Mortise and Tenon Joinery
A fundamental joint for furniture-making, the mortise-and-tenon joint has been time-tested. Let us show you how to make precision-fitting joints in a variety of ways including hand tools, power tools, and jigs to make the process easy and repeatable.
Long legs mean leverage that can challenge your best joints. Twin tenons trip-up twist.
No matter your tools, you can successfully cut and fit this time-tested joint.
Recently, I had to cut 1⁄2
"-thick, 21⁄2
"-long tenons in 3⁄4
" oak for a project. Each time, the results were a disaster.
The latest thing on my bench is a chair with a few loose legs and stretchers. One stretcher even pulls right out of its socket. How do I tighten the joints?
Is there a handheld method to make tenons in large stock?
The chisels on my hollow-chisel mortiser have dulled. Because the bevel is on the inside, I’m not sure how to sharpen them. Can you offer advice?
I learned my lesson the hard way: Mortises first, tenons second. But now that the mistake has been made, how can I salvage tenons that fit too loosely in a mortise?
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