Need to know

[JOHN JONES]

Good evening from NYC,

I will be making a lounge chair and would like to know which type of wood would be better for a mortise and tenon operation, oak or poplar.

The legs of the chair will be made from 2 x 2 and the stretchers and the
crossmembers will be 2 x 6.

I am using a Grizzly tenon jig and Jet JBT mortise machine (neither of which have I ever used).

Lastly is there anyone who can recommend a centering device other than a ruler to find the center of a piece of wood (e.g. placement of a mortise).

Thanx :D

[Charlie Plesums]

Welcome to the creek

Oak is much harder than poplar, so I would use that for any chair or other furniture. If it is an outside chair, you must use white oak, not the more common red oak. The cell structure is different, and red oak will absorb water and rot.

[Gary Breckenridge]

;) Red oak is like a bunch of compressed soda straws and I never thought much of popular as an outdoor wood. White oak is used for boat building; go with that.:)

[Andrew Ault]

I use a marking gauge to layout mortise and tenon joints. I happen to use the Veritas Wheel Marking Gauge like this one:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=42440&cat=1,42936

You could use a more traditional one like this:

http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32623&cat=1,42936

With either, you can use the same marking gauge to lay out the mortises and tenons.

I will say that I love working with white oak. It works well, is handsome finished many different ways and is durable.

2 x 6 stretchers will made for an especially durable and heavy lounge chair.

- Andy

[Neil Lamens]

HI John:

Joinery works fine with both. If painting use poplar, other wise, your intent will determine your wood selection.

[Jesse Cloud]

Both woods work fine for indoors. Advice from previous posts on outdoor issues is on the mark. For centering, there are a few strategies, but to mark your mortise and tenons, you will need other lines as well. A marking gauge is a good idea, but it needs sharpening and takes some practice to use well. Look into the Incra T-Square ruler. It is easy to use and has slots for a 0.5mm pencil. You just stick the pencil in the appropriate slot (e.g. 17/64) and run it down the board using the T-square to keep in parallel.