The tenoned rail should be as dry as possible and it is worth drying on a radiator or other source of dry heat. Of course, it is not always necessary to dry down further than the relative humidity in the surrounding atmosphere in which the final piece made will live. I just like to take out all risk factors. Dovetailed mortise, wedges ready for applying pressure via clamp or hammer blows in successive blows.

The saw kerf will likely be somewhere around 1/32″ (.79mm) per kerf. With two kerfs we have 1/16″ (1.57mm). If the bottom of the mortise is widened on each side by 3/32″ (2.3mm) then we have 3/16″ (4.7mm) plus the kerfs, so, technically a wedge of 1/8″ (3.1mm) for each wedge will close off the gap to each side. But that’s the theory. In reality, there are resistance factors in the wood fibre of both tenon and wedge. This is where the guestimation comes into play and this is what creates a little uncertainty. Usually, we use the same wood we created the joint from — oak for oak and pine for pine. We can use hard and dense woods such as we have in scraps. My feeling on this is that glue forms a less certain bond to harder, more dense-grained woods with less compressibility. I have no proof of this and it doesn’t matter that much. The joints will hold just fine with like for like woods so I see no general need to get into this. This is the foxed (fox wedged) mortise and tenon `I made a short but informative video for on YouTube and posted a few days ago. In additional to your legal rights relating to faulty or misdescribed goods, all products come with manufacturer's warranty of between 1 and 5 years. Note: Some say "It's not a Fox Wedge unless it's blind" I stand to be corrected if the consensus goes that way, have your say. The next type of wedging was to simply drive wedges into saw kerfs cut into the tenon parallel to the long axis and allow the wedges to create pressure in the width of the joint, compressing the tenon width between the extremes of the mortise. I'm all for saving a bit of effort so Fox Wedging is the right for me. (Let me know your thoughts) Advanced fox wedging

You must notify us as soon as possible and ideally within 24 hours if at all possible, if your goods are subsequently found to be damaged. Whether you use one or two wedges depends on the width of the tenon. Narrower tenons can often be widened with a single wedge centered in the tenon. That said, I have noticed a tendency for single, centred wedges to show traces of a split into the visible wood outside the tenon. This is not usually detrimental to the strength by weakening the joint. The reason it happens revolves mainly around the compression surrounding the wood. `even when the joint is cut tightly between the end walls, that wood does yield, especially in less dense woods like oak and the wide range of soft-grained woods. I would suggest that tenons with a width of 1″ (25.4mm)or less a single wedge will work just fine. This can work fine on wider widths depending on the wood type. Many woods are known more individually for their pliability and this will help you determine whether one or two will work in your project. Oak is especially known for both its pliability and its strength and bending properties. Other hardwoods are known to fracture more readily under compression and across the grain and will prove unsuitable. There is, of course, no particular formula. The distance from the edge of the tenon will mostly depend on the bendability of the wood and how you decide how far from the edge will be no more than a good guesstimate. You must look at your wood and make the decision for the best position to make your saw kerf, but, that said, I would say that almost any position will do except going too close to the edge. To the left side shows no extended wall which creates a fulcrum point that can cause a fracture across the grain at the sharp bend. Even a small extension to create a wall at right can make a difference to fibre support. Fox wedging can be used with or without any shoulders to the tenons, but shoulders add strength to the lateral stability of most M&T joinery, so I might suggest keeping them as stops and as added strength to your joints. For this instructional we will have two bare-faced edges to the tenons, so shoulders to two wider sides. This maximises wood where it is needed and the shouldered sides seat the joint and work as long-term lateral stabilizers. With fox wedging I don't need the extra process. Thin wedges are driven in to saw cut slots in the tenon. This has a similar effect as regular wedging, i.e. tightening the joint and compressing tenon. Wedging a mortise and tenon tightens the joint up. Not just for now but into the future, even as the timber expands and contracts.

Key to a good fox wedging of the tenon is straight, knot-free, non-fractious grain in the tenon area. You are looking for continuous grain run extending through the tenon into the grain beyond the joint area and the reason for this is that you want the wood to remain intact inside the mortise hole itself. Short grain will usually break and within the joint, you will have lost the integrity if the wood is split off from the tenon. When this happens, you rely on glue alone, which may well hold, but the idea of the joint is to create additional mechanical strength within the wood and the whole joint — integrity — integrated, whole, complete. The real issue here though is that you may well not know this has happened. Look for short grain and especially any unusual or sudden change in grain direction around the tenon area. This grain shown will be weak and will split where you need continuous grain to maximise strength in the wedging of the tenon. It might also be useful to have an assistant to hand. If like me there's no one available, console yourself, there's no one to witness the minor panics. You might spot my “moments”even after the careful edits.

We can arrange courier collection at your cost. For Non-Faulty goods, please inform us within 14 days of receipt of your intention to return them. Fox wedging seems to be touched on as a theory of hidden mortise and tenoning with a concealed mechanical dynamic. How many actually use it probably numbers none or one or two worldwide in any given day. Mostly that is with good reason. In most cases, fox wedging is unusually used. Regular mortise and tenons of the obvious types take care of just about everything frame-wise. That’s doors, windows, door frames, window frames, tables and chairs of every type. All in all, it is the single most used joint in the world. Adding a draw-bore pin increases the pullability strength and structure of the joint three-fold and more. The fox wedge is remarkably used in similar positions where it will counter specific types of pull, handles of all types, rails and so on. Of course, there is no true comparison between the two joint types. I am trying to imagine how much pounding pressure it would take to use a fox wedging on a timber-framed building with 12″ (30.48mm) by 18″ (457.2mm) beams, more than a mere wooden beetle or massive persuader, I think. For general furniture making and in the right place, this joint knows no equal. It can increase the integrity of a work incredibly when employed judiciously. CHEQUES. You may also pay by cheque. Cheque should be made out to "Highland Industrial Supplies Ltd". You should allow 7 working days for cheques to clear, The next part covers jointing boards. Then creating deep raised panels using a router table and basic tooling.

At HIS Ltd we DO NOT operate a "Try & Return" policy. Faulty goods should be notified to us within 3 working days. Another type is to slope the saw kerfs as cuts which send the tips of the wedges toward the inner reaches of the tenon. Opening up the outer aspect if the mortise creates a dovetailing effect. This is very strong and resists breaking off the outer aspect of the tenon which sometimes happens with the former method above. The Mortise and Tenons are cut, they fit well. There is another part to the joints to keep them tight over time – WEDGING I know you have books in the works. If it makes sense, I would greatly appreciate if if you have one include just the kind of thing about the fox tailed tenon included in it. Books feel more permanent to me. I am sure there are other unusual joints as well you could share with us as well so the are documented and we know when it makes sense to use them.

There are advocates for using small holes at the end of the saw kerf to work as stops to stop the wood from splitting. I can’t say I am an advocate of this though I can see how it works. My preference is to keep as much grain as possible. Any amount of reduction increases weakness at the critical area of stress. This is the reason I make sure to increase the wall at the ends of the mortise hole as a ‘retainer wall’of resistance to prevent any splitting. It works in that I have never had a split occur. In most cases, when the joinery is executed dead to size and accurately, there is no need to place holes at the ends of the saw kerfs.

Inside the mortise, after you’ve chopped out the main mortise, pare down the end walls at an angle to gradually widen to the bottom of the mortise, giving room for the wedges to spread into the vacant space and so give it the dovetailed effect that the joint depends on. How much you widen these end areas depends on the length of the tenon. Longer tenons flare out more readily than shorter ones which will offer greater resistance to spreading. In furniture work, we generally keep stopped or non-through mortise and tenons to a reasonable length. An apron to table leg for an average dining table for instance generally needs the M&T to be no longer or deeper than 2″ (50.8mm). Parallel grain produces ideal performance with wedging and maximises strength. Also, the wood yields in the bends more readily to conform within the walls of the mortise. The longer tenons spread more easily and are less likely to split than shorter ones. Tenons can simply be glued. We do it all the time and gluing them lasts just fine. Mostly we rely on clamps to seat shoulder lines and and keep the two parts married until the glue dries. When this has taken place it is unlikely you will ever be able to part the union without damaging one or the other or indeed both. It was and still is for some a marriage made in heaven! Totally glue, animal glue, and nothing else. Two tenons in tandem and 150 years together and still totally united.We recommend that goods should be inspected before they are signed for, as goods obviously damaged in transit should be REFUSED. First, chop the mortise to the exact width of the tenon with no allowances to the wide width of the tenon. At the shoulder line, we want exactness. This will stop the wood from splitting as the wedges tighten when the tenon aspect of the joint seats fully against the mortise piece. Pare-cut down the end walls of the mortise starting partway down and pare in around about an eighth of an inch (3.1mm). Wedging generally relied on clamping for seating the shoulders. Why use wedges? In the early days of screw threads and iron clamps the clamps were expensive and few and far between. Not like today when most woodworkers own a dozen or so. Clamping followed by wedging meant the clamps could be used immediately on the next frames so as soon as the wedges were driven the clamps were removed to be used elsewhere.