Using loose tenons in building furnture

Hey Betsy,

There have been quite a few torture tests lately. They are a real plough to read. My basic statement is that I really don’t care if it takes the weight of 3 grown men or 3 1/2, to dance a fandango on my table to break it. Loose tenon joinery is, for all intents and purposes, just as strong as traditional M and T. Some will even say stronger as longer fibers are supported with long grain to long grain glue. I dunno, I use alot of loose tenon joinery with my Domino, as well as traditional M and T…I havn’t experienced a failure in either.

That being said, don’t choose one type of joinery over another for fear of making a mistake. Just my opinion.

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Yeah – you can always cut another tenon to fit right! So long as you’ve milled up plenty of extra stock!

Like Tom said – the loose tenons are roughly as strong as the m&t joint, given the right fit and plenty of glue surface…

-- Dorje (pronounced "door-jay"), Seattle, WA

Hi Betsy -

I use loose tenon’s in a lot of my furniture. Some purists call it “cheating”. Well if it is, David Marks is guilty of it also. As long as the tenon is the right size – comparable to the traditional tenon, and it’s well glued, the failure rate should be about the same. Anyway, what load do you intend putting on the table???

Oh, by the way (and I’m sure you already know this) keep the orientation of the grain for the loose tenon the same as a conventional tenon.

Would love to see some of the work as it comes together.

-- Bob

I’m going to give the loose tenon a try on a new table project. Unfortunately, it will be a while before that happens. I’ve “slipped” a disc in my back and am on meds === so not safe to be in the shop right now.

Thanks for all your advise.

Betsy

-- You can't get a hug from Facebook.

If the fit is good, think of a loose tenon as a M&T with one loose end. In theory an M&T should be stronger just because of that, but a great fit cuts the odds.

Betsy,

As others have said, Loose Tenons are basically as strong as a traditional mortise & tenon if done accurately. I just wrote about how I do them (inexpensively) with a plunge router, edge guide and a simple jig on my blog. Look here for the post.

P.S. I had a comment on the blog from a “Betsy” and that may have been you…so you may have already read the post. If you try the technique that I describe, please let me know if you have any other questions.

-- Mark, Webster New York, Visit my website at http://thecraftsmanspath.com

Another thing about loose tenon, if you are joining some softer woods you can make the tenon out of something harder like maple or beech. That way you have provided all of the extra strength that you can.

I use loose tenons in cabinet doors in addition to the regular router bits cuts for doors. There is not a lot of end grain holding and I want to give it an extra boost.

I also used loose tenons on the baby cradle that I made because I wanted all of the extra strength to the standard router bit cutting.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †