# Mortise and Tenon Newbie Questions



## Tom5151 (Nov 21, 2008)

Hello,

I am a COMPLETE NEWBIE….please bare with my ignorance the first few times.

I am going to be building a very simple, basic hall table for my mother.

The table legs will be 1½ inches square. The apron for the table top will be made from 
3½ X ¾ inch stock (This maybe be a little under ¾ of an inch after I thickness plane the boards). 

 My question is this:

Each table leg will need 2 mortises cut into it at the top end for both the front and side apron and 2 more about 10 inches up from the bottom of the leg for stretchers. From what I can gather thus far the tenon thickness for the apron stock should be 1/3 the thickness so that would be about ¼ inch. That seems really thin to me given that it is going into a 1½ inch thick leg. Should I increase the tenon thickness to maybe ½ inch and just have very narrow shoulders?

My other question is about the tenon length. I was currently thinking about making them ¾ of an inch long which is half the thickness of the table leg (1½ inch square table leg). The problem I see here is that the 2 sets of mortises I need to make in each of the table legs for the front and side pieces of the apron and the stretches are likely going to meet each other inside the leg. Is that normal when making a table? I am going to try to inset the apron about 5/16 in from the edge of the leg to try to help but I just wanted to see if there was something I was missing or if anyone has a different suggestion.

Regards,
Tom


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## 12penny (Nov 21, 2008)

Hey Tom,
I agree on your first point. 1/4" is small. I generally make mine 3/8" on 3/4" stock. As far as length is concerned, make your mortices so they meet and then cut a 45 degree angle on the ends of your tenons.


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## Tom5151 (Nov 21, 2008)

*Thank you*

Hello 10Penny,

That makes perfect sense. I am off to give it a shot.

Thanks again


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

10penny said:


> Hey Tom,
> I agree on your first point. 1/4" is small. I generally make mine 3/8" on 3/4" stock. As far as length is concerned, make your mortices so they meet and then cut a 45 degree angle on the ends of your tenons.


Yep, what he said. Red


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## Tony B (Jul 30, 2008)

*I am in agreement with everyone.*

The shoulder of the tenon adds some strength in the way of a mechanical locking. The broader the shoulder, the less chance of the apron racking or twisting from a bump. This in turn will reduce the stress on the glue joint. 
Generally a tenon should be between 1/3 to 1/2 half the thickness of the wood. In this case 3/8" = the 1/2 the thickness. 
A 1/4" tenon would be a bit small for a table. It's one of those things that you have to give a little thought to once you get some more experience.


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## Saleen4971 (Oct 19, 2008)

If you MUST cut the tenon (if they are going to hit each other inside the leg) insert one, and using a pencil in the open hole, mark how far into the leg is sits. Then use this mark with either a chopsaw or mitre-box to cut a 45 on each.

So put one tenon inside the mortise, mark the tenon from inside the mortise and slice at 45!


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## Deadhead Derek (Dec 15, 2008)

10penny said:


> Hey Tom,
> I agree on your first point. 1/4" is small. I generally make mine 3/8" on 3/4" stock. As far as length is concerned, make your mortices so they meet and then cut a 45 degree angle on the ends of your tenons.


agreed


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## b00kemdano (Feb 10, 2009)

I'm ressurecting this old thread because I am also a newbie. I've been reading through the forums as much as I can and I've seen all sorts of terms thrown around describing mortise and tenon joints. 

Could someone please describe (or post a photo of?) the anatomy of the morise and tenon?

Shoulder, cheek, face, what's it all mean?


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## Terry McGovern (Feb 5, 2009)

Try this:

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/articles/mortiseandtenon.cfm


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## b00kemdano (Feb 10, 2009)

Mort Tenon said:


> Try this:
> 
> http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/articles/mortiseandtenon.cfm


 
Excellent reading. Thank you!


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