Just for fun. Mortising and tenon sawing

[Kees Heiden]

Like mentioned in the title, just for fun. And to get some action on the forum!

A video where I chop out a mortise. I follow more or less the method I gleaned from Paul Sellers. First from one end of the mortise all the way to the other end, going deeper en deeper with every step, bevel leading, riding the bevel so to speak. I set the chisel down in the vicinity of the next stroke and then wiggle until it is perfectly positioned. This method creates a ramp on both ends of the mortise. These I remove, chopping straight down with the bevel facing to the middle. Usually I get 3.5 cm depth on a 1/4" tenon with a bit of a bulge in the middle. At last removing the very last bits on either end of the mortise, also straight down bevel facing to the middle.

I'm not very quick but I manage to create a straight mortise.

[Kees Heiden]

And sawing tenon cheeks. I had allready cut the shoulders on a bench hook. You can see me first defining the cut lines on top of the style and on the side facing me. Then I cut out a triangle of wood. Same for the other cheek. Then I turn the style around and position it vertically in the vice and cut out the rest. The saw is now guided by the previous sawcuts. Usually I don't get a fit straight of the saw, they always end up a little fat, so I need to do some trimming, which I usually do with a shoulder plane and a wide chisel.



I am not really looking for critique, I know I have to work on my sawing rhytm for example, it is a bit jerky from time to time. But comments are welcome, otherwise I wouldn't have posted it.

Here is the result of a lot more work like above. The basic frame is now finished. On to making more panels, the top attached with sliding dovetails, carving and much more. I'll probably be finished when I go into retirement.


IMG_3814.jpg

[Richard Line]

The video on chopping the mortise was helpful for me. Your sequence is different than I've tried, and seems to work better than the way I've tried. Maybe I'll get away from drilling out the mortise and then squaring it.

[ken hatch]

Like mentioned in the title, just for fun. And to get some action on the forum!

A video where I chop out a mortise. I follow more or less the method I gleaned from Paul Sellers. First from one end of the mortise all the way to the other end, going deeper en deeper with every step, bevel leading, riding the bevel so to speak. I set the chisel down in the vicinity of the next stroke and then wiggle until it is perfectly positioned. This method creates a ramp on both ends of the mortise. These I remove, chopping straight down with the bevel facing to the middle. Usually I get 3.5 cm depth on a 1/4" tenon with a bit of a bulge in the middle. At last removing the very last bits on either end of the mortise, also straight down bevel facing to the middle.

I'm not very quick but I manage to create a straight mortise.

Kees,

Good video. Is that a Dutch mortising chisel? From what I could see it isn't an English pig sticker and the blade is much longer than my mortising chisels. Looks as if it works well. I work the mortise much the same way as you but I find if I go slower, not as deep per chop as I did at one time, I work quicker.

ken

[Graham Haydon]

Thanks for posting the vids, good to see your methods.

[Jim Koepke]

Good video Kees.

Makes me want to try a few mortises using the different methods to see if any really are faster or more accurate.

jtk

[Warren Mickley]

Very clean mortising technique, Kees. This kind of deliberate technique will pay dividends over time: faster mortising, cleaner mortise, better edge longevity. No bashing, no abuse just really good to see.

I saw the bits of jerky sawing, but I also saw wobble in the saw. Large depth of cut in the saw makes it susceptible to wobble. The tenon saw in the Seaton chest has maybe a little less than 3 3/4 depth of cut.

I hope this was more encouragement than critique.

[James Pallas]

Well done Kees
Jim

[Jeff Zihlman]

Thank you for posting Kees! As a beginner I found this very helpful. I'd be interested in reading more about your project above. Do you have a thread dedicated to that as well?

[Dave Zellers]

Wow that is one beefy chisel. And where did you get that holdfast? Looks so similar to the Gramercy hold fast but it's different.
Nice job.

[David Eisenhauer]

That is the mortise technique that works for me Kees. I don't bash the chisel at all and seem to get to depth fairly quickly and stress-free. I do mark the depth on the chisel to use as a depth guide because it seems to arrive quicker than I feel like it will. I only drill out very large mortises that are wider than 1/2" because it seems to me that it takes longer to set up to drill accurately than it does to just chop it out. Without the benefit of any superior sawing skills at all, I wondered if the depth of cut available on the saw helped create some of the slight horizontal wobble I noticed on the saw, but maybe this is one of those things where the more you use that particular saw, the less it will wobble. Thanks for the videos.

[Kees Heiden]

Yes, that chisel is a Dutch chisel. It's a little different from the English ones. This one is a serious bit of steel! All that length helps to keep it vertical though.

IMG_3743.jpg

And the holdfast is blacksmith made here in Holland. Back when it was still difficult to find holdfasts. The TFWW holdfast is now also available in Germany. I would like to find a vintage one but they are very rare in Holland. If I could speak French I could try the French websites, they are much more usual overthere.

The project is going to be a cabinet for the bathroom. It will be very much like those 17th century chests as made by Peter Follansbee, but mine will have doors in the front instead of a lid. On top of the cabinet I will install a washbowl. It's going to take a while though, because I don't spend too much time in the workshop these days.

[ken hatch]

Yes, that chisel is a Dutch chisel. It's a little different from the English ones. This one is a serious bit of steel! All that length helps to keep it vertical though.

IMG_3743.jpg

And the holdfast is blacksmith made here in Holland. Back when it was still difficult to find holdfasts. The TFWW holdfast is now also available in Germany. I would like to find a vintage one but they are very rare in Holland. If I could speak French I could try the French websites, they are much more usual overthere.

The project is going to be a cabinet for the bathroom. It will be very much like those 17th century chests as made by Peter Follansbee, but mine will have doors in the front instead of a lid. On top of the cabinet I will install a washbowl. It's going to take a while though, because I don't spend too much time in the workshop these days.

Thanks Kees,

I thought is was but I never had a clear shot of it in the video. It may be slightly different from the EOB chisel but I'll bet in use it is just as effective. I like the length, I can see where it would be helpful. I'd like to find one in the wild and give it a go
A thought on technique, the start at the end and work the length method works very well with true mortise chisels like yours and EOB chisels. You get to depth quickly with little monkey motion. I've tried starting in the middle with pig stickers and it is a PITA and slower.

ken

[michael langman]

Your post comes at a good time Kees. I will try chopping my mortices the same way when I get to that part of my bench.
The cabinet is going to look really nice.
Good things come in time.