Cutting Tenons

After forming the mortices in the leg frame it was time to cut the tenons. One thing I am enjoying about this bench build is that you don’t need a bench to build it, just some half decent trestles. The low height of a trestle is perfectly designed to allow you to use your natural body weight to clamp the wood firmly, great for morticing large components and cutting large tenons. The method shown in the video still uses the traditional approach of cutting down the length of each tenon at an angle before finishing up with the final sawing. With theses angled saw cuts guiding the saw, final sawing of the tenon is quickly done.

My aim is also for these joints to fit “off the saw”. I don’t want to take extra time paring. See the gauge line and cut it in half.

The saw used is the same cheapo hardpoint saw you can pick up from builders merchants and DIY stores. I can’t imagine not having one of these. I have vintage and nice new saws too but it’s surprising how often I reach for the hardpoint. I also cut some slots in the tenons to accept some wedges. These leg frames need to be strong and a wedged motice and tenon fits the bill perfectly.