Joe Eagar Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 I recently did a 2'x4' table out of poplar (legs) and pine (aprons). The top is a really crappy piece of hardwood ply (either Aspen or Birch) that I managed to mangle pretty badly (I plan on replacing it at the earliest oppurtunity). The final table, with approriate clutter (and yes, that is a contractor saw I'm fixing beneath it): I used these half-tenon thingies for the legs and aprons (the idea of which I got from a Fine Woodworking article). I have to ask, does this add to the strength of the leg/apron joint? I've since noticed that most FW table articles don't seem to use this. Unfortunately, I messed up the tenon order and managed to get the aprons sticking out the opposite way they were supposed to me, which necassitated modifying two of the mortises and creating a few of these weird tenons here: I clamped the base frame with a strap, tensioned with a clamp (not sure if you can see the clamp, and no that's not the final glueup): I mangled the tabletop itself pretty badly; the vast majority of my tools are a thousand miles away, and the jackplane I brought with turned out to need major tuning (which I've since done). I'm definitely going to replace the top. Notice the veneer patch. The only thing left to do on this project is add corner blocks (which I'm not looking forward too, given that the frame isn't perfectly square and I don't have access to a bandsaw or a scrollsaw to cut the blocks). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobcrosley Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Don't beat yourself up! The table looks good, and even without seeing it in person, I can tell you a couple things about it. 1) It's built with a higher quality than anything you could buy in a store at that price. 2) You are the only one who sees the flaws I believe the tenon you are describing is called a haunched tenon. I've seen them used before, but honestly don't know the exact purpose for doing that. Someone more experienced could chime in. Your own design, or did you work with a plan? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Eagar Posted January 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Don't beat yourself up! The table looks good, and even without seeing it in person, I can tell you a couple things about it. 1) It's built with a higher quality than anything you could buy in a store at that price. 2) You are the only one who sees the flaws I believe the tenon you are describing is called a haunched tenon. I've seen them used before, but honestly don't know the exact purpose for doing that. Someone more experienced could chime in. Your own design, or did you work with a plan? My own design. I forgot to mention that there are also two stretchers between the apron, to support the (thin) top. I added those to the design at the last minute (I hadn't realized I'd need them), and they're attached to the aprons with pocked screws. I don't know if I'd say it's nicer than what you can buy. It might be after I get a new top, but I must admit, I've seen some pretty nice tables at stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pghmyn Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Ditto what Bob said. Don't beat yourself up over flaws. You probably will be the only one who will find it and classify it as a flaw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..Kev Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 You did fine Joe. It's all part of the learning process. Take your lessons from this project and apply them to the next project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechwood Chip Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 Haunched tenons are used with mortices in corners. Full length regular tenons would run into each other inside the corner leg. Shorter tenons would be less strong. The haunched tenon is a nice compromise - half of the tenon is full length fro strength, and half is shorter to leave space for the tenon coming in from the other side. Nice table! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasahan Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Haunched tenons are used with mortices in corners. Full length regular tenons would run into each other inside the corner leg. Shorter tenons would be less strong. The haunched tenon is a nice compromise - half of the tenon is full length fro strength, and half is shorter to leave space for the tenon coming in from the other side. Ooooohhh. I will probably have to try that at some point, since I've had intersecting mortises. I always just sanded the corner down a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRBaker Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Great job, Joe. Oh, and welcome to the forum. Remember, you are your own worst critic, and that will only make you better. Keep up the good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G S Haydon Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Sweet work dude, haunched mortice and tenons as well. Good on you for having a go at traditional joinery and the finished result is not half bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralph Kolva Posted January 17, 2014 Report Share Posted January 17, 2014 Good work and as others have said don't be too hard on yourself. Reflect on the work you did and learn where you can improve but just about every piece has some mistakes or areas that could have been better, that's just part of learning and refining your craft. One suggestion I would give you that might make a difference in the tightness of your joinery is to try slip, or loose tenons. It looks like you used a router to cut the leg mortises, with slip tenons you would uses the router to cut mortises in the aprons as well and then mill a loose tenon to join the aprons to the legs. I find it simpler than rounding over tenons as you did on your aprons, it also really simplifies getting tight shoulders as it just becomes a butt joint rather than having to achieve a nice shoulder around your tenons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Eagar Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 Good work and as others have said don't be too hard on yourself. Reflect on the work you did and learn where you can improve but just about every piece has some mistakes or areas that could have been better, that's just part of learning and refining your craft. One suggestion I would give you that might make a difference in the tightness of your joinery is to try slip, or loose tenons. It looks like you used a router to cut the leg mortises, with slip tenons you would uses the router to cut mortises in the aprons as well and then mill a loose tenon to join the aprons to the legs. I find it simpler than rounding over tenons as you did on your aprons, it also really simplifies getting tight shoulders as it just becomes a butt joint rather than having to achieve a nice shoulder around your tenons. I've always found normal tenons easier than loose ones, but that's probably because my technique is much better on the former than the latter. I might try it next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Eagar Posted January 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2014 I admit, I didn't really get the shoulders to fit tightly. I'm not sure if that was because of my ad-hoc clamping jig, or the fact I had to move some tenons to different mortises. Mercifully it's not that noticable with the dark staining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodbutcher74 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 The only people that don't make mistakes are the ones that never do anything. I know making mistakes is sometimes a let down but working them out is half the fun.Stay the course and you'll see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdesocio Posted January 26, 2014 Report Share Posted January 26, 2014 I hope you know your table saw is upside down! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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