# Attaching table legs to aprons.



## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

I know the popular joint is mortise and tenon. My question is for this project and future, how to determine the length of a tenon and width?

My legs are 3"x3". The aprons are 3/4"x 3.5" wide.

How far should the tenon go into the mortise? How wide should the tenon be? Can it be full width? cutting a mortise from the top of the leg down 3.5" ?

Thanks.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

I would make the tenons about 1/3 the thickness of the aprons, so 1/4". I would make them 3" wide and centered on the 3.5" aprons.

The legs are pretty hefty at 3" X 3". Not knowing what kind of weight we are talking about, I would guess that putting the tenons into 3/4" or 1" deep mortises should be fine. You certainly have enough room in the legs to go deeper if you feel that it is needed.

This is just my take on it. I hope that you get some additional ideas from others.


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## lateralus819 (Mar 24, 2013)

Thank you chuck, The top is 8/4 sapele. So i didn't want to go to "wimpy" on the legs, both strength and aesthetics. Not to mention, they will have a taper, so that will help as well i think.


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## Cosmicsniper (Oct 2, 2009)

Sliding dovetails. That is all.


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## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Depthwise I go at least halfway, sometimes 2/3, so on a 3" leg I'd be between 1.5"-2" long tenons. Often I will cut the mortises until they intersect and then angle the ends of the tenons. I was taught to make the tenon half the thickness of the stock but apparently most people do 1/3. I have no rule of thumb for width but generally leave 1/2"+ on each shoulder. So my tenons would be roughly 2×2.5×3/8.


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## bandit571 (Jan 20, 2011)

One other item can be used, along with the tenons.









Tenons used here are 1/3 the depth of the leg=1/2". The corner blocks reinforce the corner, and add a way to attach the top.

Some old Mersman legs I salvaged had no tenons in use









as they used a bolt into the inside corner of the leg, a metal plate that was secured with a nut to the leg. Ends of the plates had a lip. It went into slots in the aprons, and also had two screws per apron to hold the joint shut. Worked as long as everything was tightened down….


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Rockler, I believe, has those corner plates. I have made my own by cutting, bending, and welding 1 1/2" channel steel. Since I didn't put lips on them to go into slots in the apron, I simply fastened the ends with screws into the apron. You use a hanger bolt (lag screw thread on one end, machine screw thread on the other), and tighten them down with a nut. Be careful, though, as a nut being tightened has a lot of force, and you can pull the hanger bolt right out of the leg.


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