May 26 2016

How to properly make a tenon joint on a straight tenon

Another master class, I must say that it is quite detailed and no less useful from Alexander. Today we will talk about tenon joints. Straight tenon is the basis of carpentry. Our today’s lesson will tell you how to do it in a homemade environment (and at the same time in an equipped carpentry workshop).

Let's look at the basic principles of making a tenon joint using the example of two workpieces, one wide and one narrow, the thickness of all parts will be 30 mm. First, mark the width of the workpieces. Then you need to set aside the hangers, usually this is 1/3 of the material - step back 1 cm inward, make a note
It is most convenient to mark using a carpenter's square
If everything is simple with a narrow workpiece, then for a wide workpiece it is necessary to make a segmented tenon (for better grip). Segmented, that is, consisting of several small spines. To do this, we find the center
we retreat 1 cm in each direction, i.e. on the shoulder, mark.
This is what we get. The shaded parts will be highlighted.
The depth of the groove should be half the depth of the stand, in this case it is 30 mm, but it should be 2-3 mm deeper so that the glue has room to exit. Mark the depth on the drill with electrical tape. The drill is positioned in the center of the workpiece.

Using a drilling and additive machine - we have already considered this. (by the way, you can use a regular drilling machine). First, we drill several adjacent holes.

Then, moving the workpiece from side to side with a recessed drill, we cut off the remaining jumpers.
This is how the groove is made - using a primitive drilling and grooving device. Of course, it is not perfectly beautiful, and the edges are rounded, but it has precisely specified dimensions and is located exactly in the center of the workpiece.
In a professional workshop, such a slotting machine is used.

This is how the groove is made - using a professional drilling and grooving device, after which there is no need to round the tenons
Let's move on to preparing the spikes themselves. Let's start with an amateur technique - sawing out a tenon on a circular saw with a carriage.

First, we make a cut along the marking line, then, by moving the workpiece, we gradually remove excess material.

We turn the workpiece over and repeat the manipulations on all sides.

The result is such a neat spike. But it needs to be improved a little
There are two ways to get the tenon into the groove. The first is to take a chisel and gouge out the rounding of the groove
or the second option is to take a rasp and round the edges of the tenon to fit the groove
We make wide workpieces using a professional device - a milling cutter with a wide cutter.

We go around the thorn from all sides in the same way. Everything is done in one pass - much faster than with a carriage.

We segment the spike with the same circular saw.

We remove the gap by adjusting the disc offset.

Well, the tenon and groove are made, let's move on to connecting them. It should be adhesive.

When gluing, it is necessary to lubricate the groove from the inside or the eye, and it is also necessary to lubricate the surface of the tenon.

“I do not recommend lubricating the end of the workpiece, because it still won’t stick to the surface - only the spike and the inner surface of the eyelet will hold it. There is no need to lubricate a lot, because the tenon and eyelet will swell under the influence of the water contained in the glue, thus creating conditions for a strong seam.”

Both the tenon and the eye should be lubricated.

then using a press (vayma). In the absence of one, the whole process can be carried out with a mallet.
Wipe off excess glue

We carry out the same manipulations with a wide workpiece: apply glue, connect

making money

We press it in.

Summarize:

• When making tenon joints and frame structures, it is necessary to make the stand longer, i.e. leave tails. The tail of the stand should be longer than your facade on each side by one thickness of material, this is done so that the workpiece does not separate along the fibers during pressing.
• For wide workpieces it is necessary to use a segmental tenon. The thickness of the tenon is always made according to standards - 1/3 of the thickness of the material, at least 1/4 of the thickness of the material is allowed. The shoulders are 1/3 of the thickness of the material, the gap between the tenons is 2/3 of the thickness of the material.
• In any case, the spike should be thicker. For coniferous (soft) species it is 0.2 mm thicker, for hardwoods it is 0.1 mm thicker, all this is due to wood shrinkage.

Using tongue-and-groove joints at home will allow you to independently create beautiful furniture that is also reliable. Even the frames of low-rise buildings are connected using this scheme, especially when it comes to serious loads during operation. Therefore, it will be useful to understand how to make a tenon and groove using manual milling cutters.

Tools used

In this case, the sampling of material is carried out on the surface of the beams and boards from the side. The main thing is that the proposed connection maintains its dimensions in terms of geometry.

To complete the process using a milling cutter, it is allowed to use tools equipped with shanks with a diameter of 8 or 12 millimeters. The so-called groove cutter will become a universal option when performing any type of work. The device is equipped with a cutting part, the basic operating principle of which is described as follows:

1. The side surface is involved in the formation of the sides of the tenon, the wall part of the grooves.
2. The side with the end part is used when processing the bottom. After this, the required layer of material is removed from the base of the spike.

The result is the simultaneous formation of both tenons and grooves on the surface on the sides. The sizes can be individually adjusted, and the owner has quite a wide range of options in this regard.

Sometimes for grooves and tenons they choose not a rectangular shape, but the so-called “dovetail” type. This option is relevant if increased requirements are placed on connection reliability. Accordingly, the cutter used is also called a “dovetail” in this case. Such work can be easily done with hand tools if the need arises.

Making a device for picking out a tenon

When parts are processed manually, the milling cutter itself does not have additional spatial fixation. But the overall result of the work and the accuracy of the connection itself in the future depend on this.

To assemble the simplest design that can cope with the task, you will need to use:

• Several guides that remain stationary. They should be side and top or bottom.
• The length of the sample is adjusted through the use of an appropriate movable bar.

For manufacturing, the following sequence of actions is used:

1. A plywood sheet is taken, from one edge of which the side elements are mounted in a vertical plane. It is necessary to create appropriate cutouts in the center of the material.
2. The sides are equipped with guides. The base of the hand cutter moves along them later.
3. The side strips are fixed on the upper guides. Then the movement of the working milling cutter associated with these parts becomes limited.
4. The plywood sheet, which became the basis for the installation, also serves as a surface for installing the moving element. Then the amount of edge overhang for the future workpiece is easier to control under any circumstances. Fixation is ensured with ordinary screws and other types of fixing devices.

There are several points during manufacturing that require special consideration:

• The upper guides have a height corresponding to the sum of the thickness for the part under processing and a small gap at which the wedge involved in fixation is installed.
• The forming tenon has a certain length, which is taken into account when determining the vertical thickness of the cutouts in the side elements.

When such devices are used, the work is carried out with the participation of hand-held milling cutters of any modern model.

Fixtures are made in the following way if dovetail connections are required.

1. A hole is created inside a sheet of plywood with several layers. The cutting part at the cutter itself protrudes from this part.
2. A plywood sheet is prepared in advance, on the bottom of which the manual router itself is fixed. Clamps and screws are perfect for doing the job, as are other types of fastenings.
3. The board, 2.5 centimeters thick, is attached to a plywood sheet, which subsequently participates in the movement of the prepared part. The function of the guides is taken over by the design. Boards are consumables with one-time use.

Creating tenons on bars and boards

Processing is performed using the following sequence of actions:

• The part to be processed is mounted on a plane from the bottom side.
• The edge of the part where the tenon is formed accommodates the cutouts at the guides at the top. The structure moves inward until it hits the end.
• A movable type element must be fixed while maintaining a certain position.
• We use a wedge tool to connect the guides and the plane located at the top to each other.
• Connection of a hand router with the upper guides.
• Using a router tool on a home router table, wood is removed from one side.
• When the first side of the workpiece is processed, begin the second.

The operation will be successful only with high performance and accuracy parameters. Setup refers to the required steps before the instruments are turned on. To resolve the issue, actions are performed in the following sequence:

1. The milling tool is lowered until it reaches the surface of the base.
2. Measuring the thickness of a part.
3. The thickness result is divided by 4. The result is the distance parameter that is maintained when lifting the cutter above the base.

Wood cutter "Dovetail"

For mortises and tenons under similar circumstances: only half the normal width. This is explained by the characteristics that compounds of this type have.

The main thing is to set up the device correctly and fix it in a suitable position.

The tongue-and-groove joint should end up with some clearance. It is necessary so that later you can conveniently use the adhesive composition.

How to choose a groove with a router?

The solution to the problem depends on where the grooves are located and what size they are. Here are some recommendations for home craftsmen:

• The use of open grooves involves securing it to the tabletop and guiding the workpiece along the cutter.
• Accuracy is determined by the height of the cutter and the location of the bar.
• It is recommended to use wood waste for trial operations. This allows you to avoid mistakes.
• Sampling is carried out in stages, with several passes being carried out.

The main thing is to get rid of wood waste in a timely manner after completing each stage. Then the instrument will definitely not suffer from overheating. When doing the work, it is easiest to use a template cut out of plywood. They pass through it with the cutter itself, with the bearing installed.

Conclusion

It is best to use leftover wooden blocks for training. If the holes and joints line up perfectly, you can move directly to the actual building material.

If there are any errors, it is recommended to double-check whether the preliminary markings are applied correctly. After this, repeated training is carried out. Only when everything is correct does the actual implementation of the main work begin.

Good afternoon friends!

Today let's look at one of the ways to make a classic carpentry joint tenon - groove. We will not just make the connection on its own, but we will make a full-fledged product - a small decorative table. We will have the opportunity to practice, because such a product requires 8 connections of the drawers to the legs at once. Along the way, let's look at some other techniques for working with a hand router.

To make a tenon-groove joint, we start by cutting out the groove using a hand router. To do this, we will need a router with a rip fence and a straight groove cutter. In this example, the grooves are selected on the table legs at the junction with the drawers. In the photographs you see an example of making table legs from purchased balusters - this is how the table looks very impressive. However, if desired, you can also use a regular wooden block.

We mark the location of the future groove as follows: we find the center of the workpiece, because we want the groove to be exactly in the middle (in this case, the thickness of the block is 50mm, respectively, the center is 25mm). We mark the boundaries of the future groove. A board 100mm wide will be used as a drawer; accordingly, we will make a 90mm groove. After marking, we install the router with a parallel stop so that the center of the cutter is located exactly along the center line and proceed to cutting out the groove.

To reduce the load on the cutter, it is better to carry out the sampling gradually - in several passes, each time lowering the cutter lower and lower. In this case, the groove depth was 20mm, sampling was carried out in 4 passes with a step of 5mm. As you can see in the photo, on the first workpiece, I was not able to accurately observe the milling boundaries and the groove turned out to be a little larger than necessary. In this case, this is not a problem - the groove will still be completely covered by the drawer, but you should be careful and try to follow the markings. Without changing the router settings, we make the same grooves on all workpieces.

To avoid such a defect, pads are often pressed onto the workpiece, which physically do not allow the router to go further than the desired place, but in this case, since the groove is selected too close to the edge of the workpiece, it is not possible to use this method and you have to rely only on your own strength. If you often plan to make a tongue-and-groove joint, you should think about making a template that will allow accurately make grooves close to the edges of the workpieces. You should also be careful about possible lateral movement of the cutter - always press the rip fence firmly against the workpiece.

Next, we proceed to making the spike. I had a circular saw at my disposal, with which this is not difficult. We take the blanks for the drawers, set them on the saw to 20mm - the height of the future tenon, and raise the saw blade above the table to a distance equal to half the thickness of the groove. In this case, a cutter with a thickness of 15 mm was used, respectively, we extend the saw blade by 7-8 mm.

Thus, without changing the saw settings, we process all 4 workpieces for the drawers on both sides. Then, if necessary, we change the height of the saw blade, and process them from the ends in the same way to obtain a full-fledged tenon.

All that remains is to slightly round the corners of the tenon with a knife to ensure an exact match with the groove and the connection is ready!

After cutting the legs to size, you can proceed to gluing the legs and drawers.

All we have to do is make the tabletop. In this case, it was cut with a router from 30mm thick glued board. For more details on how this was done, see In principle, the tabletop can be of any shape.

The edge of the table top was then finished with an edge moulder. And glued to the dowels to the drawers.

The table is ready! Agree, thanks to the baluster legs it looks very impressive.

In the coming days, stay tuned for another post on techniques for working with a hand router. It will be interesting!

Good luck to everyone in the craft!

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Since ancient times, many ways of joining wooden parts in a structure have been known. One of them is a corner joint on a straight open tenon, for which the unknown master may have used his own fingers as a model. With this type of connection (also called box knitting), the “fingers” of one part are placed between the “fingers” of another, which significantly increases the area of ​​​​the joining nodes and, accordingly, strengthens the connection.

The method of connecting parts onto a straight open tenon is not as complicated as, for example, a dovetail. Simple box stitch can be done by hand using a saw and chisel.

This connection of two boards resembles clasped fingers. Although performing it will require some effort and skill, we advise you to master it - this connection is very strong.

How to mark grooves

After marking the tenons, you need to mark on the part those areas that are to be removed. This way you can correctly install the saw and guide it within the area that will be removed, without confusing it with the neighboring one.

Aligning the slots

A circular saw produces rougher cuts, with burrs, when compared with the cuts left by a thin hand saw. Therefore, refine the grooves made mechanically with a chisel, but be careful when correcting the marks of the circular saw teeth. Avoid unnecessary movements!

Accurately mark grooves and tenons

The width of the grooves and the thickness of the tenons in box knitting must match so that the tenons fit exactly into the grooves (in a dovetail joint, the pattern of joining the tenons and grooves is slightly different). Most often, straight grooves and tenons in a corner joint are equal to the thickness of the board. But you can deviate from the usual ratios and make the grooves and tenons wider or narrower, if it is more convenient for you or seems more beautiful, however, in this case, the thickness of the material must be taken into account.

Uniform division

Before you start marking, first check whether the dimensions of the parts allow you to evenly distribute the grooves and tenons in the thickness of these parts. If not, then you can make the outer grooves and tenons a little wider or narrower; do the rest as usual, to the thickness of the board. If this distribution seems unattractive to you, make all the tenons and grooves a little narrower so that they turn out the same.

Thin spines

The narrower the tenons and grooves, the more there are, which means the longer you will have to work with a saw and chisel. However, it is precisely with the frequent arrangement of spikes that the connection is especially beautiful and durable. Indeed, with an increase in the number of “interlocked fingers,” the area of ​​the joining areas covered with glue also increases significantly.

Sawing thin tenons and cutting out narrow grooves by hand is a very labor-intensive task. And it is better, of course, to “entrust” this work to the mechanisms. It is no coincidence that carpenters themselves call a joint with a large number of tenons a machine joint. Using a special milling device, you can process parts for such a connection quite quickly and, most importantly, with great precision.

Recess cutter

The use of a milling device is convenient for a number of reasons. Firstly, the cutter combines the functions of a saw and a chisel, since tenons are formed simultaneously with the cutting of grooves. Secondly, the cutter can process two parts at once, which, on the one hand, speeds up the processing process, and on the other, ensures the most accurate connection of parts. The only condition is that the cutter must be used to work according to a special metal template.

The corner connection to a straight open tenon is suitable not only for drawers or, for example, chests. Rack shelves or frames whose parts are connected in this way look very elegant.

Frequently spaced thin tenons provide the connection with particular strength, but this requires a lot of labor.

With this connection, the area of ​​the joining areas and, accordingly, the adhesive coating significantly increases.

Corner joints with thick tenons are easier to make, but they are also quite strong.

With wide grooves and thick tenons, it is easier to achieve precise joining.

Sawing

First, secure the part in a vertical position on the workbench and only then start cutting out the tenons. Place the saw not on the marking itself, but close to it from the side of the groove. Work carefully and very carefully, make sure that the cut line does not deviate, much less intersect with the marking line. If the groove is too narrow, you can widen it a little with a chisel or file. On the contrary, if the groove turns out to be wider than necessary (and, accordingly, the adjacent tenon is thinner than necessary), then the connection will be loose or will not work at all. Subsequent corrections are very labor-intensive and not always effective.

Pay attention that the cuts do not end obliquely, which happens if the saw is not held strictly horizontally. Therefore, for control, mark the depth of the grooves on both sides of the part.

Work carefully

A groove that is not deep enough can always be corrected. It's worse if the groove is deeper than necessary. Then the connection will be ugly and shaky. You can, of course, slightly raise the bottom of the groove with putty, but it is still advisable to avoid mistakes.

The part must be well secured. The tenon saw must be held and driven strictly horizontally.

Hollowing out

Choose a chisel that matches the width of your grooves: it should be a few millimeters narrower than the groove.

Blow by blow

When processing grooves with a chisel, blows for deepening alternate with blows for chipping wood. The first ones are applied vertically along the groove depth markings, the second ones - at an angle towards the markings. In this case, the end part of the board is not affected. Having made an oblique recess approximately half the thickness of the board, it is turned over and the groove on the other side is processed in the same way. This method of hollowing out grooves avoids splitting the wood.

Cleaning grooves

Carefully process the grooves with a chisel and file: they should all have the same depth, smooth side edges and a flat bottom. Only then will the joining of the parts be tight and will be better adhered to by the glue, which will ultimately ensure the strength of the entire joint. Note also that neat joining seams decorate the product.

Start processing the grooves without touching the end part of the part: this way you will avoid splitting the wood.

Mechanical restoration

You will save a lot of time if you make the tenons using a special circular saw, which is set at right angles to the workpiece. The groove is obtained in one revolution of the disk. At the same time, it is much more accurate than a groove made with a conventional saw and chisel.

Uniform intervals

To use a circular saw, you will need a marking ruler, with which you can mark the location of the grooves and tenons on both parts. In this case, the grooves and tenons will fit each other more accurately.

The depth of the cut and the width of the groove are set on the circular saw itself. However, it is recommended to test your selections on a scrap board before moving on to the parts.

With the mechanical method of making grooves and tenons, the parts always fit together exactly.

Practice - make a tray

The corner connection to a straight open tenon looks beautiful on both large and small products. Anyone who would like to master this joining should first work with small parts whose joints would be limited to three or four mortise and tenon joints, such as trying to make a tray. This will not require much labor and will give you the opportunity to practice careful handling of the saw and chisel when making corner joints. And if one of the processed parts still has to be rejected and replaced with another, then this is unlikely to affect costs.

However, in addition to the saw and chisel, you will also need a circular saw to make a groove on the inside sides of the bottom of the tray to insert the bottom. It is best to use a circular saw to cut the grooves.

A little trick

Using a cutter, you can quickly make longitudinal holes in the side parts of the tray. But you can cut the holes by hand. To do this, drill two holes with a diameter of 20 mm on each side part and cut the wood between them in two steps. Carefully sand the edges of the holes, slightly rounding them, with sandpaper. Process the outer edges of the entire tray in the same manner.

All that remains is to install the bottom. Coat the plastic-coated hardboard blank around the edges with glue and insert it into the groove, then secure it with pins.

Finished handles instead of holes

If you wish, you can do without cutting out longitudinal holes in the side parts of the tray and thereby make your work somewhat easier. Buy ready-made furniture handles from a building materials store and attach them to the tray with screws. There are many options for such handles, from which you can always choose the one that suits the type and size.

A good practice for the DIYer is to make a simple tray with corner joints on a straight open tenon.

Tray design measuring 51 x 38 cm

There are many types of different connections that are widely used today in repairs. They are needed for assembling and repairing furniture, for connecting individual parts of some functional elements. But it is the tenon joint that has earned the greatest popularity among all types.

A tenon joint is a connection of wooden parts by tightly fitting the tenons into the holes (grooves).

The connection based on grooves and tenons is mostly used for wooden materials. It provides a fairly strong joining, while preventing the parts from deforming. This is especially good for furniture, when it is necessary to ensure maximum reliability of fasteners.

Anyone can make a tenon joint, but before serious assembly you need to practice properly if you do not have any carpentry skills. As a result, you can get a fairly high-quality fixation. And if you additionally fasten it with metal corners, then the strength of your furniture will be at a high level.

Manufacturing of dovetail tenon and mortise.

There are many ways in which a tenon joint can be made. But before considering the main most common ones, it is advisable to take into account some rules and subtleties that will definitely need to be followed while performing the work:

1. If you have the opportunity, make the tenon using special precision equipment. This will ensure that the sizes of the tenons and grooves match each other as closely as possible. Such equipment is available in every carpentry shop or industrial labor training room.
2. It happens that you are going to make furniture that does not require much precision. Then you can make the connections yourself. To do this, the tenons must be cut exclusively along the grain of the wood. In this case, the width should be approximately 17-20 times the thickness of the main part. This way you will be able to avoid chipping and cracking.
3. Things are a little simpler when cutting tenons on plywood. In this case, the thickness of the spinal sinus can be absolutely any. The width of the main parts does not affect this. But the principle of matching in the direction of the fiber remains the same.
4. After the tenons have been cut out and their size has been checked, the wood must be slightly dried. This refers to the usual keeping of the material indoors throughout the day. This way the wood will be able to take a permanent shape, which will help avoid bending of the joint in the future.

Preparation of the instrument and the first part of the measurements

Measuring straight tenon joints.

Now let’s look at the main and most common option for how you can make a high-quality tenon joint with your own hands. It is based on the use of a regular file or a large saw (depending on the required dimensions).

So, the first thing you need to do is choose a tool. It is important to keep in mind that each file has its own cutting width. Therefore, in the end, part of the tenon will become slightly larger. And how much depends directly on this width. That is why, when measuring connection parameters, take into account the width of the cut.

Now start marking. For this you will need a pencil and a ruler. First, measure the parts that need to be connected to each other. After this, the width of the parts is applied at the site of the future cut. In this case, the depth of the cut itself will be exactly equal to the thickness of the main part.

Typically, many furniture designs may require multiple tenons or mortises on one piece. In this case, it is necessary to focus on how similar they will be. If they are identical, then it is enough to take one measurement. For different sizes, the required number of measurements is taken. Also remember the rule: it is advisable to make cuts a little smaller in thick parts, and deeper in thin parts.

Marking of the second part

Tenon joint elements.

After this, we move on to marking the second part of the connection. To do this, you need to take the two parts that are supposed to be connected and attach them tightly to each other. In this case, you need to ensure that it matches the lines of the cuts. When the parts are perfectly attached to each other, it is recommended to clamp them in a vice so that they do not move.

Now that the parts are properly fastened, you need to apply marks with a pencil on the second part that has not yet been marked, and then make the initial cuts with a file. These will not be solid lines, but just thin marks, similar to scratches. But it is still necessary to do them, since it will be easier to work later. Only when making marks, try to do it in such a way as to achieve perfect evenness and avoid bending.

After this, it is necessary to release the parts and move them further relative to each other. It is important to take this into account. If you move the parts just a little by the width of the file, the connection will turn out to be quite rigid. And if you make the shifts a little more, it will be freer.

However, it cannot be said that any of the options is bad. It all depends on the nature and size of the parts being connected. And also on the specific type of wood used. If you use plywood, then you can make shifts only along the width of the cut, since in any case it will not be subject to severe deformation.

Final formation of tenon joints

Methods for tenoning wooden parts.

When all this is done, we move on to the thorough formation of the tenons and grooves. In order for everything to go correctly, you need to constantly take measurements during work in order to eliminate, if possible, the risk of error. Be especially careful about the straightness of the lines. For large parts, use a building level for control.

So, the main part of the work is finished: the tenon joints are formed. Now you need to finally measure everything to make sure it is correct, after which you can move on to the final design. To do this, you can use sandpaper or a hand jigsaw. It depends on how rough the surface is.

Connection will follow. It is important to consider the type of connection here. They are detachable and non-detachable. Permanent connections should be stronger and more thorough, and detachable connections should be such that they can be disassembled if the need arises. For permanent connections, glue is used, and for detachable connections, the corners must be slightly rounded.

The option of how you can make tenon joints with your own hands has been considered.

There are several more methods, but they are more complex and more suitable for professionals. But if you don’t rush anywhere, you can gradually acquire skills and perform subsequent work simply.

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