More chisel tricks

Re: More chisel tricks

Nothing is faster at paring tenon cheeks and shoulders down to the layout lines than a chisel. From there, you can do the final fitting with a shoulder plane. Here’s how I get it done.

First, I lay out the tenon with cutting tools: a marking knife for the shoulders and a cutting gauge for the cheeks. The crisp cut lines left behind in the wood become the perfect guides for your chisel.

I remove the bulk of the waste with a saw, leaving about 1⁄32 in. for paring, so little that it won’t force the chisel into the cheek or shoulder. For the cheeks, I use the layout lines on the edges and end grain. The bevel goes into the line on the edge and is guided by the one on the end grain. I also use two cuts to pare a cheek, working from both edges into the middle to avoid blowing out the edge grain.

Re: More chisel tricks

The key to tenon trimming/fitting is that the layout has them being a perfect fit when vestiges of the finely marked layout lines still show on all six arrises of the tenon (four-shouldered).  This way, you KNOW you haven't trimmed twist into the tenon itself and any problems have to do with the mortise only (out of plumb, etc.).  The point is to know that at least one-half of the joint is always perfect.