the mortise and tenon joint is a square peg in a square socket. i am going to saw a tennon and chop a mortise. i will use this chisel to chop the mortise ... so i will make the joint the same width as the chisel. i mark one side of the tenon with the marking gauge.
routers woodworking wiki, on the end grain and the underside. then i mark one side of the mortise. now i set the marking gauge to the far side of the joint, and mark the far side of the tenon.
the end grain, the under side, and the far side of the mortise. maybe you noticed i only pressed the marking gauge against one face of each wood. that way any difference in wood thickness doesnt change the joint thickness. now i will make a shoulder line for the tenon. put the knife tip in the mark, slide the square against it, and mark the wood. the next stage is to clamp it in the vise. i take a small 'back saw', a tenon saw, or dovetail saw.
position the blade against the outer edge of the line, and saw down the line, concentrating on every stroke, being careful to stop on the shoulder line. now i repeat for the other side of the tenon. saw down the line, concentrating on every stroke, sweep away the sawdust. i have sawn the 'cheeks' of the tenon. i clamp the wood sideways in the vise to saw the shoulders. now i turn it over to cut the other shoulder.
you can saw two cheeks on a tenon to make the thickness, or you can saw another two to make the length of the joint. you can saw these lines freehand the position of these cheeks does not matter but the shoulder lines must match up now i have sawn the tenon, we need a mortise to match. the width previously marked for the mortise socket is the same as the width of the tenon.
now i have to make them both the same length. place the knife in the mark ... slide the square against it. mark the wood. having maked out the mortice, i clamp it down firmly. i take the chisel i chose at the beginning of the job, and position it carefully between the sides of the mortise. the chisel is held vertical just inside the end line then use a mallet to chop ... a series of chippings ...
then turn the chisel round at the far end of the mortise. then turn the chisel over to pare the chippings out. a square sided mortise chisel is better than ... a bevel edged chisel for this job, but ... either type will do the job. however, before any ... chisel can chop a mortise properly, remember ... to hone a razor-sharp edge !! clean up the ends of the mortise, and get the last few chippings out.
and now fit the tenon ... into the mortise. the sides line up smoothly. thank you for watching this video on making mortise and tenon joints. i am called john bullar find out more about furniture making in my book: 'cabinetmaking - a foundation course' published in usa as 'furniture making - a foundation course'�
