I recently made a bed headboard using some exotic hardwood. My design called for the posts to be 2 in. thick but the wood was only available in 1-in. thickness. I also wanted to attach the rails using mortise-and-tenon joints, but I do not have a mortiser. To solve both problems, I laminated the posts using the 1-in. stock, cutting dadoes on the inside of both pieces so that, once glued up, the two dadoes would form the mortises.

But this created another problem: an obvious and visible glue joint on the outside edge of the post. So before glue-up, I mitered the outside edge of each post. Then I glued the post pieces together and filled the recess along the mitered edge with a triangular-shaped cap.

Once everything was glued up, I had a perfect mortise-and-tenon joint in a post that looks like a piece of solid 2-in.-thick hardwood.

click to enlarge

Jim Richey

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Veritas Precision Square

This precision square is incredibly versatile, from checking squareness to dialing in machine setups.

Buy at Lee Valley

Freud Super Dado Saw Blade Set 8" x 5/8" Bore

Leaves a dado with a flat bottom and even performs excellent on plywood and melamine.

Buy at Woodcraft

Incra Miter 1000HD

One of many extremely accurate Incra miter gauges, this model offers 180-degree adjustment to 1/10 of a degree, and a long, straight fence with a telescoping stop system.

Buy at Amazon