Less Than one Tips To Cut Perfect Mortise

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

How to Cut A tenon: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rZTPdnhqlJ2kipo Tape:amzn.to/3Gy7Jio Marking Knife: lddy.no/gteg Drill stop: lddy.no/u17z Bench Chisels: lddy.no/gt4o Mortising Chisel: lddy.no/gtcp

[@MartinMMeiss-mj6li]

Excellent video. Here's a few points I would add: 1) A mortising gauge (with two independently adjustable scratch pins), allows one to scribe both sides of the mortise and tenon with one motion. This is quite handy and removes one possible source of error. 2) Because errors can creep in, either in the layout or in the cutting and chopping, I like to chop the mortise first and cut the tenon it fit it. This is because it is easier to adjust the width of the tenon than to adjust the mortise.

[@robertweldon7909]

Way back in the 1960s I was taught this joint in high school woodshop. I took wood shop for three years. I still have and use those three projects. The screws to attach the tops failed, my joints are still tight in 2021. That has a lot to say in favor of a mortise and tenon joint. ;-)

[@gartsartem]

Man, your videos on mortise and tenon sum up this theme perfectly. Better than any of the rest of the videos I've seen on KZbin! You rock! Thanks a lot!

[@Theiftanlazx]

Man you're a great teacher. Remind me of my first wood working teacher!

[@lc360]

Building a something for my mum this Christmas and I can tell I'm gonna rewatch this video a thousand times in the next few weeks. Thank you for sharing!!

[@mariocavallo331]

I love the “use reality” tip. I always tell my guys the same in certian situations

[@dlevi67]

Tip number 3/8: if you do drill the mortice, drill the two 'ends' first. It's easier to drill (or chop out) a partial diameter hole between two other holes than between one hole and your end mark.

[@chriscunicelli7070]

I loved this video! I’ve watched it twice and agree that, M&T is more difficult then dovetails. The tips are really quality! Great video James. Quality tips from a quality guy.

[@lincolndickerson1293]

Great video. I love the way you say if “If you have this, use it, if not use what you got” then move on and mostly use the less specialized tool. I have a thing about semi-perminent joiner. Sliding dovetails, tusked tenons, pegged tenons… joinery if you leave out the glue it will last forever but can be disassembled. Anything like that I love to see. Thanks for all you share with us

[@MK-lh3xd]

Many practically useful tips. Especially I liked the tip about swinging the chisel to check that you have the required width throughout the depth and width of the mortise. Kind of seems obvious after someone points it out, but not otherwise.

[@2logj]

Thanks.The Mortise and tenon is a Nemesis especially with Pine.

[@ianpearse4480]

Divide by Zero! As per the best joints "Closing in on you" LOL. Great share yet again.

[@markstevens6935]

Thanks, just getting back into woodworking and this refresher is great!

[@steveshapland8846]

Thank you for the excellent pair of videos on M&T joints. My next project has nearly two dozen of them.

[@jimmcnett]

Excellent demonstration. I can't wait to try it in the shop.

[@rickshick8544]

Being on a limited budget and running out of time on my most recent project, and needing to drill holes to accept threaded inserts to be installed in 3/4 inch thick boards, I decided to make a Poor Man's (thank you, Paul Sellers) depth stop. I used a piece of scrap long enough to give me the 1/2" spacing I wanted, and big enough to let me drill a hole the same diameter as the brad-point drill I was going to use. There were other complicating factors that led me to locate centers of my threaded insert holes using 1/16" drill bit. The flies on the wall died laughing at the antics I went through but it all worked great. Or great-ish. That cool depth stop you used stimulated this reply. Thank you.

[@SweSuf]

I'm eagerly looking forward to all the imaginary tips in your next video (you know, the sqrt(-1) = +/- i).

[@dlevi67]

They are ideal for squaring pieces up.

[@GinaHubany]

I have 5 1920 windows to rebuild & this is exactly what I was looking for!! Thank you!

[@johnbeach8607]

Ty your teaching is great now I have a starting point to master the mortise hand cutting method and proper method of using my chisels,my mistakes were starting points of the cuts and choping too much at a time . Your method helped me correct my major issues ty ,my cuts are 100% better now make time too practice the cutting methods too master it

[@jacobbrown2306]

Bro! You are great! Clear communication, and great content.

[@Nick5o9]

7:24 me before my morning coffee 😂

[@tobiasfrancisco5879]

That was so satisfying seeing the tenon go in 🤤

[@byambaus1]

One of the best explanation here

[@Nishiseattle]

Great instruction. Is it advisable, for exterior joints, to stain, or otherwise, treat the inside of the joint to prevent rot?

[@mohdalisyed]

Great video James! Just another tip: dig the mortice first, so if you have to compensate for errors, you can do it while cutting the tenons. Easier to work on tenons than mortises imho

[@nxsmotorsports]

8:25 "Now for the boring part" - Clever pun, good sir.

[@michaelballinger6419]

That's a Paul Sellers Joke BTW

[@steveshapland8846]

I happen to have lock mortise chisels matching my mortice chisels. I use them for cleaning our the chips. They pry against the wall, not the edge line of the ends.

[@malcolmsmith5903]

Great video James. Of course all aspects of the joint are important but if only one thing can be perfect then, as you said, make it the internal face parallel to the reference face. I'd rather a slight shoulder gap than a twisted frame. Great job.

[@Danny-ul4sq]

Great advice. Not only on how to cut a mortise (I prefer to use a mortise chisel only), but just how much more important a mortise and tenon joint is compared to all those who want to reminisce about doing dove tales at school.

[@karl_alan]

Ugh...would've loved this 2 weeks ago...in the past 2 weeks I've done 18 mortises with what I already knew...never hurts to know more for next time. For these I did try both methods of chopping them out.

[@stanp1104]

James, your posts are great. always seem to learn something. Thanks.

[@russellschwartz3896]

Another thing I learned: Have a sharp chisel. Mine wasn't, and I couldn't clean out the tenon easily like you did in the video. In fact, when I tried to chop, the chisel only went in less than 1/16 in. (My chisels are also inherited -- from my late father. When I was a kid, he wouldn't let me use them because I would make them dull. Irony!)

[@rjtumble]

Love it, thanks. I’m about to build some legs for a jigsaw puzzle table I’m building for my wife, and had just decided to use mortise and tenon joiner, so really timely.

[@RICKYDENNIS49]

“For some reason this is going a lot faster than I remember “ I almost wet myself when that came out 😂 awesome video, nicely done 👌

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic tips, James! 😃 Thanks a lot!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@reaper060670]

Enjoyed this one very much man.. I want to master the Mortise & Tenon joint. Master might be a bit strong a word but u get my meaning.. LOL I struggle a little every time I attempt it. The tenon is never cut as straight and true as I would like and the Mortise ends up being too wide or damaged bcos I don't take my time, and begin to rush certain cuts with the chisel. Is it important to work at the same pace always? What I mean is how do u find that sweet spot with timing. I may place the chisel wrong bcos I rushed it a little or something like that??? I'm also trying to cut the tenon with my hand saw too. I try to chisel it all out on both. For me the Mortise is the easier part but I still struggle with it. I keep messing up on the Tenon though. I'm going to try using the tape from now on. I need to get me some of that blue tape but I HAVE WHITE AND YELLOW COLOURED STUFF. The BLUE TAPE looks better option to wok with. u CAN CLEARLY SEE THE CUTS U NEED TO MAKE WITH THAT COLOUR IMO. That's something I haven't tried before so I'll be picking it up tomorrow.. Thanks for a very informative video my friend. Appreciate the work u put in to teach us too. Take it easy pal..

[@wlial]

Perfect joint, James! You are a master.

[@mikeandlucky]

True. M&T is more difficult that DT. Thanks for the video.

[@truenorthpositivejuniorten4628]

You are such a good teacher!

[@FranksWorkbench]

So right about it being the more difficult joint. Dovetail= saw to a line for 1/2 to 1". M&T= saw to a line for at least an inch and chop accurately for the same. Not to mention how much easier it is to repair a dovetail oops since it's exposed.

[@specialsauce305]

Great instructional video. I always thought you needed to use a mortising chisel to cut motises.

[@meatcreap]

Absolute pleasure to watch - thank you!!

[@BillCoale]

You're an excellent teacher. How do you determine how deep the mortise should be/how long the tenon should be?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

it all depends on the application. if it is a frame on a door it does not need to be very deep. in most cases 1" will do. but if it is to provide diagonal straight you want it to be as long as the joint will allow.

[@MichaelRodgers670]

thank you! I have always struggled to get this right. I will probably run outside in a moment and try it out

[@warrenmunn3224]

Watching you use the "flag" tip for marking the depth of holes, I recently found (using a power drill), if I slowly drill down the "flag" tells me when to stop as it dusts the surface of the material. Once the surface around the hole is getting cleaned I'm at or fractionally below depth.

[@dannymurphy1779]

Fantastic - Paul Sellers would be proud of that one! Have just subbed. Would love to see the rebate or router plane used on a joint, routers are fine but very noisy. I find it a lot more fun using hand tools.

[@jamescawdell3321]

What a great video! Fun and careful explanations and tips. Please could you demonstrate a wedged M&T? It would showcase the through M&T really well but many demonstrations of it miss out how to make the slopped sides accurately and I think you'd be great at showing us how to do it!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I might have to do that one. I've got a couple videos showing at live but it would be good to do a detailed video like this.

[@jamescawdell3321]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo I'll go check those out, thank you!

[@whittysworkshop982]

Very good advice at the end........ everyone needs to know how to do this. The M&T is the king of joints, its in nearly everything :) I still hate doing the mortise part tho hahah :P Pi minus 4 made me chuckle :P

[@chadwickpainter8212]

Very well done bro.

[@rmclean3]

Really fantastic video!

[@liquidrockaquatics3900]

As of today, what is the best marking gauge in terms of accuracy and value when taking into account usability, reliability, comfort, etc. materials/brand name/etc aren’t as important. What features are absolutely essential on a marking gauge?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

When it comes to Mark engages it is all personal preference. My go-to favorite mortiseing gauge is the simple one from harbor freight. A lot of people love the two wheel marking gauge from veritas

[@soofihasan]

Amazingly helpful and enjoyable, thank you so much for helping us in this fine art. God bless you

[@johnrobins8]

Awesome video. Such great detail. Thanks

[@robertberger8642]

Good info & demo!

[@believethebible88]

Do you have a video on miter joints? I’d like to make 90° miter joints without metal fasteners. Thanks for the in depth demonstration of the mortise and tenon joint. Very detailed.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Yes I have a few live videos making those. And I have done a few picture frames too.

[@TedStJohn-vz9jr]

Good suggestions, and very entertaining! Thanks!

[@roger55es]

Great instruction thanks

[@thedookster4143]

Question for ya. Other than using hand tools and having a serious satisfaction level it is the same if you use a router and dado stack correct? I just did my first mortise and tenon (through tenon) and wished I remembered not to go all the way through. I got tearout because I didn't go half half...Great video bro.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Yes same if using power tools. Just more setup time.

[@ilantwito]

Excellent video!!! Thank you so much!

[@christophercastor6666]

Pretty joint. I thought you just a pretty face, great beard, and a boat load of dad jokes but Alas! You are a hell of a hand tool woodworker as well! Keep having fun and dividing by Zero!

[@GizmoDuck_1860]

I now have knowledge. Thank you. The thing that worries me is, how do you ensure you're plumb in all axis when you're drilling?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I generally just eyeball it, but you can set up a square beside where you're drilling so you can plumb the bit too the square.

[@brooklynpaul4003]

This is gold.

[@russellschwartz3896]

Thank you again! I have a mortise that's much deeper than 3/8 inch, and using a chisel was taking forever. But I have my late father-in-law's augers, and boring is going to save me much time. (Can you tell that I'm a noob?) ;)

[@donovancampbell7785]

Thank you for your knowledge!:)

[@aerotown42]

Thank you! Great teacher

[@tombrownrigg8794]

Thank you👍Very Helpful

[@richardlane9582]

Do you usually cut the tenon first? I thought the mortise first was standard? Thanks.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I prefer to cut the tenon first as it makes it easier to Mark out the mortise. Somewhere around 60% of people cut the mortise first.

[@gawbo005]

I would love to see a bridle joint. I have a hard time cutting out the middle piece

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

here is an old video on that. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nn6od3-ZnLZlgKc I should do a new one some time.

[@brettjohnson9453]

I've found that improving my sawing technique was very helpful for bridal joints. Cleaning up the middle was just too error prone for me.

[@ViralMemeMix]

great video thank you!

[@MphileManzini]

That was so cool👌🏾👌🏾

[@jonasdaverio9369]

Tip number 45° was fun

[@vh9040]

Fantastic video, thanks for sharing.

[@mypony891]

I wish i could give this 2 thumbs up

[@markgoode4109]

Very helpful. Thanks for this. Best wishes :)

[@deemdoubleu]

Excellent work thanks

[@SomcoCape]

Hi from RSA

[@djparr]

James, i keep running into a problem and wonder if you have an answer. Laying out a mortise on a corner and when chopping near the end, the remaining fibers between the mortise and the end get blown out. How do i prebent this? Start shallow on that end? Do that end last?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Sorry I don't understand the question feel free to send me pictures or a video. My email address is listed in the about tab on the channel page or you can use the contact me form on my website.

[@EggyOrphan]

Hi james, made my first moritse and tenon for a bow saw but had a question.... How clean is the bottom suppose to be? My moritse is pretty small so havent difficult cleaning out the bottom of it... Thank you

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

The bottom doesn't have to be cleaned off. It doesn't have to be flat and it doesn't have to match perfectly with tennon. The bottom has almost no purpose at all. If you look at a lot of antiques made by the Masters they are completely torn apart in the bottom. Mine usually have a 16-in to an eighth in space in the bottom.

[@EggyOrphan]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo thank you so much for the thorough explanation really appreciate it!!🙏

[@richardsilva-spokane3436]

Excellent!!! Thanks!!!!

[@brooklynpaul4003]

There appears to be a discrepancy between your tenon video and your mortise video. In the first, you use a pin gauge to mark the end grain and sides of the tenon. making the point that a pin gauge is better on end grain. However, in the mortise video you use a wheel gauge, saying that you already had the settings from making the tenon. But of course you didn't. So the wheel gauge cuts nicely through the blue tape, but is second best on end grain. So which gauge should we use?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That's completely up to you. I shot these two videos at two different times. Different people use different things at different times. There is no best. Just what you find you enjoy.

[@sylvano1955]

Great! Thank you,

[@kennethnielsen3864]

Thanks for sharing.

[@truenerge4237]

Awesome! so well eplanained... almost too good

[@zidnyknight3611]

Thanks

[@jimpowell6102]

So is it better to make the tenon first and then the mortise? Usually I have seen this done the other way, so the tenon can be fitted to the mortice, as the mortise is dependent on chisel size.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I find it less error prone to make the tenon first and then the mortise. You can adjust the mortise to fit the tenon or you can adjust the tenon to fit the mortise. Both of them are equally easy. However you cannot use the mortise to mark out the tenon but you can use the tenon to mark out the mortise. This gives you far more accurate markings.

[@ericrichter7933]

Maybe do a rising dovetail at some point?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I did a video on one of those a wile ago. I might have to do another one some time.

[@ericrichter7933]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo ooh! My bad, I’ll have to go look for that one. Thanks for all of your hard work. It’s much loved

[@daniel_bohrer]

I know this was just a test piece for demonstration purposes, and you probably didn't want to waste a full board for that, but would you ever actually make a mortise at the end of the board? I think I'd rather use a bridle joint for that, or am I overlooking something? 😅

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

That is how toy would make a frame and panel on a cabinet door or on a house door, or the skirt on a table, or the face frame of a cabinet.

[@daniel_bohrer]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo Ah right, yes, thank you :)

[@codybryant8684]

How about doing a half lap joint

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I should do a dedicated video on that. here is one in a project a few years ago. kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2fLoHiPfsZnjc0

[@ricos1497]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo what about a quarter lap joint then?

[@walterrider9600]

thank you

[@nightwing321]

I missed the live last week live and figured this is a good place to ask. Families secret Santa is coming up and I gotta put something down. I currently have cheap ace hardware chisels and want something that can hold a edge better. I really only need a 1/4” right now and was thinking of asking for a single richter Narex chisel. But taytools has a 4 piece premium for $70. Is it worth slowly getting the Richter’s over time or are the premium good enough? I’m happy with what I have right now but the price of 1 Richter is 1/2 the cost of the premium set. What do you think? Ask for the set or for just a single chisel and build a set over time?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

the Premium use the same steel as the standard, they just have a bit better fit and finish. here is my test with the chisel comparison. docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XoOGNmJUXlaVbNw5BcKtcbZzft6aZiQKjdeQRDBNE08/edit?usp=sharing The Premium chisels are not bad, but some day you will want something better.

[@nightwing321]

@@WoodByWrightHowToI remember looking at that sheet when I first came across your channel and had no idea what any of it meant. I’ll reread it now and make a decision based on that and what I’ve learned over the last year. Thank you!

[@The_Joker_]

Brilliant ❤

[@wf4516]

How do you ensure the bottom of the mortise is flat? Or is not perfectly flat but just enough that the tenon can sit in with a small gap at the bottom?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

No reason to make it flat. Just as long as the tenon can go all the way down. Most of the time. There's a bit of a gap underneath it. It gives a space for the pressed down glue to fit so it doesn't push the tenon back out.

[@wf4516]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo Thanks!

[@อนุชาเนียมงาม-ฎ3ผ]

Good Idea

[@ilantwito]

How about doing this with a router?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

You could but it takes a lot longer to do all the setup. If you're doing a whole bunch of them then the router is faster. But if it's just 2 to 4 usually hand saws and chisels are faster.

[@user-sk1ig6gk9w]

But what size should I use for mortise&tenon ?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

it all depends on the application. if it is a frame on a door it does not need to be very deep. in most cases 1" will do. but if it is to provide diagonal straight you want it to be as long as the joint will allow.

[@LordPadriac]

This is literally the only video I've seen that suggests cutting the tenon first. I don't understand why I would when if something needs to be adjusted to fit reality, and it will, it's much easier to adjust the tenon than it is the mortise.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

it is just as easy to adjust one or the other. and you can mark the mortis off to the tenon but you can not do the other. in most traditions the tenon is cut before the mortise. but with the power tool influence that has often been changed.

[@niedzviedz13]

We have a rhyme in Poland about dividing by zero: "Pamiętaj cholero, nigdy nie dziel przez zero". :) Which means more less in english: "remember damn, never divide by zero".

[@abidmalick6232]

Nice video good teacher

[@rontisdale817]

"And now for the boring part"😂😂