rstermer

I'm making some mortise and tenon joints. The tenons will be made on my router table. The mortises will be 1/2" wide and will be made on a mortising machine. I am wondering if there is any guidance as to how much smaller than the mortises the tenons should be to get a good fit. For example, if the mortises are 0.50", should I work toward a tenon of 0.48", or is it something one must do by feel? The material is pine.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Bob S

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kp91

Bob,

you don't want it too tight, or there won't be any room for the glue. You don't want it too loose, because glue doesn't fill gaps very well. If the joint is snug enough that you can push it together by hand (not with a mallet), but won't fall apart when you let it go, you're in the right area.

If you are really worried about the joint coming apart, you can always drill across the tenon and pin it with a dowel, but I think that might be overkill.

Thewoodwhisperer.com has a couple of free videos on tenon making, although mostly geared toward the table saw he has some good info.

Take a few snapshots as you work on this project, and post the whole thing when you're done!

All the best

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Doug
1 John 1:9

rstermer

Thanks for the info. I'm concerned about the fit because I want the joint to be as strong as possible, and I like the dowel idea as a way to make it even stronger, so will probably add those in. The basic idea of the rack is provide a shelf to store my heavy tools at a level that will allow me to slide them onto a mobile base I built without having to lift anything. There will also be another shelf to hold some lighter items as well. Each of the shelves will have triangular braces to help support them and the main columns will also be braced. The rack will have wheels so I can move it around and get it out of the way in my very small and cramped shop. I'll take some pictures as I go, but I may need some assistance in figuring out how to post my pictures as I've never done that before.

Thanks again for your help.
Bob S

bobj3

Hi Bob

The link below will show you how to post your pictures

http://www.routerforums.com/howattachment.php

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Bj