LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Mortise and tenon 3/8" stock.

2K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Maestro0416 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
So I am in need of some advice. My wife and I are adopting and I want to build the baby's crib. I have seen Jeff's crib on LJ and that really inspired me to do it. So, on to my need for advice. I have A LOT of 4/4 red oak. To keep the weight down I am resawing them down to 3/8" for the vertical slats, 30 total. Would i be able to mortise and tenon stock that thin without losing strength? Using the 1/3 method is too small. Would making the tenon shoulders 1/16" be enough of a shoulder or should I try an off-set tenon?
 
#4 · (Edited by Moderator)
^^^what they said, it does make cutting your mortises precisely a little more necessary but is the best approach. One way around this is to cut the mortises as a groove with a router or dado set, then cut filler pieces to go between the slats. Carefully done it's look quite nice.
 
#6 ·
One way around this is to cut the mortises as a groove with a router or dado set, then cut filler pieces to go between the slats. Carefully done it s look quite nice.
- Fred Hargis
That was my first thought when I read the OP
 
#9 ·
^^^what they said, it does make cutting your mortises precisely a little more necessary but is the best approach. One way around this is to cut the mortises as a groove with a router or dado set, then cut filler pieces to go between the slats. Carefully done it s look quite nice.

- Fred Hargis
I agree - this approach would also allow for a full slat to be inserted into the Mortiser if the rail is a wider piece, of course. no loss of strength with that. Hope you get what you want out of All your Red Oak…
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Tenons have shoulders for reasons. One is that it hides any gap around the tenon itself. You need clearance between the mortise and tenon for a good glue joint. That clearance becomes a gap in the final joint. Another reason is to give the joint something to rest on so that the tenon doesn't bottom out in the mortise and ensures a perfect distance between the rails along the length of the panel.

To answer your question, yes, 1/16" is fine. You might want to make the tenons more like 1/4" narrower than the slat so that part of the shoulder is wider.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
+2 slot and filler blocks. I have done this many times. The 3/8" slats aren't going to add much strength, they are there to keep the kid from falling out. Add a dab of glue to the ends to keep them "in place" and so they don't appear to be loose. For the first time I actually used an M & T joint on a dog gate with small thin slats. Truth be told it was the day that I purchased my Festool Domino and I was just trying it out. I really didn't even need the dog gate but I was dying to try out the Domino. My slats were 9/16" thick
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top