dining table tenon question

[charles mathieu]

I'm planning a dining table and was wondering if I should use haunched tenons for the aprons ? The legs are 3"x3" and the aprons are 1"thick and 3" wide. Am I better off using haunch tenons or not ?

I'm thinking that the upper shoulder of the apron should be at least 1/2" in order to avoid removing too much wood off the top the mortise leg

[Jamie Buxton]

A haunched tenon may be traditional, but I'm not sure it is required with modern glue. When it cures, the glue will prevent the top of the leg from spreading apart. But if you want to do a haunched tenon, go ahead. It can't hurt. The big thing is to offset the tenon toward the outside of the leg, so you can get a longer tenon without the two tenons running into each other inside the leg.

[Edward Weber]

If you're worried, you could always try another method.
I've done this a few times when I felt it necessary.
Criss-Cross-Corner-Joint.jpg

[glenn bradley]

I've done as Edward shows on smaller pieces. Still standing. I've also used mitered tenons . . .

mitered-tenon.jpg

. . . that allow for a bit more long grain surface glue area.