Cedar Shelves
Mortise And Floating Tenon Joinery
Beautiful grain! No nails or screws required. This joint is very strong and can be used for table tops and many other applications. No Festool Domino required. Much stronger than a biscuit joint too.
What you will need
1x4 Cedar
wood glue
table saw
bench top mortiser or chisels
sander or sand paper
finish of your choice
How to do this project
1
Make a nice square glue edge
Rip the ends off the board to make a square edge on the boards glue edge on the table saw
2
This will vary on your project
Measure and cross cut pieces to desired length.
3
Tried and true joints
Bring cut pieces to the mortiser and make .25 inch wide mortises apx one inch long.
4
Tenons
Bring 1” thick scrap wood over to table saw. This is important if your piece of scrap is not 1” thick do not cut your mortises one inch long. Make sure those are the same.
5
Set fence on table saw to just over .25” and rip a piece.
6
Cut floating tenons
Cross cut your piece to 1” pieces. Cut ad many as the amount of mortises you cut. For a shelf this size I would suggest four or 5 on each side of the board that will join with the other piece. This may vary depending on the depth you set on your mortise and is not an exact science. Leave a little room for glue inside the mortise.
7
Who needs a festool domino?!
Test fit your floating tenons inside the mortises. If more clearance is needed adjust your mortises back at the mortiser.
8
Glue up the mortises very liberally. This will ensure the joint is strong and can withstand weight along with the support of the loose tenons.
9
Insert the tenons and join the boards
10
Clamp pieces together snug but not too snug where you may ruin the squareness of the joint. Let dry for a few hours.
11
Sand excess dry glue off and sand the rest of the wood smooth starting with 80 grit, then 120, than 240.
12
Use finish of your choice. Tung oil works great on cedar.
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