General Introduction to China

Assignment Topic: Mortise and Tenon

Student’s Name: RUKON ( 饶坤 )
Student’s ID: Gj2021009140

 Mortise and Tenon

Mortise
The word mortise is derived from
the same Latin stem as are the
words mortem, mortify, etc., which
in turn are suggestive of death. It is
supposed that the usual shape of the
mortise resembling the shape of the
grave gave rise to the origin of the
name. Thus the mortise is the hole
in one piece of wood into which the
tenon fits.
 Mortise and Tenon
Tenon
The word tenon is derived from
the Latin teno, to hold. From
the same Latin stem words as
tenacity, tentacle, etc., are
derived. The tenon is the part of
a joint of wood which fits into
the mortise.
 Mortise and Tenon
History
This is an ancient joint dating back 7,000
years. The first examples, tusked joints,
were found in a well near Leipzig - the
world's oldest intact wooden architecture.It
has also been found joining the wooden
planks of the "Khufu ship", a 43.6 m long
vessel sealed into a pit in the Giza pyramid
complex of the Fourth Dynasty around 2500
BC. The oldest known use dates from the
Early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture, where
it was used in the constructing of the
wooden lining of water wells.
 Mortise and Tenon
History
It has also been found in ancient furniture from archaeological
sites in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. Many instances are
found, for example, in ruins of houses in the Silk Road kingdom of
Cadota, dating from the first to the fourth century BC. In
traditional Chinese architecture, wood components, roof frames
and struts, were made to interlock with perfect fit, without using
fasteners or glues. Archaeological evidence from Chinese sites
shows that, by the end of the Neolithic, mortise-and-tenon
joinery was employed in Chinese construction.
The thirty sarsen stones of Stonehenge were dressed and
fashioned with mortise and tenon joints before they were erected
between 2600 and 2400 BC
 Types of
Morties
Mortise and Tenon Joints
Plain or simple: Shoulders on two sides.
Blind: Shoulders on three or four sides.
Through: Tenon projects through, sometimes pinned,
Keyed: Tenon projects through and has wedged shaped key to hold joint
tight.
Wedged: Where tenon has some form of wedge driven to hold.
Open mortise: A mortise that has only three sides.
Stub mortise: A shallow mortise, the depth of which depends on the size
of the timber; also a mortise that does not go through the workpiece.
Through mortise: A mortise that passes entirely through a piece.
Through-wedged half-dovetail: A wedged half-dovetail mortise that
passes entirely through the piece.
 Types of
Mortise and Tenon Joints
Tenon
Stub tenon: Short, the depth of which depends on the size of the
timber also that is shorter than the width of the mortised piece so the
tenon does not show.
Through tenon: A tenon that passes entirely through the piece of wood
it is inserted into, being clearly visible on the back side.
Biscuit tenon: A thin oval piece of wood, shaped like a biscuit.
Tusk tenon: A kind of mortise and tenon joint that uses a wedge-
shaped key to hold the joint together.
Top tenon: The tenon that occurs on top of a post.
Half shoulder tenon: An asymmetric tenon with a shoulder on one side
only. A common use is in framed, ledged and braced doors.
 Types of
Mortise and Tenon Joints
General uses
1. Connection between legs
and rails, such as in a
table.
2. Connection between rails
with other rails, as in a
door.
 Methods of making
Mortise and Tenon joint

1. By hand: Tenons are laid out and sawed.

Faces may be chiseled to fit mortise.
Rabbeting plane may be used to finish
faces of tenons.
2. By machine: Tenons may be cut with
circular saw or tenoner.
3. Mortises are made by boring out waste
and trimming sides with chisel or by
cutting with chisel without boring.
4. Mortises are cut with “stab" mortiser,
chain mortiser or hollow chisel mortiser.
Thanks a lot...