# Mortise Joint



## windrider (Feb 14, 2011)

I am using a Steel City Mortise machine to make a mortise/tenon joint. Since the mortise bit extends a small amount below the square chisle the bottom of of mortise has "ridges" left from the chisle. Do I use a hand chisle to flatten it out or make the mortise deeper for the tennon?


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## mdntrdr (Dec 22, 2009)

I just clean em up a lil with a chisel, doesn't have to be perfect.

You don't want the tenon to bottom out in the mortise. :smile:


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

mdntrdr said:


> I just clean em up a lil with a chisel, doesn't have to be perfect.
> *You don't want the tenon to bottom out in the mortise. *:smile:


 Yah, what he said... make the mortise a touch deeper to allow for glue squeeze out, and second don't use excessive glue or the tenon will keep poppin back out of the mortise due to hydraulic pressure. :blink: bill


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Yah...what those two guys said. You can put a very light coat on the tenon. In the mortise, you could coat the whole thing lightly, but keep in mind as the tenon slides in it will scrape the glue on the mortise towards the bottom, and scrape the glue towards the top of the tenon. DAMHIKT.












 







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## TGRANT (Jan 25, 2011)

I agree with all of the above. There is no penalty for making a mortise a little deeper than the tenon. The end of the tenon to the bottom of the mortise is usually an end grain to long grain glue joint, which is inherently weak anyway. Just don’t make it too much deeper. You don’t even have to clean up the ridges left by the machine, they are inconsequential.


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