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There are things that are very nice about working at a woodworking magazine. New tools arrive out of nowhere. New ideas are promoted for upcoming articles, which afford one the opportunity to feel like he or she, is on the inside directing a growing trend or, in some cases, seeing into the future (this is because we are working on the April 2007 issue) and all the while getting paid. And the best part, we get to laugh at things we see and about things that we do in house that you don’t get to see.
We are about to complete the spring issue of Woodworking Magazine, the sister publication of Popular Woodworking. Each publication of this magazine is tied around a common technique. In the issue we are about to complete, the exploration of the mortise and tenon joint is the featured topic.
Along with articles on the joint itself and on building a trivet to practice your techniques (and a few other articles), I have written an article on the proper pegging of the joint where we discuss the history of the joint, why it was pegged and if we should continue this practice today.
Each article has what is called and “Opener” , the picture that is at the beginning or opening of the piece, hence its nickname. For the pegging article I had to supply our photographer, Al Parrish, with the pieces to use in the shot. We needed three examples of the mortise and tenon joint.
No problem , except time, that is. I have previously written about my “just in time” inventory system that has carried into the articles for the magazine. I had to get the article complete and Al had to have the picture props. What’s a fellow to do?
Well here is the answer. I concocted three mock joints (two of which are in the photo). From the front, which is exactly what the readers get to see, the pieces appear to be the nicest fitting M&T joints ever made. But, flip them over and the back shows the trickery that I used to bring the piece together. The assembly, when viewed from the rear, is an example of a great pocket screw joint.
Some might say this is the art of deception. I however feel that this is a fantastic way to show something that educates people without the entire process taking a huge amount of time to get ready, mine that is.
If I could have used this in my woodworking career or if you can find a way to incorporate this technique into your projects, just imagine how quickly we could build those antique reproductions , a museum quality High Chest of Drawers in a few days versus a few months. Museum Quality?? That’s the rub.
Sorry to have burst your bubble.
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I agree. I have looked at many a number of cabinets, from the high end to the rather inexpensive, and all, at least in my area of the Mid-west, have used pocket screws. I think that the idea is that on cabinet construction the joint will never be seen, whereas in furniture, the joint can become one of the major focus areas.
I’m not a big fan of pocket screw joints. They are quick and dirty and they’re pretty strong but they’ll never see use in my furniture projects. If I were building kitchen cabinets, that’s a different story. There’s no way I’d go through making m&t joints for cabinets. I’d save the pretty joinery for the doors and drawers.
Doug,
I don’t know that I agree with you in that the M&T joint can be as easy as pocket screws.
I cut my mortises with a hollow chisel mortiser and the tenons at the table saw. Either of these steps takes longer than the pocket screw.
Also, we have just finished testing seven different sets of mortise chisel and bit sets. It might be a while before I attempt to use my "Popeye" arms at the mortise machine again!
What type of jigging do you use to make them that fast?
With proper jigging Mortice and Tennon are about as fast as pocket hole screws. I am somewhat dissappointed in your deception