Well after going over all the tips I received from my previous post and
having all the parts cut for the sofa table I took the plunge and started on
them. Revelation #1, it's not as easy as Norm makes it look.
The table has through mortises for the side rails. So not to cut the
mortises in the wrong direction on the legs I sat down and marked where they
should be with a ruler and pencil. Glad I did cause on one leg I marked one
wrong. Afer drilling the mortises in the legs (shop fox mortiser) and
cutting the tenons on the two of the short rails I found a problem. The
tenons weren't as long as the mortises, wound up about a 1/8 in shorter.
Figured this came from how I marked with the pencil, inside outside line
things. Think I can make little wedges to slide in the bottom of the
mortises and hide the gap. The width of the tenons matched up a little tight
but after cleaning out the mortises with a chisel and file they fit lightly
snug. One tenon was a little loose and not sure why, never changed the
setting on the tenon jig. I guess this like everything else will go quicker
and smoother the more I do.
Again thanks for all the tips.
--
Mike S.
[email protected]
http://members.tripod.com/n0yii/woodworking.htm
[email protected] wrote:
> On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 02:25:33 GMT, "Mike S." <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>
>> The table has through mortises for the side rails.
Sorry... I missed that in the orignal post.
--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
[email protected]
http://www.mortimerschnerd.com
"Mike S." wrote in message
> The table has through mortises for the side rails. So not to cut the
> mortises in the wrong direction on the legs I sat down and marked where
they
> should be with a ruler and pencil. Glad I did cause on one leg I marked
one
> wrong.
Happens at least once on every project ... just wail until you start cutting
them on inside tapered legs. If you do cut a mortise in the wrong place, you
can often fix it creatively with a plug cut from an extra tenon, though you
may be forced to repeat the mistake three more times for symmetry. :)
> Afer drilling the mortises in the legs (shop fox mortiser) and
> cutting the tenons on the two of the short rails I found a problem. The
> tenons weren't as long as the mortises, wound up about a 1/8 in shorter.
> Figured this came from how I marked with the pencil, inside outside line
> things. Think I can make little wedges to slide in the bottom of the
> mortises and hide the gap.
Through tenons? Always make an extra part or two ...then you can cut a piece
off an extra tenon to use as a plug for a short through tenon. I alway batch
cut tenons and make them longer than necessary, then cut them to precise
length on the chop saw, leaving themt an 1/8th" short of the mortise depth
to allow for glue.
>The width of the tenons matched up a little tight
> but after cleaning out the mortises with a chisel and file they fit
lightly
> snug. One tenon was a little loose and not sure why, never changed the
> setting on the tenon jig.
The parts not being milled to an identical thickness is often the cause of
this. You should shim that loose tenon with a thin piece of stock, then sand
it back down to a proper fit ...tenons that are too loose make a weak joint.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 7/10/04
On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 02:25:33 GMT, "Mike S." <[email protected]>
wrote:
>The table has through mortises for the side rails.
Mike S. wrote:
> The
> tenons weren't as long as the mortises, wound up about a 1/8 in shorter.
> Figured this came from how I marked with the pencil, inside outside line
> things. Think I can make little wedges to slide in the bottom of the
> mortises and hide the gap.
Is having a gap at the bottom of a mortise a bad thing? It seems like if you
bottomed out exactly there'd be no room for excess glue to collect, possibly
forcing a split. (I'm a newbie at this myself.)
Now I'm a little unclear about the next part: how can anybody see space at the
bottom of a mortise? The tenon should slide in and fill the hole as far as
anybody can see.
--
Mortimer Schnerd, RN
[email protected]
http://www.mortimerschnerd.com
Mortimer Schnerd, RN said:
>Mike S. wrote:
>> The
>> tenons weren't as long as the mortises, wound up about a 1/8 in shorter.
>> Figured this came from how I marked with the pencil, inside outside line
>> things. Think I can make little wedges to slide in the bottom of the
>> mortises and hide the gap.
>
>Is having a gap at the bottom of a mortise a bad thing? It seems like if you
>bottomed out exactly there'd be no room for excess glue to collect, possibly
>forcing a split. (I'm a newbie at this myself.)
>
>Now I'm a little unclear about the next part: how can anybody see space at the
>bottom of a mortise? The tenon should slide in and fill the hole as far as
>anybody can see.
Maybe they're open mortices?
Greg G.