Anyone tried this: Peening your tenons

[Frederick Skelly]

I want people -- skilled ones and beginners as well -- to understand that not everything published in a magazine, even the FWW, is untouchable.

Hi Simon.
Yup, I definitely get your point there. I've seen flawed tips too. I posted this mainly because I'd never seen this done and didn't know what to make of it. I think this has all been a good well-rounded discussion and I've learned alot from all of it.

IMO, the tip was probably the most significant that FWW had this month, so that's the reason it got (current) top honors. As others have said, one would use it when/where it makes sennse - another tool in the toolbox of techniques, so to speak. More than one way to do most jobs.....

Fred

[Simon MacGowen]

Hi Simon.
Yup, I definitely get your point there. I've seen flawed tips too. I posted this mainly because I'd never seen this done and didn't know what to make of it. I think this has all been a good well-rounded discussion and I've learned alot from all of it.

IMO, the tip was probably the most significant that FWW had this month, so that's the reason it got (current) top honors. As others have said, one would use it when/where it makes sennse - another tool in the toolbox of techniques, so to speak. More than one way to do most jobs.....

Fred

Thanks, Fred, for making this interesting discussion possible to start with! I would not have written to FWW about my viewpoint, because I have had no intention to make their iife (difficult enough) more difficult. As someone who has its magazine from issue #1, I hold them to a higher standard than the rest.

As I said, I would not have had the same strong opinion about this tip if it were chosen as the best one in, say, Wood or Woodsmith. With people like Christian Becksvoort, Garrett Hack and the iike they can easily consult, the editors, if in doubt, could have checked with any one of them to see if that was the kind of fine woodworking practice they would like to promote. A new woodworker would think that one of the best ways to cut a mortise and tenon joint is to use a hammer and a vise, because it is one of the best tips in FWW.

Simon

[Brian Holcombe]

I dumped the water out of that tray this morning and attempted to pull it apart by hand. Now mind you, it's a 1/4" deep rabbet joint in softwood that has been peened and then moisture applied. I could not get the joint apart by hand.....a rabbet joint!

I have some complaints about how the tip was conveyed, especially the mention of the incorrect side of the hammer as far as I'm aware. But the technique does work when employed properly and so it should be conveyed to interested people.

[Erik Christensen]

Funny but I read the same tip and came away with an entirely different concept. To me the tip was not about how to achieve a better fit or lock the joint but as a way to insure that a joint is not glue starved due to a tight fit displacing it when assembled. I understood that the process is: fit the tenon snugly, then shrink it temporarily by peeing and/or vise, add glue to mortise & tenon, assemble and the nice even coat of glue will swell tenon back to origional fit.


I got the tip as - here is how to get good glue coverage in a tight fitting tenon.

[James Waldron]

About that "best tip" thing: it's a lot like saying that Josh McCown is the New York Jest best quarterback. That's damning with non-existent praise.

Let it go, man.