I am building a Craftsman style bed from plans in Jeff Miller’s book from Taunton called Beds. I have a question about one part of the bed. Jeff shows the top rail on the footboard and headboard to be 2″ wide. He says to cut the tenon 1/2″ from the top and cut a 1/2″ deep groove on the bottom to place the dentil strip to hold the top part of the slats. This leaves a 1″ tenon, the problem is the plan calls for a 1 1/4″ mortise was this planned for wood movement or was this a mistake. If someone could help me I would appreciate it very much. This is my first really fine piece of funiture to build and I want to do a good job. Thanks for the help.
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Replies
Bill,
As I understand your question, the dimensions of the mortise should equal the dimensions of the tenon, except that the mortise should be about 1/16th deeper than the tenon length for the excess glue....
Dano
Bill,
I made the exact bed from the same book. But I did it with actual mortises for each slat/spindle. Anyway, the sizes of tenon and mortise should be identical. There is no way it could be 1/4" bigger. Honestly, I did not even notice that. I only used major dimensions. I made up other measurements that I feel comfortable with. The legs are almost 3" square, so I made bigger tenons. I also used bed railing hardware from Woodcraft for $10 which makes disassemble much easier. It can be viewed at http://www.geocities.com/ct6832/2000Projects.html
Good luck.
Calvin T.
Thanks I took at look at your pictures the furniture looked great. That is exactly what I am building. A bed, night stands, coffee table and end tables. I am pretty new but learning at a fast pace. I am thinking on my problem I will glue a piece of scrap in the mortise to take up the space when I attach the tenon I have an exact match from a piece of tenon that I trimed earlier. Thanks again.
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