Novice trying to do M&T’s but the mortises came out too deep by mistake. In some case they vary from 1/16″ to 1/8″ too deep. The fit appears to be the just right for width of the tenons. Is this a problem? What do I do to fix this? Can I just glue in some wood at the base of the mortises? Should I start over? Any advice would be appreciated!!
Thanks!!
Replies
Woody,
If I read you right & the mortise is a bit deeper than the tenon then don't worry, it'll be fine & will be somewhere for any excess glue to go.
Don
You don't want the ends of the tenons to touch the bottoms of the mortises in any case. If you try to do that and they end up the slightest bit long, the shoulders won't seat against the mortised member.
In general it's bad engineering design to have two locating surfaces. It reduces your error tolerance to zero.
I call 1/16 to 1/8 too deep perfect. Don't worry about it.
Dan
A 16th is perfect. An 8th is not perfect but who cares. The strength of a tenon lies with the cheeks and the long grain to long grain glue surface and some tight shoulders. Relax and have a beer--you did alright.
Regards,
Boris
"Sir, I may be drunk, but you're crazy, and I'll be sober tomorrow" -- WC Fields, "Its a Gift" 1934
The end of the tenon is end grain, so even if the fit were perfect, you get no additional strength from gluing it to the bottom of mortise.
I think most people leave the tenon a little shy of the bottom of hte mortise.
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