How to pare tenons plumb and square

[tibi]

I would rarely use a hand router for the first cut of a tenon, that's not it's job.
For straight grain, try a chisel 5mm from the finished line.
For other wood, use a saw and cut away from the line (depending on your skill).
This is when the router plane comes into its own.
Can ensure the surface of the tenon is parallel to the body of the piece.
Can adjust the thickness of the tenon in incredibly fine margins.
Can clean out the corners for a flush fit.

A tool well suited to *some* jobs, but cutting away 3" of timber? No.

Sure, we were talking about the last finishing touch of the hand router, not for the whole procedure. I have used a chisel to remove the material along the grain, as the grain is straight and tenon saw across the grain. But as Jacob said, my goal is to get it right from the saw and save time.

 

[redhunter350]

Tibi, it may seem a silly question but do you wear spectacles?
The reason is I do and before having to I could “eyeball” a cut very very close to square, now with specs the only way is mark out and follow the line ! The problem is astigmatism correction factored into prescription spectacles.

 

[tibi]

Tibi, it may seem a silly question but do you wear spectacles?
The reason is I do and before having to I could “eyeball” a cut very very close to square, now with specs the only way is mark out and follow the line ! The problem is astigmatism correction factored into prescription spectacles.

Hi,

no I do not wear spectacles. But as I work at the computer the whole day, in a few years, I might have to.

 

[Trafalgar]

If your stock is properly four-squared then set your mortise gauge so that the tenon will fit the mortise with all six lines (there are six arrises on a regular tenon) from the gauge still barely showing on the tenon after you've sawn it out. If you've used the gauge properly, then you know the tenon is square and plumb to the rest of the board if the six lines are still barely showing. Gauge lightly! Do not dig a trench with the gauge which encourages the saw to fall into the line and obliterate it/them. Once you've lost the lines, you've lost all signposts to plumb and square as to the tenon itself to the rest of the board. Use whatever saw you like, power or hand, just make sure to leave the lines. It's not necessarily easy. A mortise and tenon joint that fits straight off the saw and mortise chisel is harder to execute than perfect dovetails.

 

[hlvd]

Hello,

I have been working on my first workbench and I want to make it look good as I will have to look at it for many years to come.
I have planed all the wood for the base almost to the finished width and thickness. Now I plane boards to the finished thickness with my hand planes, then cut joinery (mortices and tenons), and finally glue boards together to form a component of the workbench base.

I have started with the smallest stretchers. A finished component is here:
View attachment 123351

I have found out that I have a problem to pare tenons square and plumb to the marked lines. In the pictures below, the shoulder is square and the tenon is off.
View attachment 123352View attachment 123356

After further investigation, I think that the biggest problem is in my chisels. This problem is only exceeded by the inexperience of the chisel operator. I have been flattening this 38 mm wide chisel on the 240 grit diamond stone for 10 minutes, but it seems that it would take hours to get it flat. Other chisels are either bellied or are hollow in the middle, but have a belly just next to the edge, which makes the edge low. The tenons are 50 mm deep, and If I want to use a square block as a reference to cut plumb and square, then I would need at least 80 mm of my chisel to be perfectly flat. The chisel is at least 0,1 mm of being flat. I think I am not yet able to pare flat and square without any reference block.
View attachment 123353View attachment 123354

Is there a better and faster way how to get the chisel flat than just using the diamond stone or should I just buy better chisels because these are way off?
Do you know some good videos on how to pare the tenons square and plumb so that I do not ruin my workbench? As you can see there would be a big unsightly gap on the shoulder if I left it as it is. I did not cut any mortices yet, so I can still remove materials from the tenons to repair them without making them too small. Also, you can see that the shoulder line (horizontal) is not uniform, but wavy.
View attachment 123357
Thank you.

It’s nothing to do with the chisel, it’s just inexperience.

 

[Jacob]

It’s nothing to do with the chisel, it’s just inexperience.

Yes and chisel flattening is just an arbitrary ritual performed by the crazy sharpening fraternity. It's a sort of voodoo and they think it wards off evil spirits..

 

[toolsntat]

Yes and chisel flattening is just an arbitrary ritual performed by the crazy sharpening fraternity. It's a sort of voodoo and they think it wards off evil spirits..

Intriguing, when you "pare" with a chisel is it not the object of the exercise to achieve a flat surface?
I regularly pare suitably flat hinge chops and "splice" beds with ease using a flat chisel, anything other would be pure folly would it not?
Cheers, Andy

 

[Jacob]

Intriguing, when you "pare" with a chisel is it not the object of the exercise to achieve a flat surface?
I regularly pare suitably flat hinge chops and "splice" beds with ease using a flat chisel, anything other would be pure folly would it not?
Cheers, Andy

I can see the logic but in practice it makes little difference if your chisel is slightly "bellied" (a crazy sharpening term). You steer the chisel where you want it to go. In fact you can probably do it bevel down if you feel like it!
I reckon the normal process of honing it face down near the edge, to remove the burr, is flattening enough.