Good Day Everybody,
for an upcoming project I would like to use wedged through tenons which should be about 3/4″ thick. However, I would like to use rounded ends (not squaring the router-cut mortises) to complement the design. My questions are:
1)how do I cut the angled mortise walls (fancy router jig or freehand with a gouge, sandpaper or rasp)to achieve the “wedge-effect”?
2)I understand that typically wedges should be inserted about 1/8″ or so from the end of the tenon. with a 3/8″ radius of the rounded tenon end that becomes a bit of an issue. I suppose I could angle the cut for the wedge, but that does not seem like a good idea – strength-wise. Inserting the wedge in the round part of the tenon might be an option, but I don’t think would look good. Besides adjusting the mortise would be tough…
Any suggestions are appreciated.
many thanks,
Lars
Replies
As for the angling of the mortise, no doubt you could make a jig for the base of your router. If it were me, I'd probably just use a gouge.
As far as insertion fo the wedges, there is no rule that has to be 1/8th from the end. If you really thought that the tenon wouldn't flex enough at 3/8th, you could always cut a notch at the base to effectively make the hinging area thinner - the mechanical strength of the joint would not be affected.
Here's a wedged tenon I made fairly recently. It's about 3" long, to give you a sense of scale. And I definitely allowed much more than 1/8th at the ends. I had no problem drivng the ebony wedges into this cherry.
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