Mortis and tennon

4/29/05, 4:51 PM #1

John Hoffman
Guest

Mortis and tennon

John Hoffman

>Hi, I am making an arts and crafts frame and panel hutch and was thinking of putting the side together by turning the styles so the rails would enter the face of the style causing a through mortis. It would also allow me to flare out the styles on their outside edge to make the feet wider than the top of the style. Since the through mortis will be going into a 1" thick face of the style instead of going into the edge will it hold and be strong enough?

Thanks

John H

Re: Mortis and tennon

4/30/05, 6:35 AM #2

Richard R
Guest

Re: Mortis and tennon

Richard R

>John,

I think it will work fine. But, are you doing this because thicker stock isn't available or is cost-prohibitive, or is it a design feature? Racking (front to back) may be an issue, but I doubt it. I consulted my copy of Joyce and couldn't find anything advising against it. Are you going to wedge the tenons?

Trestle designs often use this type of joint for the stretcher, so I think you'll be ok. Only thing I'd suggest, if you're having reservations, is to build a mock-up or make a full scale drawing.

RR

Re: Mortis and tennon

4/30/05, 12:39 PM #3

John Hoffman
Guest

Re: Mortis and tennon

John Hoffman

>Thanks, I am making it for design reasons. I wanted to get the asymetrical look that I have seen on some of the Stickly pieces. The hutch will be used to hold the computer with a sliding top to write on and pay bills etc. I am concerned about the racking issue that you raised and don't know if this is a good application for what I want to use the hutch for. If I made the frame and panel the regular way it would be a lot stronger and since I am using solid wood I can not glue the panels into the rails and styles.

Mortis and tennon

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