Contributor
Picking up on this older thread, rather than starting it over ...
My question is what the difference in seating the tenon is between a 6 degree reamer (ala Pete Galbert) and a 12 degree reamer (ala Lee Valley)?
Allied to this, the shopmade reamer (ala PG) will scrape while the metal reamer (ala LV) will slice. No doubt the latter is faster. Are there other benefits for one over the other?
Regards from Perth
Derek
Contributor
Spoon bits, and a spokepointer set for the brace.
Member
Derek, I have made 15 windsor chairs using two different reamers. I started out with an 11 degree reamer made by a guy named Fred Emhoff IIRC. He was a machinist in New England and made spoon bits also. It was okay and cut nicely. Then I read about the a narrower angled reamer, as I recall, championed by Curtis Buchanan. He was teaching chair making down in South America and showed them how to make the reamer. So I made a six degree reamer out of an old saw blade and turned the body on a lathe and put a T handle in it. The blade had teeth on one side and was ground and honed, ala scraper style on the opposite side. When Elia's six degree reamer became available, I bought it and have used it since. It is super!
To answer your question, I think the six degree taper is easier to seat and offers a much stronger joint, however it will split the mortise open easier also, due to the mechanical advantage of the narrower angle. But by the same token, it is this advantage that adds to strength when driven home. I doubt, however, there is that much difference as an end result due to engineering of the chair.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, the six degree M/T joint just feels better. Bottom line, either will do. As C. S. has famously said; "There are six ways to do most things. t Two of them are good. Two of them are bad. Two of them will get you by.
Life's too short to use old sandpaper.
Member
Derek,Originally Posted by Derek Cohen
I chose to go the route of the 6# reamer, reaming out a 3/4 inch drilled mortise with a tapered scraper made from an old key hole saw as described by Alexander and Galbert. and then turn the tenon on a lathe.
My logic was that I thought that a 6# joint would be stronger, and easier to wedge in so that it wouldn't pull out, but I have no proof of that. More important was the the fact that I could make the tool myself which is half the fun.
As far as sizing the tenon, I worked out that reducing the tenon from about 1 1/2 inches at 7 inches to 3/4 inch at the tip seemed close enough.
I then made a trial fitting sizer by drilling a 3/4 inch hole in the direction of the grain in a piece of hardwood made up of two one inch scraps. I had glued them up with brown paper between the pieces. Then I reamed out the drilled hole. After splitting them apart I can test the taper while the leg is still on the lathe. If I am being particularly fussy I penciled the inside of the sizer and then take off the high points that show upbut think that is probably excessive as it is a very forgiving joint.
No joint failures yet after 5 years for the oldest chair, knock on wood.
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Bill
Last edited by bill howes; 12-07-2017 at 3:57 PM.
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