How snug does a tenon need to be for a secure joint? These joints are for stiles that hold panels on the footboard of a bed. As I was assembling my project, some tenons slide right into the mortise without any force. I would say that there is less than 1/32 inch gap between the tenon and the mortise wall. Is that too loose?
If too loose, how would you suggest I fix it?
Replies
The best description I've seen is a "friction fit." Slight pressure should be needed to slide the tenon home, and slight pressure to remove it. If too lose, can glue a piece of veneer to one or more sides and then dress to the friction fit with float, file/rasp, rabbet plane, . . .
I would say that a mortise and tenon joint is to loose when the tenon can be inserted and removed with no effort. There should be some resistance it doesn't need to be much but there should be some. You have to remember that glue will not fill a void, even the urethane glues that expand will not hold when filling a gap.
Repairing or fixing the problem is relatively easy, depending on how you cut your tenons. In most cases I cut the checks of my tenons on the band saw and tune them with a shoulder or rabbiting block plane, in that case I would glue the off cut back on the tenon and re-cut it. For any other method I would find a suitable piece of stock and trim thin pieces to glue on the tenon and re-cut. It took me a few times of trying to be to precise when cutting tenons to learn that I'm better off leaving them a little fat and fine tuning with a hand plane, it also taught me to prepare an extra blank or two when milling parts in the event I do something that can't br eo easily fixed.
Good luck
Even 1/64th gap would be too loose. Friction fit is right. Hand pressure--and firm hand pressure is still OK to insert. Be sure that if you use a veneer shim, that you put it on the proper side of the tenon so you don't mess with the alignment of stile and rails on the show surface. DAMHIKT.
Too loose a tennon
Tennons should require some hand effort to get them in place. You don't want them so tight that you need to pound them in with a hammer, in that case, you'd just risk splitting the mortise.
On the other hand, they shouldn't fall apart on their own either. I like to fit the joint so it will stay togeather on its own, but will also go togeather & come apart with some hand effort.
Too loose, and you;re completely relying on glue to hold the joint togeather. Too tight, and you'll sqeeze all the glue away during assembly too.
As mentioned earlier, a little veneer glued onto the tennon cheek will help to repair a loose joint.
Hope this helps
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