hhrough mortise and tenon joints are attractive hellmarks a niture. They also form rock solid connections for table legs and other high stress parts. Until recently, however, I thought I couldn't make them without buying a mortising machine. Then I tried mortising with a drill press. Problem solved. The technique is accurate, quick and wonderfully low tech. If you can drill a series of holes, deep through mortises are a cinch to make. Start with the Leys Begin by planing 8/4 stock down to 1'2" for the legs (pieces 1). Cut them to size and joint the faces smooth. As you can see from the Drawings on the following page, each leg has-a number of mortises,-and their arrangement —can ~get~a~ ttle confusing. Take time now to lay out all the mortises before you begin milling. I choose the best face of each leg (with nice quartersawn rays) to serve as the “show” face. nnventional wisdom for making mortise and tenon joinery i the mortises first, then trim the tenons to fit. The logic is that you can always trim a thick tenon thinner but you can't make a too wide mortise narrower, On through mortises, this reasoning is especially sage. Since the mortises show, you'll want to make them as neatly and accurately as possible, then fiddle with the tenons to fit the joints together. The sidebar on page 48 will guide you through my process of making the leg mortises, but here are some important tips. Whether you are cutting through or stopped mortises on the legs, start at one end of the mortise and bore a series of holes along its length. Space the holes so they touch but do not overlap, to keep the bit from wandering into the previous hole. 47Table a Exploded — 9 Drill ll the way through the legs for the through mortises, boring down into the show faces, hiding any tearout on the back beneath the tenon shoulders. When you are about two bit widths from the end of the mortise, skip to the end and drill it out, then back up and drill out the remaining waste. Slide the leg along the jig’s fence to drill each hole. Once the first round of drilling is complete, repeat to remove the crest- shaped waste areas that remain, ‘One jig setup on the drill press allows you to tackle all of this table's mortises except those for the drawer supports, which run perpendicular to the rest. I aligned the bit by eye for hogging these out. Note that the mortises for the upper drawer support are open at the tops of the legs to/house the bare- faced upper support tenons. \ Twin to the Tenoned Parts Start the tenoning process by cutting the aprons, drawer supports, side rails and shelf supports (pieces 2, 3, 4,7, 8 and 11) to size. These pieces all have 3/8" thick tenons. A wide dado blade in the table saw will make quick work of trimming the tenons Legs (4) ‘Side Aprons (2) Back Apron (1) Drawer Supports (2) Drawer Guides (2) “Top Cleats (2) Upper Side Rails (2) Drilling Through Mortise and Tenon Joints D I press mortising sure beats hand chiseling, and it works well for cutting deep through mortises that would otherwise require a long router bit or dedicated mortising machine. The technique doesn't demand a burly floor model drill press or complicated tooling to complete. Armed with a only benchtop dil press and sharp Forstner bit,| had great success. It also helps to have a combination alignment fence and hold- down jig to assist the drilling operation. It's easy to ‘make: just screw a straight plece of stock, |/16" thicker than the legs, to a piece of scrap plywood. Then fascen 2 couple of hold-downs to the top of the jig fence (bout 5” apart). The fence will align the multiple borings required to create the mortises, and the hold-downs will keep the bit from lifting the legs off the drill press table when clearing the chips from the openings. ‘a combination square before you begin milling ther This will help keop thelr onder and arlentatlon clear on each 19g. ee] ~)o| | a] ca[ 0] 3 Lower Side Rails (2) ‘Clamp the hold-own jig tothe drill [ress tabie so the drill it spur is ccontored inside the mortise. Drill 2 serles of adjacant holes along the mortise to remove the waste.Front and Back Table Legs Mortise Location Details ati : aaa 1. 1 1 ‘i be 194 ‘Side Apron (Top and Front View) at 3: xo 1 ‘ a6 @® -Uly 4ne eet wie Upper Side Rall (Top and Front View) alt at Ginn aw Peet = + wt = Lower Side Rail (Top and Front View) Back Apron Bn BBY. % pp acd por Yon) — I i TW = TKWL : Aya x 146" x 250" 9 Side Slats (6) BiB" K 114" x 114" r GA KS KISS Ba XO KAT BAK Te KIT OAT x BIA" x 15s 10 Siat Spacers’ (8) 1 Shalt Supports (2) 2 Shelt Cleats (2) 18 Shot (1) Be" 2 The BAK KIT" BAKE KT BA KIT HIS Gx Te x16" 14 Tabletop Conter Panel (i) Wa Kat Kae 4 KT KAT 18 Breadboard Ends (2) /4" K 21" x 24" UU 3/4" x 2x 19%" 16 Dowel Pins (18) 4" Dia. xT Lea ‘Cuttoft Drawer Support ‘Square up the mortise ends with ‘2 chisol and mallet. For deep ‘through mortises, a mortising chisel ‘works best. Koop the ehisol hold ‘Cut the tonons to thickness and length with a dado blade on the tab ‘saw, then make the end cheek and ‘shoulder cuts on the band saw. Guide your work against a fence. (ep we Pet fon) 1 tl @ome ee rd Drawer Support (Top and Front Viow) “qd @)_ ver {cleo ier be Shelf Support “Take shavings off the tenon until it Wi aad fits its mortise, then chemfer the ‘ends and edges. The chamfers help ‘smooth the assombi ‘istinctive visual details. become5 Corner * Dovetail 4 Layout (See Viow) fc) Back --' ) Comer Detail (Top View) to the correct thickness and length. Use the rip fence to index the first long shoulder cuts with parts held facedown against the miter gauge. Make additional passes over the blade to rough ‘out the broad tenon cheeks, and then trim the tenons io width on the band saw, Refine the tenons with a shoulder plane or sandpaper until they slide into their mortises with just a bit of resistance, Preparing the Rails and Slats Rather than drill separate mortises for each side slat, I milled a stopped groove into the side rails for all three slats, then filled the gaps with spacers. Cut these grooves on the router table, and square the ends. Now plane enough 3/8" stock to make the slats and spacers (pieces 9 and 10). Cut the slats to size, but wait on the spacers: cut them to fit when you're installing the slats. ‘out evoniy spaced pins across the sides with + }-aldovetaitng jig afd 1/2" dovetail bit-Test the ~! —/ izes ‘Mill tals into the drawer face to complete these hall-blnd joints. On this jig, 2 stopblock clamped to the fence limits the depth of the cuts. Assembling the Table Frame After all this mortise and tenon work, it's time for some assembly, Start by preparing two side frames consisting of two legs, a side apron, the upper and lower side rails and three slats, Dry fit the parts first, then disassemble and do your finish sanding. Glue and clamp the side frames, but fit the slats into their grooves dry. When gluing the through tenons, spread 47 Drawer Face (i) 48 Drawer Sides (2) 19 Drawer Back (1) 20 Drawer Bottom (7) MATERIAL LIST Drawer TxWxL 31" x i" x 15%" BA" KM K 16S SAK OUT 12" x14 x 18 Hammered copper "Available from Woodworker's Journal, tem #26757. Cail 600-610-0883, glue on the tenons only, not their mortises. Keep the first 1/2" or so of the tenons free of glue and you'll have no glue to clean off the exposed ends after sliding the parts together, Once each side frame is clamped up, drill and insert six dowel pins to lock the joints. T used walnut dowels to ‘create a nice contrast with the oak parts, Now, cut the spacers to fit and glue them between the slats. Join the two side frames together by gluing and installing the drawer supports, back apron and shelf supports in place. Spread clamps across the frame to close the joints. ‘There are no surprises in the construction of the flush ft drawer. Cut the face, sides and back {pieces 17 through 19) to size, then mill all the corner joinery. 1 used an Incra™ jig to form the half-blind dovetails and a dado blade to cut the back rabbet and dado joints. After milling the corner joints, rout grooves along the appropriate inside faces to accept the bottom panel. Be sure to stop this groove on the face or it will show after assembly. Sand the parts and glue up the drawer box. Cut the bottom panel (piece 20) to size, slide it into place and pin it to the drawer back with brads, ‘The drawer hangs on a pair of guides (pieces 5) that fit into stopped dadoes in the sides and attach to the side aprons. Plow the guide grooves into the sides with a 3/4" straight bit in the router table. Now rip and cross cut the drawer guides, round their front ends and sand them until they slide easily in the drawer grooves.Breadboard End (Top View) ‘ice the tabletops ends and ‘panel form crossgrain joints, they ‘eed to beable toto mave independently ot ‘The trick to hanging the drawer one another. Tis is accomplished by hin tonguo- is locating the precise positions of andor joints. Slotted holes oa the tongues alow the drawer guides on the aprons. 11 fit around the outer dowels. Here's how 1 did it: First, fit the entire with the guides in the drawer driven through the tabletop. Be extra clearance for seasonal expan- grooves. Hold it in place with sure tofirstformslotted holes in the sion. Cut and screw two shelf cleats a scrap block clamped to the back tongues for the outermost dowels (pieces 12) to the lower side rails, apron. Adjust the drawer face for so the center pane! can expand and and attach the shelf to the cleats flush fit. Marks the top and bottom contract. Spread glue along just the with screws driven in irom below. edges of the guides on both aprons center 4" or so of the tongues when near the back. Pull the drawer out, installing the ends. Use a light film Finishing Up position the guides on the aprons of glue on the dowels to keep Give the tabletop and shelf a final and fasten them through their rear excess glue off the tongues, sanding. the end table pilot holes with screws. Replace the The center panel will expand and a _mediunrdark stain, followed by drawer and insert thin shims of contract across the grain far more _a topcoat of varnish and paste wax. cardboard round the face to than the breadboard ends will While you're at it, wax the drawer center. jt, é¥enly in its opening. move along the grain, so the parts guides and their grpoyes forslippery Then, mark the drawer guide. -always'line up.“To—help+/ “sméoth~ drawer action. - Attach positions on the aprons near the minimize this mismatch, Tstiggest _a reproduction Stickley drawer pull front. Finally, adjust the guides to you use lumber kiln dried to at (piece 21) to complete the table. your front reference marks with least &%. If there's room in your _T hope this mortising technique the drawer removed, and drive in budget, choose quartersawn stock draws you into building more the remaining screw: for the top — it will move signifi- Mission style furniture, as it has for cantly less than plain sawn lumber. me. Now that through mortise and ‘Adding the Tabletop and Shelt To install the tabletop, cut the top _tenons are within my reach, [ know Breadboard tops aren't typical cleats (pieces 6) to size and shape, I'm hooked. features of Arts & Crafts tables, but outfitting them with round and =§ ———_—— I chose this style because the slotted screw holes. Align the cleats Chris Marshall is a freelance writer breadboard ends help keep the top flush with the tops of the aprons, 94 woodworker who lives in Ohio. flat and hide its end grain. To make then attach them with glue and the top, glue up a wood panel for screws. Position the tabletop and the center section (piece 14), and adjust it for an even overhang. cut the breadboard ends (pieces Press_a scratch awl up 15) to size. Next, chuck a 1/4" through the cleat holes to straight bit in the router table and mark the top for screws. I fitted plow a long stopped groove into the four screws in the slotted holes one edge of each breadboard end. with washers to ensure these With the grooves cut, mill the joints would slip when necessary. center panel tongues just as you Now for the shelf (piece 13). made the tenons (see Elevation Glue up a solid panel and cut it to Drawings). Notice that the tongues __size, notching the four corners so are 1/4" narrower and 1/8" they fitaround the legs with 1/8" of shallower than the grooves to allow for wood movement. tal ‘Attach the breadboard ends to the Pel ea laaad panel with six dowels (pieces 16) assembling tho fush ‘iting drawers.