Good Morning Friends,

When making mortises and tenons, which do you make first? The mortise or the tenons?

I've done it both ways. If I'm chopping the ends of the mortise square (I router the mortises) I'll do the tenons first. If I'm rounding the tenons, the mortise gets cut first. Only because in squaring the mortise or rounding the tenon, there is opportunity for slight size adjustment.

If I'm lucky, it won't matter.

I like to make the mortise first then size the tenon to fit.

Seem to work the best for me. 

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I just keep hammering away.

   I make the  Tenons first.     IF I have any off-set ones, it makes life a lot easier to do the them first.   Just the wy I work,  I guess.    

 

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'and may the road raise up to meet ye'

Mortise.

I've done it both ways. My preference is to make the mortise then cut the tenon. This seems to work good for me.

 

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Wayne Mahler
God bless and protect our troops that serve so we can be free.

I make the tenon first, then I make the mortise. I have a chart that gives me Mortise & Tenon Dimension

Good morning Friends,

I too make my tenons first and then lay them out on the work piece and then cut inside of the line to allow me to shave them off to fit the mortise.

Thanks for your support.