Mortised tenon question.

[Joe Tonich]

I'm making a knock - down cradle and need to make mortised tenons. Should I make the mortise first or cut the tenon first & then cut the mortise? I'm concerned about tear-out as these will be seen.

Joe

[Rick Stewart]

Joe,

[Rick Stewart]

Joe,

From what I have read on ww forums you are supposed to make the mortise first then the tenons. By doing this you can make final adjustments to get a correct fit. I myself have just made my first mortise and tenon project and this is the way I did it. I am a newbie woodworker so I could be all wrong about this.
Hope this helps.

Rick

[Brad Hammond]

i always make my mortises first. then sneak up on my tenons. there was an excellent group of articles in woodsmith about a month or three back on making mortises and tenons and fixing mistakes.
cya
brad

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Except I've seen others make them the other way too. I just can't remember their rationale. I make the mortise first, then trim the tenon to fit. What are you making the thru mortise with?

[Joe Tonich]

It's a thru tenon that gets a wedge (1/4" thick maple) to hold the rail to the head/footboard of the cradle. I'm cutting the mortise with a JET mortiser.

[Dan Barber]

For sure if the tenons are going to show you want to cut the mortises first.

I'm assuming that you're talking about thru mortises which are particularly tricky. I have a hollow chisel mortiser and when I do thru mortises I always cut the side that will show with the router to a depth of about 1/2" then I finish the job with the mortiser - or at least I did before I built my Mortise-Flex .

The piece that has the tenon on it should have a shoulder of at least 1/8" all the way around, this will hide an irregularities in the thru mortise on the back side.

Cutting the tenons after the mortise is made allows you to "sneak up" on the right fit for the tenon. They should be a snug fit - no hammer required - but they shouldn't fall in either.

Hope that helps to answer your question.

Cheers,

Dan

[Joe Tonich]

Thanks. Too tired to try today. Hope the snow stops soon so I can get some shop time in this week. 6+ inches of snow last night = 12hrs. of work.

Joe

[Rik Rickerson]

Joe

I always make my mortise first then the tenon to fit.

Rik