# 3" angled through tenons too much?



## toddchan (Jan 11, 2019)

Need some advice joining 3"x3" white oak stretchers with the four table legs made of the same 3×3 stock (made from glue-up).
Legs are splayed out at 10 degrees. I want to do wedged through tenons, simply to make it look cool, otherwise, I think traditional drawbored M&T would be strong enough.

Am I going to regret hogging, routing, and chopping 3" deep through mortises at a 10 deg angle? Or is the flex of showing off those gorgeous joints for the rest of my life gonna be worth it?


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

There are 3 basic types of tables, aprons, trestle and pedestal.

Standard 4 legged tables have aprons which are tenoned into the legs.

Trestle tables have 2 pedestals connected by a stretcher, which is usually housed in a through tenon, held with a wedge.

We are here to help, but you need to show a drawing or pic of what you're talking about. That's why you've got no responses.


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## toddchan (Jan 11, 2019)

Thanks, Robert. Attached is a photo of the pine prototype I made, maybe that will make more sense. It's not a trestle and not an apron, and not sure it's a pedestal either… I guess the design of the table isn't important, my question was just about having big M&T joints that meet at 80/10 instead of right angles like I'm used to.

Moving to the production oak material, I hogged out with a forstner bit using with my drill press table set at 10 degrees. Then I started chopping the 10 degree end of the mortises in the oak stock with an angle block and it's going well. Given that measure of success, I decided to go for wedged tenons.

So now what I think I'll do now is cut a ~13 degree angle guide block to use for the wedged side of the mortise and that will guide the chopping of the flared side of the mortise. Will share more photos hopefully soon!


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## MPython (Nov 30, 2018)

I built my workbench 16 years ago. The base is white oak, 8/4 X 8" stretchers mortised into 4" X 4" legs. The short stretchers are through mortised and glued with epoxy. The long stretchers are stub tenoned into the legs and held in place with bench bolts and heavy barrel nuts. My bench lives in my basement which is climate controlled, but has some moderate temperature and humidity swings. The through mortises and tenons are as solid today as they were the day I made them. I've seen no evidence of loosening or splitting. I can't imagine mortising your stretchers in at an angle would make any difference. I think you should be fine with your wedged through tenons. You can see the through tenons in this photo of my bench:


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## MikeB_UK (Jul 27, 2015)

> So now what I think I ll do now is cut a ~13 degree angle guide block to use for the wedged side of the mortise and that will guide the chopping of the flared side of the mortise. Will share more photos hopefully soon!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Put a ~13 degree wedge under the piece and you will be able to chop straight down instead of at an angle.
Depends on personal preference, some people go to a lot of effort so they are always cutting straight down, other people angle the tool.


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## toddchan (Jan 11, 2019)

@Mpython, that bench is gorgeous. As you can see, I'm honing my skill on house furniture so that I can have a nice bench in the shop someday.

Great idea, @MikeB_UK, didn't think of that!


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## toddchan (Jan 11, 2019)

Still quite a ways to go on the table, but the joints are turning out great. As always, I'm struggling with keeping the tenon coplanar all around the piece, but it's looking great so far and can't wait to get some finish on these.


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## tvrgeek (Nov 19, 2013)

Not needed with todays glue, but of course you want to show off your joinery!


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## toddchan (Jan 11, 2019)

Table done. Thanks for the input, guys!!


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