Paul Sellers' mortise and tenon technique

[jjongsma]

So, Paul Sellers has a new video up about a new technique for cutting mortise and tenons by hand:

There are a few limitations to this method. It assumes that the boards are machine-milled (e.g. perfectly parallel faces with consistent thickness). It assumes that the boards being joined are the same thickness (e.g. the faces of the joined boards will be flush with each other on both sides). It also requires that the mortise be chopped with a chisel that is slightly smaller than the mortise. Also, as presented it requires two router planes, though there are certainly ways to work around that.

I'm not sure that I'll use this method (since my boards are generally not machined-milled and therefore are not always consistent enough to be able to treat opposite faces both as reference faces). But it is kind of interesting. It's not revolutionary or anything, but it looks like it could produce fairly repeatable results with only hand tools. I'm curious what others think.

[Ronn W]

He makes it look easy.  I would need alot of practice.  Some nice chiseling tip buried in that clip.  I, being a hybrid woodworker, might consider hogging out the mortise with a drill press and then finishing to the scribe line by hand.  Also might use a dado stack for hogging out the tenons.  His layout is the key to that beautiful fit - that I like.

The other thing is that while he cut his tenon piece to use as a jig.  We would have to make a separate jig and a new jig would be required for each change in material thickness.

Thanks for posting the link.

[Wood Basher]

I just tried a test joint using that technique with a couple of modifications. I only have 1 router plane so I used that as the fixed plane and used a chisel until I was close enough to use the router plane. Also when preparing the tenon I made the second cross-grain cut to be the end of the tenon to avoid having to clean up the cheeks after finally cutting the end off. Of course to do that means you can't cut the tenon piece to final length before cutting the tenon, but that should not be an issue, and it simplifies making the tenon.  (A 3rd difference was it took me rather longer than it took Paul Sellers, but let's gloss over that).

The result was encouraging. The tenon was a very good fit for width. I could tap it home easily but it was tight enough that it was difficult to get it out again. As good as I could hope to get.

I did have 2 minor problems with the joint. One is that it didn't go fully home. I guess I had not cleaned the shoulders well enough, so that there was a bit of "fuzz" to hold it apart. That was down to me rather than the technique. The other problem was that the tenon piece was ever so slightly off from being co-planar with the mortise piece. Very close, but not perfectly flush. Nothing that wouldn't clean up easily with a plane or abrasive paper, but I am not sure why I got this error. I suspect it is because of racking in my vice when paring the sides of the mortise. If I had a decent vice it might cure the problem, but it does need some care when securing the work with the "template".

My conclusion is that I will cut M&T joints this way in the future whenever possible.

[RichardA]

Paul makes it look easy, because he was trained in that technique and has done it daily for some 50 years. Any of us that attempt doing it that way will rarely get it as perfect as he does, because we haven't done it for a long time. And, we will make many errors each and every time we do try.  You must remember that Paul is primarily a hand tool woodworker and as such, is trying to pass his knowledge to other woodworkers that want to learn hand tool use. I am about 40% hand tool use, but I'll never be as efficient at it as he is. He's trying to show you basic woodworking.  You can learn from him or watch Stumpy Nubbs.

[Coop]

Thanks for sharing man! Really cool vid and Bro. Sellers is a neat guy! I've never thought is using a router plane as a marking gauge. 

[wtnhighlander]

I like the way he used the tenon 'jig' to guide his paring chisel down the sides of the mortise, very clean.

[TerryMcK]

I like Paul and his teaching style. He’s probably forgotten more ways of cutting a joint by hand than I will ever know.

[Wood Basher]

Just to add another note. Earlier I tried this technique on a small practice joint and it worked fine. Yesterday I used the technique for real on larger stock and hit a small problem I had not anticipated.

To provide good guidance the template/jig piece needs to be as long as you can get it (but obviously can't be too long or it will foul the handle of the chisel). With a deep mortise and a reasonable length for the template/jig, my chisels were not long enough to reach the bottom of the mortise. Perhaps to best use this technique I need to get a long paring chisel which I do not currently own.

BUT: I am not sure how well a long chisel would work for this. With wide stock oriented with the mortise vertical and a long chisel the handle could be quite high, making it difficult to use the tool effectively. Putting the mortise horizontal with the template/jig attached might make it more difficult to hold the work piece and removing and replacing clamps would make tipping the piece to extract waste a chore.

[wtnhighlander]

Good observation. Would a crank-neck chisel work any better?

[RichardA]

I don't know if all Japanese chisels are like this, cause I only have one. But it's designed with just enough bend in it that keeps the back of the handle in line with the back of the chisel blade. You might look into that.

[Immortan D]

You need a long chisel and a stool to step on

[Wood Basher]

Good suggestions for a cranked chisel or a Japanese chisel. Both are solutions I had not thought of and either might solve the problem. I had thought of standing on a box which perhaps shows the way I always take a bodge job approach to problem solving. Anyway I'll have a look for a Japanese chisel or a cranked jobbie.