I've seen where the hole in the tenon is slightly offset so when the peg is driven in it pulls the tenon into the mortise. This helps with the wood shrinking in cold dry weather.
A nice trick I've seen for drilling your pegs or mortices square to the timber is to use a mirror with a hole in the middle situated around your drilling area. The mirror makes it abundantly clear if you're not drilling square.
Bravo. I love watching timber framers at work. It looks kinda crude coz of the huge clunking tools you guys use but it's sooo skilful to get the quality results. I'm quite intimidated watching you at work!
There are also antique beam drills that are essentially a mobile drill press setup that you turn by hand, uses and auger bit like the one in this video. I also have seen people retrofit a power drill with an auger bit onto the antique beam drill setup.
When cutting the tenon, instead of doing several cross cuts with the circular saw and then chiselling, could you just use a hand saw for the two cuts, eliminating the need to chisel?
To drill square I just drill through a piece of timber perfectly level with a spirit level on my drill. Then use that timber hole to guide me drill downwards into the new timber
You first-cut drill the mortise with a 1 and 1/2 inch drill starting around 1:20. Don't you want the depth exact and the angle square? It seemed too effortless the way it was done as if you knew it would be right without thinking about it, just eye-balling it. What are some things someone doing it the first time would need to check to learn to do it so apparently effortlessly.
You do want the depth pretty close, ideally an 1/8 - 1/4" deeper than the tenon length. I was winging it a bit in this video. You could mark the bit with a marker or piece of tape. Or use a vertical block of wood that act as a stop against the side handle of the drill. It wasn't a very deep mortise at all, so I wasn't too worried about drilling for square. But if I'm free-hand drilling with a longer bit, I'll use a combination square or the Al Borneman tool to gauge whether I'm square. With time, your eye gets better at judging things like plumb, square, parallel, etc.
Thanks for making this video. I like the idea of not permanently gluing or screwing joints together. Am I correct thinking it would be ok to use these joints to make a raised platform/loft bed ? So you can dismantle it easily. That wood is quite thick over 4 inch square - but i guess you could glue a few lengths of thinner wood together.
Sure that would work. I think you'd want some bracing, or some crazy tight joinery to keep the thing from racking around. It's fun to practice on smaller projects.
Tap and drag to register the chisel for the next scoring cut. I don’t do timber framing, but I’ll be sure to try it on next mortise I chisel out. Thanks! (Also liked the “we don’t normally cut mortise and tenon on opposite ends of same piece.” Makes it easier to assemble.)
Good questions. Riven pegs can be made. The best turned timber frame pegs are from pegs.us. Mortise would be 1.5” wide. And about 1/8” draw-bore offset in softwoods.
Wondering why you don't drill the hole first in the mortise and then put the drill pit down in the hole to mark the center on the tenon.This way you have a more accurate location to drill the offset hole.
Nice demo but I failed on this... I tried the hand drill for a mortise to make a joint for a table's leg. It was crappy - the alignment was horrible. So how do you ensure that the mortise it at it's correct angle? Thanks!
You could use a smaller drill bit to give you a little more leeway. You could use a square to help align the drill bit. Lastly, someone mentioned using a mirror. If you get a plastic mirror and drill a hole through the middle, it shows pretty clearly how square you are to the wood. Good luck!
+Warp Mode Official That's Eastern White Pine, which is often used for timber framing, but certainly not exclusively. It's easy to work, you can get fairly large pieces and it's light. But it's not terribly strong relative to other species. Other common timber framing woods are douglas fir, southern yellow pine, and red and white oak. You can timber frame with most domestic species, all with their own advantages and disadvantages.
looked at video again presume its 4 1/2 inches approx. ? .... if you used a thicker timber eg 6" would the mortoise + tenon joint stay at inch and a half regardless of size of timber ? (within reason) thx
We usually keep the mortise and tenon widths about 1/4 of the width of the piece. So yes, 1.5" would be fine a 6" timber. There are certainly exceptions however, as it really depends on the load on that joint.
You could, but you wouldn't get any drawbore on the joint. Drawboring is using the peg to essentially spring the joint tight. The wood doesn't really shrink along it's length, but it will across the width. So with green timber, the mortised piece could shrink. The drawbored peg (which will actually bend) will pull the joint tight and will help to keep it tight. It's an old school technique for both furniture and structures.
That is true about when you (or I) drill a little out of square, and it looks goofy on the other side. Especially if there are two holes near each other, like a pair of braces. But I wouldn't drill from both sides, because they could not meet up. I avoid the drilling problem by using a Mafell drill guide, but there are some less expensive options out there. It's worth noting that when I do drill from one side, I stop once the lead screw pops through on the far side. If you don't, you can get a blow out. If you're handdrilling pull up on the drill and you'll feel it stop pulling down (because there's no wood below the lead screw). Then we drop the lead screw in the little hole on the far side, and finish it.
In order not to have to measure, you could drill the hole in the mortise piece first. Then insert the tenon and use the drillbit to mark the centre of the hole, and offset from that mark in the tenon.
Your eye gets pretty attuned to seeing square after cutting a few thousand mortises. When we need to check depth and squareness, we'd use a combination square.
We do sometimes, but it really depends on the length of the tenon. It's faster to split it off if the grain is fairly straight. And it's faster to rip if the grain is crazy or there's a knot.
I would assume its all about the technique, not about the finished product for these types of videos. If you want to know how to clean up your joints for high precision, that's a different video.
Really enjoyed this. It was a great combination of traditional methods and modern tools.
Thank you very much!
that speedbit sure made things go faster, never thought of that
Thank you for the tutorial. I have read every timber framing book I can get my hands on. Hopefully I will build a home with these methods soon.
I'm a novice just starting out..This was a great, thorough tutorial. I'd love to see more!
I've seen where the hole in the tenon is slightly offset so when the peg is driven in it pulls the tenon into the mortise. This helps with the wood shrinking in cold dry weather.
I always drill the hole slightly offset after drilling through the mortise so that it pulls together super tight as you hammer it in
A nice trick I've seen for drilling your pegs or mortices square to the timber is to use a mirror with a hole in the middle situated around your drilling area. The mirror makes it abundantly clear if you're not drilling square.
Nice Japanese chisel. It looks rather old. Love it!!
Very nice woodworking and also the presentation.
Bravo. I love watching timber framers at work. It looks kinda crude coz of the huge clunking tools you guys use but it's sooo skilful to get the quality results. I'm quite intimidated watching you at work!
Searched this subject to begin timber frame project. Excellent how to M&T without a chain mortise. Thanks. Have subscribed.
There are also antique beam drills that are essentially a mobile drill press setup that you turn by hand, uses and auger bit like the one in this video. I also have seen people retrofit a power drill with an auger bit onto the antique beam drill setup.
@@mrjjman2010 They're great tools to use. I actually prefer using one over a drill. They're generically called boring machines.
Great video, very clear!
Nice and clear, that was enjoyable to watch :)
love it and wonderfully explained!
many thanks, excellent tutorial.
When cutting the tenon, instead of doing several cross cuts with the circular saw and then chiselling, could you just use a hand saw for the two cuts, eliminating the need to chisel?
I want to use shouldered mortice and tenon to make the bents for my gazebo project.
Thanks for the tutorial
To drill square I just drill through a piece of timber perfectly level with a spirit level on my drill. Then use that timber hole to guide me drill downwards into the new timber
Did you modify the screw of the drill bit to keep it from being too aggressive?
Nope. For softwoods you want a courser bit anyways.
You first-cut drill the mortise with a 1 and 1/2 inch drill starting around 1:20. Don't you want the depth exact and the angle square? It seemed too effortless the way it was done as if you knew it would be right without thinking about it, just eye-balling it. What are some things someone doing it the first time would need to check to learn to do it so apparently effortlessly.
You do want the depth pretty close, ideally an 1/8 - 1/4" deeper than the tenon length. I was winging it a bit in this video. You could mark the bit with a marker or piece of tape. Or use a vertical block of wood that act as a stop against the side handle of the drill.
It wasn't a very deep mortise at all, so I wasn't too worried about drilling for square. But if I'm free-hand drilling with a longer bit, I'll use a combination square or the Al Borneman tool to gauge whether I'm square. With time, your eye gets better at judging things like plumb, square, parallel, etc.
Can you put a tool list up. I would love to get those chisels
Those chisels are gorgeous! I have to ask.... Where did you get them?
The big chisel is a Barr, and the Japanese chisels are by Tasai (atsu-nomi). They're both available from different places.
you may buy them in amazon, just look for japanese chisel aogami(this is the type of steel better know as super blue)
Great tutorial!
thanks Sabrina
Good job
Very easy to do in softwood. Can we see you do it in hardwood
Thanks for making this video. I like the idea of not permanently gluing or screwing joints together. Am I correct thinking it would be ok to use these joints to make a raised platform/loft bed ? So you can dismantle it easily. That wood is quite thick over 4 inch square - but i guess you could glue a few lengths of thinner wood together.
Sure that would work. I think you'd want some bracing, or some crazy tight joinery to keep the thing from racking around. It's fun to practice on smaller projects.
Which brand are your chisels?
Tap and drag to register the chisel for the next scoring cut. I don’t do timber framing, but I’ll be sure to try it on next mortise I chisel out. Thanks! (Also liked the “we don’t normally cut mortise and tenon on opposite ends of same piece.” Makes it easier to assemble.)
30 seconds into this video and I learned something. Tap and drag is so logical to do. All these pros on YT helping me build my projects better.😀
Where can I get the pegs and what size mortice for 6x8 beam and 6x6 post also how much of offset on hole
Good questions. Riven pegs can be made. The best turned timber frame pegs are from pegs.us. Mortise would be 1.5” wide. And about 1/8” draw-bore offset in softwoods.
Wondering why you don't drill the hole first in the mortise and then put the drill pit down in the hole to mark the center on the tenon.This way you have a more accurate location to drill the offset hole.
Yes, we do that in scribe rule timber framing. The main disadvantage to that approach is that you have to move big heavy timbers together.
Where did you get the 1.5" auger bit?
I believe I got it off eBay. 1.5” bits can be hard to find. The Woodowl bits are really nice.
great job.what is the size of the wood please
I think that you're correct (below). About 4.5"?
Nice demo but I failed on this... I tried the hand drill for a mortise to make a joint for a table's leg. It was crappy - the alignment was horrible.
So how do you ensure that the mortise it at it's correct angle?
Thanks!
You could use a smaller drill bit to give you a little more leeway. You could use a square to help align the drill bit. Lastly, someone mentioned using a mirror. If you get a plastic mirror and drill a hole through the middle, it shows pretty clearly how square you are to the wood. Good luck!
Awesome idea what type of wood is that ?
+Warp Mode Official That's Eastern White Pine, which is often used for timber framing, but certainly not exclusively. It's easy to work, you can get fairly large pieces and it's light. But it's not terribly strong relative to other species. Other common timber framing woods are douglas fir, southern yellow pine, and red and white oak. You can timber frame with most domestic species, all with their own advantages and disadvantages.
+Brad Morse awesome thanks so much great videos keep up the great work
Enjoyed the video very much, also I'm fascinated by your mallet, it's a gem. What brand is it so I can find one?
That's a Garland split head. Still made in Saco, Maine. They're great and they last forever.
looked at video again presume its 4 1/2 inches approx. ? .... if you used a thicker timber eg 6" would the mortoise + tenon joint stay at inch and a half regardless of size of timber ? (within reason) thx
We usually keep the mortise and tenon widths about 1/4 of the width of the piece. So yes, 1.5" would be fine a 6" timber. There are certainly exceptions however, as it really depends on the load on that joint.
usually are 1/3 of width of timber--a 6x6 is actually 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 so the tenon would be 113/16
What type of drill bit is used at the beginning of video. It looks like big diameter one.
It can be hard to find large diameter auger bits, especially decent ones. I think that's a Dewalt bit. Auger bits over 1.5" are even harder to find.
What brand bit did you use & recommend?
The Woodowl and Holzmasters are nice. Augers are better, self-feed bits can stuck.
couldnt you drill the peg hole with the tenon in place so as not to measure the peg hole on the tenon?
You could, but you wouldn't get any drawbore on the joint. Drawboring is using the peg to essentially spring the joint tight. The wood doesn't really shrink along it's length, but it will across the width. So with green timber, the mortised piece could shrink. The drawbored peg (which will actually bend) will pull the joint tight and will help to keep it tight. It's an old school technique for both furniture and structures.
That is true about when you (or I) drill a little out of square, and it looks goofy on the other side. Especially if there are two holes near each other, like a pair of braces. But I wouldn't drill from both sides, because they could not meet up. I avoid the drilling problem by using a Mafell drill guide, but there are some less expensive options out there.
It's worth noting that when I do drill from one side, I stop once the lead screw pops through on the far side. If you don't, you can get a blow out. If you're handdrilling pull up on the drill and you'll feel it stop pulling down (because there's no wood below the lead screw). Then we drop the lead screw in the little hole on the far side, and finish it.
That's very helpful, thanks.
In order not to have to measure, you could drill the hole in the mortise piece first. Then insert the tenon and use the drillbit to mark the centre of the hole, and offset from that mark in the tenon.
Exactly. Way less risky (and quicker) than measuring.
Traditional? Using ye olde power tooles for drillinge ye mortise?
I've got a Miller's Falls boring machine as well, but most people don't have one of those kicking around. I'd rather use the MF over a drill.
how deep is the mortise?
I believe it's either 3 or 4" deep.
It could have been a nice ending shot with a tight closed joint, but sadly there is an ugly gap on one side of the tenon...
He didn't finish driving the peg through
what brand drill bit is that?
I'm pretty sure that's a Dewalt bit.
Wood owl
Like a Boss!
Checking you've chopped the mortise square to the face is crucial. Skipped that part
Your eye gets pretty attuned to seeing square after cutting a few thousand mortises. When we need to check depth and squareness, we'd use a combination square.
Why wouldn't you just use a call style ripsaw to cut the cheeks of the tennon
We do sometimes, but it really depends on the length of the tenon. It's faster to split it off if the grain is fairly straight. And it's faster to rip if the grain is crazy or there's a knot.
This is harder to do than it looks like
First video and I'm not being a smartass, are you norm Abrams son?
Nope, I just grew up watching him.
"Fasten Master-Pro Star" my arse. This guy is clearly not a professional timber framer
I didn't see any issues. Not the sharpest work, but functional.
I would assume its all about the technique, not about the finished product for these types of videos. If you want to know how to clean up your joints for high precision, that's a different video.