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This got me started with square corners, which I completed
by cleaning up the mortises with a chisel. I then relieved
the top of each mortise to allow the tenons to expand as they
were wedged. I left the tenons slightly long, ~1/16",
so they could be cut flush after the joint was fitted. Before
cutting the kerfs in the tenon for the wedges, I drilled two
holes through each tenon, about 1/4" up from the shoulder.
I cut the wedge kerfs by hand so that they ended at these
holes and so that the tenon wouldn't split as it was wedged
open. I cut wedges from a contrasting wood, arranged so the
grain ran parallel to the length of the wedge. To do this,
I used the technique described in the article excerpt below:
| There
are many uses for hardwood wedges in a shop: for tightening
hammer heads, stabilizing tables and benches, filling
cracks, etc. When you have an offcut of a suitable hardwood
board (ash, hickory, oak, etc.), you can make wedges quickly
by angling your miter fence a few degrees, trimming the
end of your offcut, and then cut and flip until it becomes
too short. Be sure you have a tightly fitting throat plate
to prevent wedges lodging there. (LL - 3/97) |
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The
wedges for the arms
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