Replies

1. 
   oxmach | Jan 23, 2003 04:49pm | #1

   Jake, I would say 1" should be acceptable.  More length will give you more long grain glue surface, however, you will obviously need a longer mortise, which may in fact weaken the overall joint.  Garrett Hack has an excellent article on this in the current issue of Fine Woodworking.  He give rules of thumb for tenon width and length.  On the cover of this issue is a fairly large shelf unit which the author has used a 1" tenon if that helps give piece of mind.  

   Regards,

   Greg

   Just got home and pulled up the magazine article.  The suggestion is that the tenon width should be at least 1/3 the thickness of the rail / apron etc.   The author states that a tenon which is 3 to 4 times longer than it's thickness is plenty.  Therefore if your wood is 3/4, the tenon should be a minimum 1/4 (times 3 or 4) = 3/4 to 1" in length.  Again, suggest you read the article, it is very good and will serve you well as a reference guide.  Especially tips for layout of the mortise relative to the location on the leg. 

   
   

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   Edited 1/23/2003 3:50:42 PM ET by Greg

2. 
   BG | Jan 23, 2003 07:32pm | #2

   Jake,

   Since your post has gone unnoticed (relatively)let me respond..but I am not an expert...a pro's would be better at this.  First, you can get longer router cutters..think they are called "endcut upspiral bits".  Most of my mortice is in the half inch range and a minimun of 2" for cabintry(legs and aprons).  I don't think one inch is long enough for chairs, cabinets or many doors...but it is very much of a 'how big/weight' the cabinet, door is that the joint is supporting.  Lastly, even though the cutting part of the router bit may be only 1" long, you can make that work for longer than one inch depending on the depth of your router.  Hope this helps a little

   
   

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   Edited 1/23/2003 11:33:49 AM ET by BG

3. 
   RickL750 | Jan 23, 2003 08:31pm | #3

   Try Woodhaven.com I believe they have what you need. I also remember a post on this subject a while back and some good suggestions and sources. I tried searching but there’s just too much to read. Try an advance search on mortise and tenons in the past 6 months or so, you’ll get some good info.

   Good Luck,

   RickL

    

4. 
   sneezy | Jan 25, 2003 08:05am | #4

   Thanks for the help guys