh well.) I hope you did not start with expensive wood! On the other hand, you do need to start making something or it just gets boring. Just a thought.
I cannot tell from your description whether you are making the walls of the mortise too thin. For material around 3/4 to 1″ thick, people typically shoot for a mortise that is about 1/3 the width. That’s why the mortise (and tenon) is often around 3/8″ thick…3 x 3/8 = 9/8, which is about an inch. If the mortise walls are too thin, then the work will not be strong. If the material is only 3/4, then you might move to just 1/4″.
As for cutting very thin waste from the tenon, as long as there is enough material for a saw to be buried, it can be sawn. If not, then you can probably go right to the router plane. If that’s too thick, then pare across to get the bulk and then use the router or other plane.
Why not just buy a 3/8″ chisel? You’ll need it eventually and it’s cheaper than your wood, probably.
15 November 2017 at 1:01 am #366729thanks for the reply, yes definitely this is a skill that is not mastered in a day 🙂
and I am using the cheapest wood I could get my hands on, Spruce.
I am attempting to make something halfway decent for my toddler before Christmas… thought a little table for her to draw on would be cool. though may end up being Christmas 2018 hah, but will see.
… the mortise compared to Paul’s are much fatter which leaves me with fatty tenons. I am using around 2″x2″ legs {the 1″ and some change cut they give you from the lumber store} and the apron is on 4″ x 1″
I like the suggestion of cutting the tenon shoulders then chiseling away the tenon face. that is sort of how I took to the practice piece that I straight chiseled but sawing down the shoulder would make the break away less occurring. my knife wall was nearly 1/3rd the way down to the gauge line anyway…
- This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by David Kirk.
- This reply was modified 6 years, 5 months ago by David Kirk.
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