Time for the Mortise and tenons.
First of all, thanks to all who gave me advice about the mortising machine from the last blog. I did hone and tune the chisel and mortise machine and it did cut considerably better. I also turned the chisel so that the open side faces the previously bored section and didn’t have any trouble with chips getting stuck (thanks Betsy!)
So I made the layout lines on my legs:
And cut the mortises. Notice the stop block for repeatability:
I was wondering how I would go about cutting the tenons. I decided to just do it the “easy way” and cut them on my radial arm saw (I love that thing.)
It takes a little while to hog out the waste with a thin kerf blade but there is almost no set-up time. Call me lazy but it works for me. It would have taken me just as long to set up a jig for my router or whatever other method.
A roughed tenon:
I made marks 1/2” from each edge of the tenons:
And I cut the notch out on the bandsaw (what is the correct terminology for this part of the tenon?):
I spent quite a bit of time chiseling the tenons…
...and cleaning out the mortises:
I also used my “Record” low angle shoulder plane to fit, smooth, and square up the tenons:
The finished tenons (aaahhhhh, at last.)
Finally, at 2:00 AM in the morning (on my Birthday!) I dry-fit the joinery. I didn’t start until after work last night.
And it looks exactly like it did at the end of the last section :( But I know that a big part of the work is done :)
I will disassemble it and do all the shaping (leg tapers and arches) before gluing it. But I had to see how it all fit together. Geez, that wood is nice, isn’t it? I never took Birch seriously before. I always used it for making jigs because it is hard and relatively cheap.
This phase took about 5 hours. Total Project Time So Far: 10 hours
I have the day off tomorrow. Check back later… I expect to make quite a bit more progress (after I sleep in).
-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com
16 comments so far
Beginningwoodworker
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467 posts in 158 days
posted 121 days ago
very nice work!
-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker
Russel
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1229 posts in 424 days
posted 121 days ago
Lookin’ good. I don’t know how many times I’ve used my mortising machine and I never thought of a stop block. Doh! Well done and Happy Birthday.
-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.
Scott Bryan
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9095 posts in 307 days
posted 121 days ago
Blake,
This is coming along nicely. Out of curiosity why didn’t you put a dado set in your RAS? It would have made hogging out waste much faster. But you did well with just the thin kerf blade and plane. At this rate you may just make it by the 21st.
By the way happy birthday to you as well. After 16, 18 and 21 they don’t mean as much but it still is your special day. :)
-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.
Brad_Nailor
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725 posts in 443 days
posted 121 days ago
Happy b’day Blake! That is looking really nice. Great job picking the wood…the curls are really going to pop when you put a finish on it.
-- Women love me.....trees fear me
trifern
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4057 posts in 253 days
posted 121 days ago
Great tutorial. The maple has some really nice grain to it. I look forward to seeing more.
Happy Birthday.
-- Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit.
Karson
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12910 posts in 886 days
posted 121 days ago
Blake great Job.
-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com
HokieMojo
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335 posts in 213 days
posted 121 days ago
Great post again. Thanks for taking the time.
sidestepmcgee
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53 posts in 210 days
posted 121 days ago
love the birch , that stuff is on fire. great job on the table, i was wondering what brand mortising machine do you have.enjoy your birthday
-- eric post, tallahassee FL
GaryK
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8486 posts in 474 days
posted 121 days ago
Pretty cool blog, Blake.
-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.
Blake
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2016 posts in 360 days
posted 121 days ago
Scott Bryan: My good ol’ DeWalt R.A.S. is not really that powerful and has a hard time cutting with anything wider than a thin kerf blade. A dado would be really slow going and would probably stall the saw.
Sidestepmcgee: A little Delta benchtop that I got used.
-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com
teenagewoodworker
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2032 posts in 254 days
posted 121 days ago
happy B-day blake. man that is some beautiful flame birch. i just love that stuff. i worked with it once and it is a really beautiful wood but it had no where near that figure. it just amazes me every time that i see it. thanks for the post!
Dorje
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1745 posts in 482 days
posted 121 days ago
At the 10hr mark, you’ve put a lot of good work in the project already…
Did you stay up late on your birthday or until your birthday? Was your birthday yesterday or today? Mine was yesterday ;)
-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA
Betsy
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1779 posts in 381 days
posted 120 days ago
Happy birthday Blake. The table is really looking good. Birch may not be the most romantic wood out there – but it sure is pretty.
I have to admit I was surprised that I was the one that noticed the chisel being situated wrong—- but sure made me feel good that I contributed to your table!
Can’t wait to see you progress along with this project.
-- Betsy - GO BUCKS!
Jeff
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964 posts in 579 days
posted 120 days ago
The table is coming along nicely Blake. I think the part of the tenon you asked about is the edge. The long part is the face. Here is a link to the anatomy of the joint: http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/articles/mortiseandtenon.cfm
That’s a pretty nice Record. Where did you come across that puppy?
-- Jeff, St. Paul, MN
Blake
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2016 posts in 360 days
posted 120 days ago
Dorje: I was up late the morning after. It seems that we have the same birthday… the 11th. Happy birthday! I guess that means we are the same age.
Jeff: It was a gift from my father-in-law. It was his at one point. It is actually my favorite and most used hand tool. Thanks for the info.
-- Check out my new website! http://www.theeasellife.com
Billp
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200 posts in 685 days
posted 120 days ago
Happy Birthday, if it turns out anything like your boxes it will be great.
-- Billp