Modern Woodshop

I rough cut my tenons with power tools, but I fit them to their mortises exclusively with hand tools.  I like the control that hand tools give me during this operation.

I started out with a rough cut tenon.  I cut this tenon on my table saw using the same technique demonstrated in my previous nightstand project post.  When I cut these tenons on the table saw, I ensure that the inside surface of this stretcher will be flush with the surface of the leg.  This is my reference face.  It’s required because I precut all the dados for the side and bottom panels for the nightstands, so using a reference face guarantees that those dados will all line up when I assemble the piece.  I’ll fit the tenon by trimming it’s opposite cheek.

As you can see, a tenon off the table saw is rectangular, while my mortises are all rounded.  Since fitting a square peg in a round hole isn’t feasible in our universe, my first step is to round over the corners of the tenon using a rasp.  When I do this, I’m very careful not to touch the shoulders of the tenon with the rasp.  The teeth on the rasp could cut into the shoulder and result in a joint with some unsightly gaps when all is said and done.  I only need to make a few strokes on each corner since the rasp cuts very quickly.  During the fitting process, if I find that the tenon is a bit too wide, I again use the rasp to take a smidge off each edge.

Keeping the rasp away from the shoulder of the tenon has a drawback:  the corners of the tenon up near the shoulder are still square.  I take care of those with a sharp chisel.  I use the chisel to shave away the excess material, and also to ensure that the tenon is rounded over all the way to the shoulder.

At this point in the process, I can start test fitting the joint.  I know it will be too tight because I purposely cut the tenon overly thick to give myself the opportunity to sneak up on a good fit.  I use my rabbet block plane to shave away material from the cheek of the tenon until the joint fits together perfectly.  You can also use a shoulder plan for this operation, but a standard block plane won’t work because it’s iron does not extend all the way through the side of the plane.  This feature on rabbet block planes and shoulder planes allows you to trim the cheek of the tenon all the way up to the shoulder.

This process is actually fast, easy, and results in a perfect joint.

In the picture above, you can see the tenon extending into the leg through an adjacent mortise.  The two tenons will be mitered together inside the leg.

Well, that’s one done… only 31 more to go!

To view the entire Nightstand Project series, please visit my project page.