Watching a show about uncovering an ancient Roman barge and the diggers
were excited about the fact that the floor boards were joined (along
the lengthways edge) by "mortice and tenon" joints. I'll try to
describe. Assume 18" X 2" planks maybe 15' long running along the
bottom of the barge from side to side. Every 2' or so there is an
arrangement whereby a mortice about 1" X 6" is cut into the side of
each adjoining plank, a piece of wood a touch smaller than 1" X 12" was
slipped into one plank then the next plank was slipped over the other
half of the piece. Then holes were bored through each plank about 3"
from the joined edge and two dowels were driven in to hold the two
planks together. Very neat! But the question is whether this is
actually a mortice and tenon joint. (Can you have a floating tenon?)
Would it be possibly more properly called a double spline? Actually,
come to think of it, it was really very like a rectangular biscuit
joint! 2000 year old biscuit joints. Those clever Romans.
FoggyTown
foggytown wrote:
> Watching a show about uncovering an ancient Roman barge and the diggers
> were excited about the fact that the floor boards were joined (along
> the lengthways edge) by "mortice and tenon" joints. I'll try to
> describe. Assume 18" X 2" planks maybe 15' long running along the
> bottom of the barge from side to side. Every 2' or so there is an
> arrangement whereby a mortice about 1" X 6" is cut into the side of
> each adjoining plank, a piece of wood a touch smaller than 1" X 12" was
> slipped into one plank then the next plank was slipped over the other
> half of the piece. Then holes were bored through each plank about 3"
> from the joined edge and two dowels were driven in to hold the two
> planks together. Very neat! But the question is whether this is
> actually a mortice and tenon joint. (Can you have a floating tenon?)
Yes, they are called loose tenons. A Chesapeake Bay area
boatwright used a similar method to make hulls resembling
large dugout canoes.
> Would it be possibly more properly called a double spline? Actually,
> come to think of it, it was really very like a rectangular biscuit
> joint! 2000 year old biscuit joints. Those clever Romans.
>
Or more accurately, a biscuit joint is a type of loose tenon joint.
--
FF
foggytown wrote:
> Gordon Airporte wrote:
> > Since no one else has, I'll just point out that pretty much every tenon
> > used in boat making is a floating tenon.
>
> Is "pretty close" nearly "damn near" in your book, too?
> OK, I'll bite. Which tenon on a boat ISN'T a floating tenon (assuming
> the boat hasn't sunk, of course)?
>
Well, the ones below the waterline aren't floating but they're trying
hard to float. The ones above the waterline aren't floating, they're
supported by something else that is floating.
Are you sure he didn't mean , "Damn near", " pretty close", or
"absolute"?
--
FF
Unless it's in a submarine?
"Gordon Airporte" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Since no one else has, I'll just point out that pretty much every tenon
> used in boat making is a floating tenon.
In article <[email protected]>,
foggytown <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>Gordon Airporte wrote:
>> Since no one else has, I'll just point out that pretty much every tenon
>> used in boat making is a floating tenon.
>
>OK, I'll bite. Which tenon on a boat ISN'T a floating tenon (assuming
>the boat hasn't sunk, of course)?
*all* of them -- while the boat is still on the ways, and under consturuction.
Or, while it's on a trailer, on the highway, or in dry storage,
"foggytown" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> OK, I'll bite. Which tenon on a boat ISN'T a floating tenon (assuming
> the boat hasn't sunk, of course)?
Those tenons above the waterline?
Doug Brown wrote:
> Unless it's in a submarine?
> "Gordon Airporte" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>Since no one else has, I'll just point out that pretty much every tenon
>>used in boat making is a floating tenon.
I spose you'll be here all week?
er
--
email not valid
foggytown wrote:
> Watching a show about uncovering an ancient Roman barge and the
> diggers were excited about the fact that the floor boards were
> joined (along the lengthways edge) by "mortice and tenon" joints.
> I'll try to describe. Assume 18" X 2" planks maybe 15' long
> running along the bottom of the barge from side to side. Every 2'
> or so there is an arrangement whereby a mortice about 1" X 6" is
> cut into the side of each adjoining plank, a piece of wood a touch
> smaller than 1" X 12" was slipped into one plank then the next
> plank was slipped over the other half of the piece. Then holes
> were bored through each plank about 3" from the joined edge and
> two dowels were driven in to hold the two planks together. Very
> neat! But the question is whether this is actually a mortice and
> tenon joint. (Can you have a floating tenon?) Would it be
> possibly more properly called a double spline? Actually, come to
> think of it, it was really very like a rectangular biscuit joint!
> 2000 year old biscuit joints. Those clever Romans.
According to my sources it's a "Roman Biscuit Tenon". Really. Would I
lie?
Ok, maybe I lied. It's a floating tenon...
http://images.google.com/images?q=floating+tenon
Joe Barta